Impacts of tourism (slides part 2)

1. SECONDARY TWO GEOGRAPHY
TOURISM (PART ONE)
Definitions
• Tourist
• Tourism
• Tourist destination
• Tourist origin / tourist generating area
Types of Tourism (based on where tourists come from)
1. Domestic tourism
− Increasing trend
2. International tourism
− Increasing trend
Reasons for the Growth of Tourism
a. Demand factors
 Disposable income
 Leisure time
 Changing lifestyles
b. Supply factors
 Attractions & amenities
 Accessibility
 Affordability
 Ancillary / subsidiary services
 Quality service
c. Other factors
 Media advertising & marketing
 Ease of making travel bookings
 Business meetings/conventions
 Reduction of political barriers

2. TOURISM (PART TWO)
The Growth of Tourism
• Why countries (esp LDCs) are keen to develop tourism
• Mass tourism: large no. of visitors going to a place
Impacts of the Growth of Tourism
a. Economic impacts
Positive impacts (+) Negative impacts (-)
 Creation of jobs
 Tourists buy goods (eg souvenirs, local
food and products) and services (eg.
massage) from the destination country.
 This creates a large number of jobs
for the local people (eg. hotel
receptionists, tour guides, bus drivers,
chefs, retailers etc).
 Seasonal unemployment
 During some seasons or during off
peak periods such as disease outbreak
(eg SARS) / unstable political
situations (eg. riots) / natural disasters
(eg. tsunami), tourist arrivals will
decrease.
 This can lead to seasonal
unemployment for the people
working in the tourism industry.
 Drop in tourist arrivals will cause
the tourism revenue of the
destination country to drop.
 Contribution to local economies
 When tourists visit a city, they spend on
goods and services.  This provides
income for the local people and
improves their standard of living. 
With more income, the local people can
now afford and buy more goods and
services.  This creates jobs and
improves the incomes of other people.
(multiplier effect)
 Enclave tourism
 Tourists staying in resorts/taking
cruises only allow limited economic
benefits to the destination countries.
 There is little interaction between
tourists and the local community 
This widens the social/cultural gap
between these the tourists and the
local community.
 Diversification of local economies
 The tourism industry creates an
economy with a variety of industries
and businesses.  This reduces the
overdependence on a particular type of
industry.
 Unequal development of industries
 Governments may be eager to develop
the tourism industry.  Primary
industries (eg. agriculture) and
secondary industries (eg.
manufacturing) may be
neglected/underdeveloped.

3. Positive impacts (+) Negative impacts (-)
 Contribution to country’s revenue
 When tourists visit a country, they
spend money in the country.  This
allows different stakeholders in the
tourism industry (eg. tour guides, travel
agencies, hotels etc) to earn profits.
 When tourists travel to a country, they
pay taxes.  This contributes to
tourism revenue for the destination
country.
 Loss of incomes
 As some of the tour companies and
hotels are owned by foreigners, the
profits/revenue earned from tourists
goes to the foreign owners instead of
the locals. (leakages)
 Foreigners who have better
qualifications/more working
experience may be employed instead
of the local people.  This results in
loss of job opportunities for the local
people. (leakages)
 Development of infrastructure
 To attract more tourists, the government
needs to develop the country’s
infrastructure (eg. better roads &
amenities etc).  This would enrich the
lives of the local people.
 Governments can use the revenue from
tourism to upgrade attractions and build
facilities such as hospitals/schools. 
This would improve the standard of
living of the local people.
 High infrastructure costs
 A large capital is required to build
supporting infrastructure/upgrade
tourist attractions.  But the money
may be better spent on providing
education and healthcare which may
be more beneficial for the local society
in the long run.
 Increase in foreign investment
 Foreign investors may set up new hotel
businesses in the destination country.
 Other foreign investors may be
encouraged to follow.  This
would make the country more
attractive to foreign investors. 
This promotes local economic
growth and provides jobs for local
people.
 Foreign-owned hotels may provide
training for the local people (eg.
training in customer
service/hospitality, & train local
people to speak the English
language).  This would upgrade
the skills of the local people.
 Increase in prices
 When there are many tourists, there is
a greater demand for goods and
services.  This causes competition
for basic goods and services, and this
competition increases the prices of
these goods and services.  The local
people end up having to pay more for
these goods and services.

4. b. Socio-cultural impacts
Positive impacts (+) Negative impacts (-)
 Exchange of values
 When tourists interact with
local people, the tourist will
develop a better
understanding of the local
culture / traditions / way of
life.
 Clash of values
 Tourists may not be aware of the local customs
and etiquette (ie. right behaviors).  Thus, locals
may perceive tourists’ attire (ie. scantily-
clad/spaghetti top) and behavior (eg. PDA) as
inappropriate/disrespectful.
 Preservation of heritage
 Tourists come to a place to
visit and learn about the
local culture and customs.
 This encourages the
locals to actively preserve
the local heritage &
maintain buildings/artifacts
to attract tourists.
 Loss of local identity and local culture
 Local people may be encouraged to discard their
traditional activities for tourism-related ones to
make a living.
 Conflict for resource use
 The growing demand for tourism facilities may
result in competition for resources like water and
electricity between tourists and local people.
 Economic/income inequality
 Foreigners are usually better skilled/better
qualified. Thus they usually get the higher-paying
tourism jobs while the locals get the lower-paying
jobs.  This creates an income gap which can
lead to conflict between foreigners and locals
working in the tourism industry.
 Friction may arise from frequent contact between
the poorer local people and the rich tourists.
 Crime generation
 Tourists usually bring along with them cash &
expensive products (eg. cameras, phones and other
electronic products).  This may tempt local
people to pickpocket tourists as an easy way to
make a living.
 Tourists may be attracted to the availability of
drugs/gambling opportunities in some countries.
 As more and more tourist travel to these
countries to buy drugs/gamble, it encourages
the drug/gambling trade to flourish.
 This may also cause the local people to
become addicted to drugs/gambling.

5. c. Environmental impacts
Positive impacts (+) Negative impacts (-)
 Conservation of natural areas
 Governments/local authorities conserve
natural environments, as they are
valuable tourist destinations (potential
source of income!).
 Tourists are also taught to abide by
rules to protect fragile environments
(eg coral reefs, caves etc).
 Environmental degradation
 Footpath erosion
 Littering
 Pollution
 Pest infestation
 Plane flights release large amounts of
carbon dioxide emission into the
atmosphere.
 Exceeded carrying capacity
 The environment is not able to cope
with the great number of incoming
tourists.  Thus, the quality of the
environment deteriorates.
 Eg. Too many tourists trampling
on the vegetation & soil can cause
the area to suffer from soil
erosion.
 Damage to fragile ecosystems
 Tourism developments (eg. building
steel structures/cable cars/hotels) can
damage the natural environment (eg.
reshape mountain slopes/tree
removal/change the coastline).
 When ships bring in tourists and dock
near the coast, it can damage the
surrounding coastal environments (eg.
coral reefs).
Ecotourism
• Responsible travel to natural areas that:
o conserves the environment
o sustains the well-being of local people
• Growing awareness of the increasing negative impacts of tourism on the
environment & people  led to growth of ecotourism.
• With proper management: ecotourism can bring greater benefits to the
environment & people
Case study of Serengeti
• Positive impacts of tourism
• Negative impacts of tourism