Gateway 3 of Global Tourism Flashcards
What are some economic benefits of tourism?
- employment opportunities
- increase in tourist numbers
- an increase in the number of tourism-related jobs available
- UNWTO estimates tourism industry employs over 235 million people worldwide, accounting for 6 to 8% of the jobs worldwide - growth in income
- more tourists
- higher demand for goods and services offered by individuals such as boat services offered by fishermen, leading to higher income
- growth in income for country
- tourism receipts generate large revenue for the country
- Philippines, local tour companies employ fisherman to take tourists to look for and swim with whales and dolphins.
- paid for their services, able to earn more income
- 2011, worldwide tourism receipts were US $1 trillion - Improvement in the development of infrastructure and facilities
- occurs so countries are able to support large inflows of tourists, attract and encourage them to visit
- local attractions, well connected to airports or cities,
- good transport network increases connectivity, improves accessibility to such areas, benefits both locals and tourists
- building of sport venues for key sport events benefits locals-have better sporting facilities after event
- construction of facilities requires a lot of manpower, more workers hired, provide employment opportunities for locals
- Athens, Greece and Beijing, China expanded their underground rail system to support the anticipated large number of tourists arrivals during the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Both rail systems continue to serve the local population and tourists even after the Games.
What are some economic disadvantages of tourism?
- Seasonal unemployment
- some tourists activities dependent on climatic conditions of country e.g skiing
- fluctuation in tourist numbers over the year
- those in tourism-related industries have to look for other sources of income during the lull period for tourism
- decrease in income, decrease in expenditure, affect economy of country,
- Sapporo, Japan, mountain ski resort operators hire more workers during winter to help out with tourist activities. During other parts of the year, most of these workers become unemployed. - Under-use of facilities
- facilities built for specific events may be under-used after the event
- costly to maintain when tourist receipts cannot generate enough revenue for maintenance of place
- sport venues specifically built for 2008 SOG in Beijing, China. Only 1/3 of the venues managed to break even, make enough money to offset maintenance fees each year. Some of the venues were renovated to become more profitable like BNAC, where part of it was converted into a water park - Shortage of services
- tourism infrastructure requires large amounts of water, power and land.
- shortage of services in non-tourist areas, locals suffer
- Bali, popular tourist destination
- high demand for clean water for increasing no. of tourist-related facilities
- more water diverted away from residents towards tourist facilities
- water scarcity, 1.7 million people in Bali’s have inadequate access to a supply of clean water.
What are some socio-economic benefits of tourism?
- Preservation of local heritage and culture
- encourages relevant authorities to preserve heritage sites to maintain uniqueness of place, attracting more tourists
- locals understand their own history better, build a sense of belonging to their community
- revenue generated from tourism can help to fund for conservation of heritage sites
- historical Christ Church in Malacca, Malaysia has been restored and is a relic of Malaysia’s colonial history. It also serves as a tourist attraction.
What are some socio-economic disadvantages of tourism?
- Dilution of local customs and heritage
- place becomes major tourist attraction
- setting up of major commercial facilities e.g souvenir shops, food outlets, hotels
- older buildings may be repurposed for tourist activities
- displace locals, identity of place=lost
- local cultural festivals and religious rituals may be modified to suit demands of tourists, reducing significance and authenticity of these events.
- e.g Thailand, tourists pay hefty fees to enter the village of the Kayan Lahwi women. Some tourists treat them rudely, forcing them to take photographs together. - Increased crime
- major tourists destinations attract criminal activities such as pickpocketing
- tourists often carry valuables with them e.g watches, cash, cameras
- tourists can also be scammed or cheated when they visit tourist attractions with ‘tourist traps’.
- pay inflated prices for purchased items
- 2010, UK, London, Japanese tourists got SCAMMED by woman and her accomplices dressed up as police officers, to get them to hand over their credit cards.use of credit cards to buy expensive things or withdraw money from ATM
What are some environmental benefits of tourism?
