past paper questions Flashcards
Explain how tourist destinations attempt to increase the number of tourists in months of low demand
- reducing prices and offering special offers and deals
- increased advertising, promotion and media coverage
- developing new attractions, e.g. in winter at beach resorts, in summer in ski resorts
- offering new forms of tourism, e.g. business tourism (conferences) or field trips
- seeking new markets with main holiday periods at different times from main markets such as Europe and North America, e.g. China, India
To what extent does resource endowment explain global patterns of trade flows?
- locational advantage
- historical factors such as colonial ties
- trade agreements
- changes in the global market
- the role of the WTO
- free trade and Fairtrade
- any other relevant social, economic, environmental or political factors
Assess the validity of the view that tourism which is truly environmentally sustainable does not exist.
- success of strategies to achieve true environmental sustainability at a variety of scales (local vs regional), locations (HIC vs LIC/NIC), environments (urban/rural).
- A response which explores various aspects of environmental sustainability as opposed to environmental impacts may be a characteristic of a higher level response
Explain two disadvantages of tied aid to receiving countries
- aid can be misused/misguided by officials
- local people are not used in the project workforce
- may not be culturally sensitive or appropriate
- negative image/press internationally
- may not be a beneficial exchange/geopolitical influence on receiving country government
- if aid is in the form of ‘commodities’, this can lower local market price
- other
For one tourist area or resort, assess the extent to which the environment can be managed sustainably
- Environmental sustainability considers protection, education, conservation and longevity for the future, and responses which develop these ideas may show characteristics of a high-level response
-It is likely that the assessment of environmental sustainability will show balance of both positives (such as conservation) and negatives (such as pollution).
With the use of examples, explain one positive and one negative social impact of tourism on destinations.
Positive
* Raised living standards
* Varied jobs which improve skills and employability
* Promotion of traditional cultural events, e.g. festivals, etc.
* Opportunities to learn new languages and skills, or about new cultures or opportunities/ideas
* Facilities may benefit locals (e.g. new roads, hospital, etc.)
* Other
Negative
* Crime, alcohol, drug rates increase
* Annoyance of locals, e.g. visitors can be disrespectful of cultures and traditions
* Changing social attitudes to culture/loss of traditional culture
* Locals unable to afford property and have to move away
* Lack of community as properties are empty off-peak
* Seasonality of employment leading to unemployment
* Can make locals feel uneasy, e.g. wealthy visitors
* Other
Assess the success of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in promoting free trade and solving
trade disputes.
- The WTO states that it has six key objectives: (1) to set and enforce rules for international trade, (2) to provide a forum for negotiating and monitoring further trade liberalisation, (3) to resolve trade disputes, (4) to increase the transparency of decision-making processes, (5) to cooperate with other major international economic institutions involved in global economic management, and (6) to help developing countries benefit fully from the global trading system.
- Free trade involves the removal of barriers to trade (imports and exports), such as tariffs, quotas or other restrictions. Subsidies create unfair trading conditions along with preferential treatment, and the WTO may attempt to intervene in such cases.
- For trade disputes, members are committed not to take unilateral action against other members. Instead, they are expected to seek recourse through the WTO’s dispute-settlement system, which takes time, and to
abide by its rules and findings. Each member has one vote in disputes, and the ruling is based on majority votes - Countries may be signed up to free trade blocs/areas (e.g. NAFTA, EU) where there is agreement on free movement of goods between the member states and external barriers to trade where the WTO has limited influence
With the aid of one or more examples, how far do you agree that ecotourism is not as sustainable as it aims to be?
- consider all aspects of sustainability: social, economic and environmental
-Destinations which have limited tourist numbers with quotas and have seen less environmental damage may be included - time for habitat regeneration
Suggest reasons why income from exports varies between countries
Reasons for variety could be:
* resource endowment
* geographical position (e.g. close to markets)
* historical ties
* trade agreements
* changes in the global market; supply and demand
* technology/advancement for extraction and transport of raw materials
* economic sector providing the exports, e.g. primary v secondary
* skill of workforce/level of education
* invisible exports, such as financial services, knowledge economy, tourism
‘It is trade, not aid, that will help LICs to develop.’
Candidates could consider the impacts of trade on exporting and importing countries. They may also consider the role of the WTO and free trade, trade
agreements, changes in the global market, the global inequality of power relations, the role of TNCs in controlling markets, etc. Some candidates may introduce Fairtrade as a valid example. Candidates may consider other factors which influence a country’s ability to trade or not, such as resource endowment, locational advantage, historical factors or any others.
Explain two ways in which tourism benefits the environment
- Revenue can be invested in funding preservation and conservation programmes
- Local communities maintain and protect habitat and wildlife
- Creation of special status such as national parks aids conservation of landscape and wildlife
- Tourism numbers aid the running and/or setting up of cleaner transport e.g. bus services
- Issues such as water supply may be overcome in less developed communities
- Urban environments may benefit from investment of profits for the renovation of buildings
- Other
Assess the extent to which countries benefit from free trade
- The benefits or not might be for various stakeholders and other groups such as the producer, workers, consumers, the national and international economy
- vary according to the perspective of differing groups and may also vary spatially and/or temporally
- Candidates may offer a consideration of the role of the World Trade Organization and present arguments based on different viewpoints of the WTO
Benefits considered may include: - Economic specialisation through comparative advantage, efficiency of production, economies of scale
- Increased competition
- Greater trade, free-flow of resources from resource rich to resource poor nations
- Increased consumption and choice at lower cost
- Cheaper inputs into the supply chain
- Economic growth
- Encourages FDI
- Other
Counterarguments may focus on some of the following disadvantages: - Lack of protection for domestic producers, unemployment
- Economic dependency on trade, negative impacts of dumping
- Dominance of TNCs
- Less control of profit repatriation and loss of taxation
- Difficulties for LICs and MICs to compete and diversify, without protection from measures such as tariffs which HICs benefited from
- Issues of worker rights
- Environmental issues
- Other
‘The international debt crisis is difficult to solve.’ To what extent do you agree with this view?
Difficulty may be related to debt itself such as: amount owed, interest rates and changes, proportion of debt to size or nature of economy, type of debt etc. or to the problems created by having debt or giving credit e.g.
implications of high debt service ratio for other sectors of the economy and/or society, impact of structural adjustment programmes, austerity measures, non-repayment of debt/interest etc.
Explain two advantages of tied aid for donor countries.
- Reduces the risk of default by receiving country
- Donor has more control over aid projects
- Generates benefits for the donor economy such as: increased
employment or revenue from the supply of varying aspects of the aid
project(s) - Helps to secure or expand export markets
- Helps to secure or increase import sources
- Satisfies political demands domestically to justify donation of aid
- Other
How far do you agree that trade can solve the problems of the international debt crisis?
Problems of the international debt crisis could be for any country: LIC/MIC or
HIC and may include:
* Interest repayment issues
* Debt service ratio
* Creditworthiness
* Odious debt
* Reduction of funds for improvement of the domestic economy and/or services
* Default on loans
* Currency issues
* Inflation
* Civil strife
* Other
- differentiate between the problems or the scale at
which the problems affect countries or people and/or consider the dynamic nature of this complicated issue
- Equally, the general role and issues of trade such as: export and primary product dependency, competition, global economic issues, e.g. inflation and recession, etc., may be used to develop an argument
An Oxfam report (2002): if Africa increased its share of world trade by just 1%, it would earn an additional £49 billion a year – 5× the amount it receives in aid
