Option E • Section 2
Tourism and Sport at the Local & National Scale
Hotspots, spheres of influence, sports leagues and temporary festival landscapes.
How physical and human factors shape places into sites of leisure
Growth of rural and urban hotspots
Primary resources attract; secondary resources, access, safety and promotion turn attractive places into major destinations.
Primary resources include beaches, climate, scenery, wildlife, culture and heritage. Secondary resources—airports, roads, accommodation, restaurants, tours and entertainment—are built for visitors. Hotspots may experience strong seasonal or daily peaks.
Enquiry 1 — What spots are hotspots?
Map Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, then annotate primary and secondary resources. Compare one urban and one rural hotspot and judge whether human or physical factors better explain their growth.
Threshold, range and facility hierarchy
Neighbourhood parks and gyms draw locally; stadiums and national parks reach wider markets.
A facility’s sphere of influence depends on its threshold population, the range people will travel, price, accessibility, rarity, quality and cultural importance. Broadcasting gives elite venues a global cultural reach even when most supporters never visit.
Enquiry 2 — Construct a leisure hierarchy
Rank a playground, gym, district pool, city stadium and national park. Estimate threshold, range and frequency of use, draw nested spheres, and explain why real catchments are never perfect circles.
Geography of the English Premier League
Team location and supporter distribution reflect population, urban hierarchy, history, transport, success and media markets.
The Premier League is spatially uneven. Large urban regions host several clubs, while promotion and relegation change the map. A club’s stadium catchment is local, but its television, sponsorship and supporter networks may be global.
Enquiry 3 — Map the Premier League
Map current clubs, rank their settlements, and compare stadium capacity with metropolitan population. Select three clubs and explain their local, national and global supporter geographies.
Large-scale festivals as temporary sites of leisure
Festivals create short-lived concentrations of visitors, services, risk and environmental pressure.
Full Moon Party — Hat Rin, Ko Pha-ngan
A beach settlement becomes a temporary global leisure landscape. Tourist spending and employment sit alongside waste, congestion, safety, noise, cultural tension and uneven stakeholder power.
Flows, capacity and conflict
Track visitors, money, waste and authority before, during and after the event. Judge who benefits, who carries the costs and which management strategy is fairest.
Enquiry 4 — Stakeholder decision
Represent residents, local businesses, visitors, government and environmental groups. Negotiate a management plan for visitor numbers, transport, safety, waste and local revenue, then defend the final compromise.