- Conservation of natural environments
- funds generated from tourist revenue from visiting national parks can be used to conserve environments e.g coral reefs, rainforests, mountainous areas
-Kenya, wildlife tourism is popular. one lion can generate US $7000 a year. The tourist revenue generated is used to preserve the animals and their habitats.
What are some environmental disadvantages of tourism?
- Littering and pollution
- tourists= often a source of pollution and litter
- litter tourist areas with their food wrappers, plastic bottles
- authorities fail to implement measures to properly manage the waste left behind by tourists, lead to degradation of such areas
- irresponsible tourists often dump plastic bottles and food wrappers overboard from ships, polluting harbours and oceans. Many islands in Carribean have limited space to treat waste from ships, solid and liquid waste are often dumped into the Carribean Sea by ships, causing pollution. - Destruction of habitats
- careless tourists may trample on plants
- make too much noise, disturbing and scaring away the animals
- disrupts and destroys natural habitat of wildlife
- Egypt Red Sea, attracts 1.2 million visitors annually, famous for snorkelling and diving activities.
- tourists have damaged habitats of coral reefs and exotic fish, taking away the corals and shells as souvenirs.
- sea is also polluted, with waste from nearby restaurants and hotels in the area being dumped into it. - Higher carbon footprint
- fossil fuels are burnt to power aeroplanes, tour buses and cruise ships or to generate electricity for hotels
- growth in tourism, increased burning of fossil fuels, increase emission of greenhouse gases, increasing carbon footprint
- flight from sg to malaysia, Kuala Lumpur consumes 30 kg of C02 per passenger. - Increased congestion
- higher tourist arrivals, cause overcrowding in areas near tourist attractions
- serious vehicular and pedestrian congestion. give rise to noise and air pollution
- Rome, Italy, older walkways and narrow streets are overcrowded with tourists. Roads congested with cars and buses, contribute to air pollution. - Vandalism
- vandalise cultural, historical or natural sites, destroying beauty and uniqueness of place
- many stones and bricks of the Great Wall of China are vandalised with graffiti as it attracts 10 million visitors annually.
How are the impacts of tourism managed?
- Conservation of fragile environments and promote sustainable tourism
- Laws and regulations + support from the local people are needed
- helps reduce leakages from tourist revenue by training the locals for skilled tourism jobs, encouraging tourists to choose homestay accommodations run by locals so locals receive payment directly.
- well protected areas attract more tourists and encourages their return, benefitting the economies of local communities.
- tourist revenue also motivates locals to take care of their environment so that they can enjoy a steady income from tourist arrivals.
- Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the world’s longest complex of coral reefs and small islands and has been listed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The laws and regulations in place help in maintaining the biodiversity of the sea.
- threatened by tourism activities such as fuel leaks from pleasure boats and the removal of corals by tourists
Tensions in managing impacts of tourism
- Tensions between tourists and locals
e. g. water scarcity, 1.7 million people in Bali have inadequate access to a supply of clean water due to most of the water being diverted towards tourists facilities such as hotels which consume 65% of island’s water supply. Tourists are perceived to show disrespect to local customs when they have public displays of affection. - Tensions between tourists and the environment
e. g. Machu Picchu, Peru is the last stronghold of the Inca Civilisation and thus holds great importance as it shows the life of the Incas in the past. However, the Inca Trail is being slowly eroded by the sheer weight and combined footsteps of tourists that hike on it every year, damaging the land.
Responsibilities of various groups (Local communities)
-people are familiar with their environment and can thus help to conserve and protect tourist sites.
e.g. In Java, Indonesia, the government supports villagers of Candirejo to set up a cooperative. The government consults with the cooperative before implementing any tourism-related programmes such as developing homestay accommodations. Programmes trained villagers to produce handicrafts. in 2004, there were now 22 homestays instead of 10 homestays.
+ve:
-the locals are involved in the decision making and thus can choose the appropriate tourism-related activities that would be best suited for tourists.
- given priority in tourism-related business as well as employment opportunities such as working as a tour guide.
- ve:
- some local communities may face difficulties obtaining external funding for their business start-up or investing in vehicles to facilitate tourism in the area.
