tourism: gateway 3

Question 1

economic impacts of tourism
( advantages)- employment opportunities

Answer 1

• in 2011, the UNTWO estimated that the tourism industry employed over 235 million people worldwide
  > 6-8% of all the jobs in the world

Question 2

economic impacts of tourism
( advantages)- growth in income

Answer 2

• fishermen on the Pamilacan island in the Philippines
  > local tour companies hire fishermen to take domestic and international tourists on their boats to look for and swim with whale sharks and dolphins
  > they are paid between US$80 to US$100 which is a significant amount for an average Filipino fisherman
• tourist receipts: the money received from tourist spending
  > also generate large revenue for many countries
• in 2011, worldwide tourist receipts exceeded US$ 1 trillion

LEAKAGE
- when travellers fly to Phuket on a non-local airline, stay in a foreign owned hotel and eat imported food
> money spent by tourists will contribute to paying for these imported items
> money spent may not stay in the local economy and bring few benefits to local business and workers

Question 3

economic impacts of tourism
( advantages)- development of infrastructure

Answer 3

• Athens, Greece (2004) and Beijing, China (2008)
  > underground
  >railway systems were expanded to move large numbers of visitors during the Summer Olympic Games
  > railway systems continued to serve local populations and tourists after the Games

Question 4

economic impacts of tourism
( disadvantages)- seasonal unemployment

Answer 4

• the city of of Sapporo in Japan receives a large number of visitors from December to February
  > many visitors go to engage in winter sports like skiing and snowboarding
  > mountain ski resort operators will need to employ more people to cater to the high tourist demand

-rest of the year: find other sources of income
> some return to other jobs like farming or move away temporarily

Question 5

economic impacts of tourism
( disadvantages)- underuse of facilities at certain times of the year

Answer 5

• some of the venues in Beijing, China were built specifically for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games
  > deteriorating a few years after the Olympics
  > some facilities have to be renovated to become more profitable
  > part of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre had been renovated into a water park in august 2010

Question 5

economic impacts of tourism
( disadvantages)- shortage of services

Answer 5

• in bali, luxury resorts use 3000l of water while villages use 90l

Question 6

social-cultural impacts of tourism
( advantages)- preservation of local customs and heritage

Answer 6

• revenue generate can fund the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage
  > Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt

Question 7

social-cultural impacts of tourism
(disadvantages)- dilution of local customs and heritage

Answer 7

• to meet the demand and expectations of tourists, religious rituals are sometimes modified
  > dancers may deliberately
• inpose for tourists to take photographs
• rituals may be shortened and repeated to fit into the itinerary of tourists
  > the authenticity and significance is reduced when they become commercialised
• in Thailand, tourists have to pay a hefty fee to enter the village of the Kayan Lahwi women
  > some treat the women as exhibits that they have paid for
  > aggressively take photographs without permission

Question 8

social-cultural impacts of tourism
( disadvantages)- increased crime rate

Answer 8

• in London, in 2010, Japanese tourists were approached by a woman pretending to be a tourist
  > woman asked for directions or have her photo taken
  > accomplices would appear as police officers and request for the group identification and credit cards
  > when credit card handed over, used to buy expensive items or withdraw money from the ATM

Question 9

environmental impacts of tourism
( advantages)- conservation of natural environments

Answer 9

• the Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, Malaysia
  > partly relies on visitor entrance fee to pay its staff
  > the staff rehabilitate orang-utans that have been orphaned or injured
• In kenya, the survival of the animals in the country’s nature reserves and national parks relies on the funding received from international tourists > who want to see animals
  > a single lion can generate $7000 a year and a herd of elephants $600 000 a year
  > money used to preserve the animals and their habitats

Question 10

environmental impacts of tourism
(disadvantages) - vandalism

Answer 10

• the thousands of stones and bricks of the Great Wall of China
  > visited by 10 million tourists a year is covered in graffiti

