Describe the changes in international tourist arrivals shown in the graph.

Explain three reasons why international tourist arrivals can change in one named rural or urban location.

“Most recreational and sports facilities in urban areas are located near the city centre.” Discuss this statement.

Overall, the numbers have fallen over time [1 mark]. There is some growth until July 2008, [1 mark] then figures decline sharply [1 mark].

Award additional marks for any of the following:

• Some attempt at quantification
• Noting that highest growth is in February 2008
• Noting that April 2008 is an anomaly with greatly reduced growth
• Biggest decrease is in March 2009, or other valid points.

Possible reasons for a decrease include:

• Security concerns
• Rise of alternative attractions
• Stagnation or decline phase of Butler’s model
• Decline in investment
• Environmental decline or hazard
• Pandemics
• Adverse exchange rates.

Possible reasons for an increase include:

• Media
• New facilities
• New investment
• Government policies
• Loss of alternate destinations
• Favourable exchange rates.

1 mark should be awarded for each basic reason stated and 1 mark for additional explanation, clarification or elaboration.

There are many possible approaches to this question and the candidate’s argument and conclusion are likely to depend on the examples chosen for discussion.

In many cities, facilities for recreational activities (such as swimming pools and gyms for fitness training, for example) tend to be well developed in the city centre.

Facilities for spectator sports may depend on the age of the stadium. Older stadiums tend to be nearer the city centre (and therefore often experience traffic problems) than newer stadiums, which tend to be built on larger, less expensive sites, situated near the edge of the city, and close to inter-city or international communication links.

Participatory sports facilities such as tennis courts, golf courses and sports fields tend to reflect the distribution of residential areas, and are often absent from industrial or commercial zones.

It is not necessary to discuss the complete range of recreational and sports facilities, provided that enough variety is considered for some realistic conclusions to be reached.

It is expected that answers reaching bands E and F will offer supporting evidence and/or exemplification before arriving at a clear conclusion to the question.

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

This proved tricky for a few candidates who failed to grasp the month-on-month comparisons.

Many omitted to specify a location, but many good reasons were offered.

Answers were mostly weak (with a few truly notable exceptions at both levels), with too much reliance on a very limited number of activities and limited examples. Some candidates read "near the city centre" as "near the city" and included rural activities. The weaker answers tended to simply describe the locations of facilities without any form of balanced argument in relation to the question.