Resources and attractions for visitors

Cultural resources of Europe attract many visitors. 3 key cultural resources are museums, architecture and cathedrals/churches/chapels as well as many others. Paris offers many cultural tourist attractions such as the Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe. The Louvre Museum contains artwork and sculptures from famous artists throughout history, making this museum a key cultural resource in Europe. England also has many key tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds, The London Eye, London Dungeons and many more. London offers a wide range of activities, museums, galleries and architecture to visit as well as the different areas of London such as Camden market and Chelsea which are popular to visit. In the UK international tourists can also visit Stonehenge and stay in different rural areas to experience British culture, “As a country Britain attracts visitors primarily for its cultural heritage and also for business reasons.” (Law, 199, 179).  In 1992 the original Disneyland Park opened followed by the Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002, “In 1993 visitors to the park totalled 1.9 million.” (Law, 63). In the USA, Disneyland is extrempley popular to visit as a tourist. However from Europe and even Asia and Africa etc it is a very long and expensive journey to America. Accordingly Disneyland in Paris has high tourist interest as for some people it is much easier and cheaper to get to rather than going to USA. Disneyland has a huge audience attraction and has built the surrounding economy and created jobs making this attraction a huge success to Europe. Aside from theme parks and galleries, Europe has many natural and cultural resources which attract domestic and international tourism, Orbasli describes, “The interaction of human beings with the past and the present, with buildings, spaces and one another produces an urban dynamism and creates a spirit of place.” (Orbasli,2000, 8). It is important that the natural resources and relics of different countries be protected and admired as some natural resources such as mountains, volcanoes and national parks have been around for hundreds of years. In Italy, “Volcanoes play a big part in the life and legend of Southern Italy but Etna on Sicil is the most awesome. It is the largest volcano in Europe, measuring 200 kilometres (125) miles around its base and rising to a cone some 3,300 metres (10,900 feet) high. (Wright,1981, 22-24) Some tourists, domestic or international enjoy viewing the regions natural attractions that have been a part of the culture for hundreds or thousands of years such as Stonehenge as they are an important part of history. In Rome, Italy the Trevi Fountain is a key attraction as it holds many legends and even inspired a film, “It attracted the film title Three Coins in the Fountain and those who wish to return to the Eternal City must toss in a coin, ‘rescues’ at night by local children.” (Wright, 1981, 50-51). The Trevi Fountain has also been features in other films, making it internationally well known. It has been predicted that £3,000-4,000 is thrown into the fountain every single day by tourists. Around Europe there are many festivals that take place in different countries. This attracts domestics and international tourists to these attractions. Some tourists will travel to experience the culture of another countries festival, such as Spain’s ‘Haro Wine Festival’ where, “You don’t come empty handed to this wine war, and your weapon is a traditional bota bag, that traditional Spanish leather wine satchel lined with a goat’s bladder–sling it over your shoulder and you have easy vino access all day. The power of the bota is it’s ability to be squeezed to jettison streams of red wine as far as you can shoot it.” The festival is a tradition in Spain and international tourists can experience this cultural event.

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