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distance decay
There are costs involved in overcoming the friction
of distance. Thus, other things being equal, there is
more interaction between close than distant places.
This applies to the availability of information on
places, whether gained by personal experience or
other sources such as advertising, as well as the
volume of tourist arrivals. Thus, at a destination,
there are likely to be a relatively large number of
people who have travelled a short distance with
declining numbers of visitors as origins become
more distant. The same relationship exists in
reverse, with the numbers from places of origin,
such as a city, tending to diminish with increasing
distance from the origin. Since there is a relationship
between the time available and the distance
travelled, day trip, weekend �second home) and
broader vacation zones may be identified around
cities. The relationship between distance and
volume of travel is not linear, with often fewer
than expected observations at very short distances,
individuals being required to leave their accustomed
environment to be considered as tourists,
and momentum coupled with a sense of exploration
encouraging those travelling a considerable
distance to go further. The concept of distance
decay underpins the gravity model.
See also: accessibility
Further reading
Greer, T. and Wall, G. �1979) 'Recreational
hinterlands: a theoretical and empirical analysis',
in G. Wall �ed.), Recreational Land Use in Southern
Ontario, Department of Geography Publication
Series No. 14, pp. 227-45, Waterloo, Ont.:
University of Waterloo.
Wolfe, R.I. �1972) `The inertia model', Journal of
Leisure Research 4: 73±6.
distance education
GEOFFREY WALL, CANADA
Distance learning is a learning environment
whereby the student is separated by time or space
from the instructor and where the principals do not
distance education 155
have direct face to face interaction defines a
distance education experience. Communication
may be facilitated by mail, telephone, radio,
television, video cassettes, computer-mediated
instruction �see education, computer-assisted)
and/or Internet-based instruction, individually or
in any number of combinations to achieve an
optimum learning experience. The types of media
employed in distance learning might be categorised
as single media, such as print, radio or television;
multimedia, which includes any number of combinations
of media; an interactive media, like email;
or interactive online real participation, such as
teleconferencing, video-conferencing or computerconferencing.
Students may have limited financial resources,
physical disabilities, time constraints, specialised
fields of study or educational demands that cannot
be met in the traditional within school system.
Several North American universities such as the
University of Houston and the University of
Delaware offer both graduate and undergraduate
degrees in tourism and hospitality entirely based on
a distance education mode. Demographic factors,
achievement motivation interests and grade point
average play an integral part in the students'
interest in distance education programmes. Out-ofschool
instruction can enhance students' understanding
of the subject material and improve test
performance levels by allowing them to work at
their own pace and repeat any points that are not
clear. The flexibility of learning pace and time
makes distance education appeal largely to nontraditional,
working students. Most of those who
are enrolled in the Master of Hospitality Management
degree programme via the distance education
mode at the University of Houston are
employed full-time in tourism and hospitality.
This learning process can become very costeffective
when one considers economies of scale
gained through repetitions of the delivery process,
regardless of the media. Consequently, distance
education significantly benefits the tourism and
hospitality students in developing countries. With
the advance of computer technology and the use of
the Internet as an interactive learning station,
students from throughout the world will be able to
access information, discuss the latest theories and