Question 11

environmental impacts of tourism
(disadvantages) - littering and pollution

Answer 11

• irresponsible tourists on cruise ships often dump plastic bottles, food packaging and old batteries overboard from the ships
  > harbours, marinas and oceans to be polluted
• many islands in the Caribbean have limited space on land to treat waste from ships
  > solid and liquid waste are sometimes dumped into the Caribbean Sea by ships > pollution

Question 12

environmental impacts of tourism
(disadvantages) - destruction of habitats

Answer 12

• Egypt’s Red Sea coast developed into a major diving and snorkelling destination for around 1.2 million visitors
  > habitats of coral reef and exotic fish have been damaged by some swimmers collecting shells or corals as souvenirs
  > & hotels dumping waste and sewage into the sea

Question 13

environmental impacts of tourism
(disadvantages) - carbon footprint

Answer 13

• carbon footprint is measured in equivalent amounts in carbon dioxide
• one-way economy class flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is 30 kg of carbon dioxide per passanger

Question 14

environmental impacts of tourism
(disadvantages) - increased congestion

Answer 14

-

Question 15

tensions in managing the impacts of tourism
(tension between locals and tourists)

Answer 15

in 2012, there were 2.9 million tourists in Bali, Indonesia with a resident population of only 4.2 million
tensions:
1. tourists sites such as Kuta are often congested due to bus-loads of ever increasing foreign tourists
>makes it hard for locals to conduct their daily business

2. the large number of hotels, resorts, convention centres and other facilities potentially deprive some locals of their water supply
   > tourism industry consumes 65% of the island’s water supply > water shortage in other areas
   - the most vulnerable are the island’s poorest
   > rely on dug wells that have now gone dry and cannot be connected tot he city’s tap water supply
3. locals expect tourists to respect local customs and values
   > locals in Bali still object to public displays of affection and some countries may perceive as acceptable

Question 16

tensions in managing the impacts of tourism
(tourists and the environment)

Answer 16

MACHU PICCHU, PERU
- located 2350 metres above sea level, ‘ Last Stronghold of the Incas’
-its rich history and breathtaking landscape draw an average of 3,300 visitors every day

tensions:
1. physically able tourists opt for the ‘ Inca Trail’ for the mountain scenery, cloud forests, rivers and the Inca ruins
- the trail is populated with rare indigenous plant and wildlife
> the trail is slowly being eroded by the more than 75 000 tourists that hike each year
> also leave rubbish, water bottles and plastic wrappers

2. tourists may prefer helicopters for convenience
   > 2010, authorities banned helicopters from the site
   > for fear the noise disturbs area’s indigenous wildlife
3. the sheer weight and combined footsteps of tourists visiting machu picchu slowly damage the land and artefacts on the site

Question 17

responsibility of various groups
(local communities)

Answer 17

• candirejo village, near Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia
• with the support of the government the villagers in Candirejo set up a COOPERATIVE in 2003
  > manage community’s tourism-related programmes
  > developing homestay accommodations, organic farms and organizing local transport
  > also trained locals to produce handicrafts, to provide catering and work as tour guides

-2002: village had 10 homestays, 5 andongs, no restraunts
- 2004: 22 homestays, 22 andongs and 6 local restraunts
>63 new hobs and 5 new local businesses
> 12.5 % increase in average income per villager from 2001 to 2003

Question 18

responsibility of various groups
(visitors)

Answer 18

• 2007, Tourism Sustainability Group set up by the EUROPEAN COMMISION 2004
  > encouraged tourists to select their destination based on the conservation efforts of the place

Question 19

responsibility of various groups
(tour operators)

Answer 19

• Phuket Alternative Tours (PAT)
  > SET UP BY TOUR OPERATORS IN 2006
  >tour operators who want to operate under PAT required to sign an
  > Environmental and Cultural Code of Practice > have to operate under the guidelines:
  1. operate in an environmentally sustainable way
  2. seek to enhance the natural environment and the way that the industry uses it
  3. create awareness about environmental conservation for visitors to phuket

Question 20

responsibility of various groups
( planning authorities)

Answer 20

• STB ensures that its development plans also take into account the need to conserve national heritage
  > implemented programmes to conserve the ethnic districts of Singapore
  > Chinatown, Kampong Glam and little india