Tourism and Its Economic Impact
Tourism is related to other disciplines including psychology, sociology, geography, etc. and is among the leading and fastest growing industries in the world. Studies indicate that recreational travel and tourism began in the early 1900s when Romans travelled to parts of Greece and Egypt for pleasure and relaxation (Zeglen, 2014, pg. 120). Tourism sector plays an important role in the economic advancement of a country. Reports indicate that tourism sector contributes to the highest global GDP. According to the Scientific Review of Tourism Management (Keylor, p. 12), the total GDP contribution from travel and tourism increased by 21% between the years 2001-2011. In developing countries, tourism is the leading income generating industry, surpassing other exports like cash crops, natural gas and oil. It also contributes to the development of other sectors like transport and agriculture (Cooper, 2005, p. 122). Although tourism is associated with several positive contributions including income generation, it has undesirable influences in the developing countries. The downsides associated with unplanned tourism is detrimental to the local people in these countries. This paper will discuss and illustrate the social, political and economic influences of tourism in the developing countries.
Economic Impacts of Tourism
First of all, tourism influences a country's economy. It increases the dependency of a country on one sector. According to Burns and Holden (2015, p. 30), developing countries tend to focus mainly on the tourism industry and pool all available resources to invest in the industry. Other vital sectors in the economy which include education remain neglected when a lucrative market opens up for tourism. The country will also face problems associated with foreign capital investment. Since tourism requires a high capital investment, foreign investors avoid investing in developing countries until they are sure of getting profits. In addition, increased number of tourists exert pressure on natural resources and local goods. As a result, prices of goods such as milk, fuel and groceries increase. There are also cases where locals try to emulate the tourists' affluence and live beyond their means. On the other hand, tourism has positive economic impacts. Tourism generates huge foreign income to the country. These funds may be allocated to developing other sectors like infrastructure. It also creates employment and job opportunities to the locals in the form of tourist guides, drivers, hospitality, etc. therefore generating individual income and improving their living standards. Tourism encourages investment into sectors such as entrepreneurship and development. The huge profits realized from venturing into other sectors boost the country's economy. However, although the economic gains of tourism are big, there are factors which cancel out these gains. People from other regions move to urban areas in search of employment opportunities created by tourism. If this goes on for a long time, it leads to shortage of manpower in the rural areas, leading to stunted growth in the economy. Also, tourists visit only attraction sites. This leads to uneven distribution of income in a country which may lead to internal conflicts. Furthermore, seasonality in tourism leads to loss of revenue during low seasons, which results in unemployment and loss of income. For instance, tourism in Africa is seasonal because the wild animals, a major tourist attraction, migrate from one country to another depending on the climate of the region. Therefore, tourist facilities remain unused during these periods and is undesirable.
Socio-Cultural Influences of Tourism
Secondly, tourism has social-cultural influences which can be classified into two: impact from development of tourism industry and impact of tourist-host interactions (Sharpley, 2014, p. 32). Burns and Holden (2015, p. 23) state that, tourism encourages dependency and reinforcement of social discrepancies. The biggest problem associated with tourism is congestion and overcrowding in tourist places. This, in turn, leads to shortages of resources such as food, water, and accommodation which may result in the rise of cases of theft and robbery. Overcrowding also results in the rapid spread of contagious illnesses such as cholera and flu. Tourism may also increase immorality in urban areas. The local people will seek money from tourists, who in turn ask for sexual favors. This increases the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV & AIDS. However, tourism has some positive socio-cultural influences. According to Burns and Holden, rural cultures will learn from modern culture and embrace modern thinking, beliefs, and practices which bring them up to date in the modern society. It enables them to leave behind retrogressive culture, traditional practices and beliefs. Tourism influences education and healthcare systems of a country since the host country tends to adopt new standards which are brought in by tourists. This encourages the locals to live a healthier life. However, these arguments are countered by negative influences that result from tourism influence. Tampering with a traditional culture causes conflicts between those who conform to the modern culture and those who deny it. Adoption of new education and healthcare systems may fail due to lack of pre-existing sufficient support structures. Contact between tourists and the local community sometimes causes tension, hostility, and suspicion. Cases of racism have been reported in many countries influenced by tourism. Immorality and the spread of diseases is the leading setback behind tourism. This problem has been encountered along the Kenyan Coast where men from the Maasai community are known to visit the beaches in search of sex partners (The Daily Nation, 2017, pg. 12).
Political Issues of Tourism
Lastly, there are various political issues associated with tourism in developing countries. The main setback resulting from tourism is resource conservation to maintain tourist attractions so as to ensure long-term profits. This is difficult to achieve in developing countries because of poverty. People might have no choice but to take immediate benefits at the expense of the long-term sustainability of the area (Briedenham & Wickens, 2004, p. 56). For example, tourism development led to damage of the environment in Puerto Rico and Mexico because of construction of tourist attractions such as hotels at the expense of natural beauty (Jude & Kraus, p. 78). Threats of terrorist attacks have been reported in tourist countries over the recent past. This is related to the rising rate of insecurity reported in congested tourist cities which aim to extort the tourists. For instance, tourists have been kidnapped before along the coast of Somalia. Interactions between tourists and the host community cause religious intolerances because of their diverse religious viewpoints. Tourism leads to corruption by altering existing plans in order to support tourism facilities or buildings. For instance, this happened in Dubrovnik, Croatia where 80 million worth of investment in real estate was bought by developers for 1.2 billion in order to construct apartments and villas for tourists. Countries that are corrupt encourage fewer tourism inflows and less foreign investment (Saha & Yap, 2014, p. 18). In addition, tourism markets operating as monopolies and supported by corrupt politicians restrict entry of new businesses (Poon, 2015). Despite major negative impacts of tourism on the political environment, tourism is argued to have some positive influences. However, these influences are countered with more negative setbacks. For instance, Poon (2015, p. 189) argues that tourism builds strong relationships between neighboring countries. Participation in a common market encourages interaction between these countries and strengthens their ties. However, this is not true for neighboring countries that lack a common tourism market. Conflicts may arise in a situation where one country does not benefit from the market and therefore chooses not to engage its neighbor. Furthermore, conflicts arise when a tourist attraction site is shared by two countries. For instance, the Kenyan and Ugandan governments have been in constant fights over who should benefit from revenues generated by Migingo Island which is located in Lake Victoria.
Conclusion
In conclusion, impacts of tourism in developing countries are experienced in three areas; economic, socio-cultural and political environment. Tourism increases dependency on the tourism sector and causes inflation in the long-run. Increased tourism activities put a huge pressure on natural resources available. Although tourism encourages the transfer of money from one place to another, it causes uneven distribution of wealth and also increases land prices due to high demand for land for construction of tourism facilities. Through tourism, new employment opportunities are created. This is a positive influence, but on the other hand, it leads to a shortage of manpower in regions that lack tourist attractions. It also leads to congestion and overcrowding in tourist centers, which causes further effects such as theft and immorality. Tourism encourages improvement of infrastructure, but this leads to more congestion on roads. Political impacts of tourism include increased rates of terrorist activities and rising insecurity. Corruption in developing countries is encouraged through tourism where politicians use funds meant to be invested in other sectors, to construct tourism facilities because of high revenues associated with tourism. In my opinion, tourism has both positive and negative impacts on the local people. However, there are more detrimental effects in some cases when tourism is unplanned. Therefore, developing countries have to consider sustainable solutions to counter this problem.
References
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