-local community may have shortage of skilled labour to manage impact of tourism, thus may need the help from NGOs or other organisations for skilled labour.
Responsibilities of various groups (Visitors)
should be responsible and respect both the local population of the place and the environment they are visiting.
+ ve:
-they can fund the conservation of places they visit through entrance fees or purchase of souvenirs.
e.g. Yellowstone National Park in US, keeps 80% of fees collected for maintenance and improvement of the park
- visitor spending provides income opportunities for locals to work in tourism-related jobs such as tour guides. It also gives locals an opportunity to set up businesses.
- may appreciate value of conserving and preserving the environment of a tourist site, creating awareness in these visitors who may share the experiences with others at home.
- ve:
- visitors may not take conservation and preservation of the environment seriously and continue to cause damage to tourist sites by littering and vandalism. Sheer weight of the large number of tourists can damage the tourist sites as well.
- large number of visitors may dilute the local culture, causing the place to lose its identity when the place becomes more commercialised due to more tourists than locals.
note: Being the main people enjoying the area, it is their responsibility to treat it and thelocals with respect. However, their main interest is their leisure, which may clash with localswhen it interferes with their daily life, or with the environment.
Responsibilities of various groups (Tour operators)
tour operators may belong to associations which are getting more concerned with conserving and protecting the environments by tourists. This is because fewer tourists may visit a place if the unspolit landscapes, rich biodiversity and unique cultures deteriorate.
e.g. PAT (phuket alternative tours), tour operators who operate under this group have to sign and Environmental and Cultural code of Practice, which commits members to operate in a way that is sustainable for the environment and also aims to create awareness about environmental conservation for visitors to Phuket.
+ve: tour guides can provide valuable feedback to tour operators about the social and environmental conditions of a tourist attraction. Their inputs are often used by local communities and planning authorities to plan tourism management strategies in tourist attractions.
+ve: tour guides can regulate tourist behaviour by preventing tourists from littering, making too much noise at tourist sites. They also have an incentive to maintain the quality of the attraction since it is their source of income.
-ve; need to generate profits: tour operators are businesses after all and need to remain profitable to survive. Thus, this may also override concerns to preserve the environment as addressing these concerns reduce their profits.
Responsibilities of various groups (Planning authorities)
Can greatly influence the future quality of environments by determining the number of visitors at the site each time and the amount of space allocated for infrastructure such as hotels and roads.
e.g. STB ensures that while attracting large numbers of tourists to SG, it also takes into account the need to conserve national heritage while developing attractions. STB has implemented programmes to conserve ethnic districts of SG such as Little India. This allows both visitors and locals to have a greater appreciation for SG’s rich heritage.
+ve:
successfully implement management strategies of attractions
can draft laws and policies to improve quality of tourist site. such as laws that limit no. of tourists to an attraction./impose entrance fees
work with other govt agencies to manage impact of tourism, can utilise a range of govt resources
-ve:
well planned projects can fail due to unforeseen factors like extreme weather conditions
other stakeholders like local communities may oppose the management strategies of planning authorities. They may do this when they feel that the management strategies may affect their livelihood or change their lives. They may also oppose to the strategies when they think a diff approach is required to solve a problem. Strategies often have limited impact w/o cooperation from stakeholders.
note: Most powerful, economic growth being main interest while still being sensitive tosocio-cultural and economic stability.
Responsibilities of various groups (NGOs)
many of them are concerned with tourism’s impact on the natural and human environments; operate independently of govt
e.g. TIES ( the international ecotourism society) conducts training courses, publishes research papers related to tourism and the environment. It works with many organisations, in order to achieve sustainable tourism and protect environments frequented by tourists.
+ve:
Facilitate communication between various stakeholders such as between local communities and tour operators. Also encourages other stakeholders such as local communities to actively participate in managing impact of tourism.
supports various stakeholders in managing impact of tourism by providing additional manpower, expertise and so on.
-ve:
have difficulties in obtaining external funding as they often rely on donations. Hence they may be hampered by the lack of financial resources.
