Tourism is the travel for recreation,
leisure, religious, family business purposes, usually of a limited duration.
Tourism is commonly associated with trans-national travel, but may also refer
to travel to another location within the same country. TheWorld Tourism
Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and
staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one
consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".[1]
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Tourism
can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming
and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments.
Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the
economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases it is of vital
importance.
Tourism suffered as a result of a
strong economic slowdown of the late-2000s recession,
between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus.[2][3] It then slowly recovered, with international tourist arrivals
surpassed the milestone 1 billion tourists globally for first time in history
in 2012.[4] International tourism receipts (the travel item of the balance of payments)
grew to US$1.03 trillion (€740 billion) in 2011,
corresponding to an increase in real
terms of 3.8% from
2010.[5] In 2012, China became the largest spender in
international tourism globally with US$102 billion, surpassing Germany and United States. China and emerging markets significantly increase their spending
over the past decade, with Russia and Brazil as
noteworthy examples.[6]
The different types of tourists in tourism industry
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How will you define a tourist?
Tourist can be defined as a person, who makes a tour away from home for
leisure, business or other purposes for more than one day but less than a
year. Based on their various needs and reasons for traveling, tourists are classified
in the following categories:
Incentive tourists: Incentives tourists are those few lucky
individuals, who get a holiday package as a reward from his company, for good
work or achieving targets, set by the company. Incentive tourists draw
inspiration from such tours to work harder, improve work relations and focus
on team bonding. A salesman who is awarded with a nice holiday package for
accomplishing the target sales is a perfect example of incentive tourist.
Health or medical tourist: Those who seek special medical treatment, which is
only possible away from home, make trips to other places and are called
Health or medical tourist. Some of these tourists avail medical assistance in
other countries, for they may be expensive in their own country. Many health
or medical tourists also make trips simply to stay for few days in healthier
climate. Hoards of medical tourist fly to South Africa from oversee countries
to undergo plastic surgery.
Business tourist: Tourist traveling with relation to business is
known as business tourist. Business tourism is part of the business world.
Most of the cities feature conference centers that cater to the needs of
business tourists. A proper example of a business tourist is a salesman, who
makes trips to different places to attend trade shows, to display and promote
his own products also.
Education tourists: Tourists traveling to a particular place in
another town, city or country for further study in order to improve his or
her educational qualification are termed as education tourist. There are also
group of people, who travel to attend workshops to upgrade skills. A clinic
nurse, who makes trip to another province to attend a particular workshop,
qualifying individual about infectious diseases is an example of an
educational tourist.
Adventure tourists: Adventure tourists look for some unusual or
bizarre experience. They seek adventurous activities that may be dangerous,
such as rock climbing, river rafting, skydiving, shark cave diving and bungee
jumping.
Cultural tourist: These types of tourists travel to experience the essence
of assorted cultures, such as San rock art, or cultural festivals such as the
National Art Festival in Grahams town, or the International Jazz Festival in
Cape Town. Cultural tourists also prefer to witness the World Heritage Sites
of the traveled country.
Eco-tourists: Nature loving tourists, who love to go green
like traveling to Bonita Gardens in Bloemfontein South Africa or similar
destinations are called eco-tourists. They travel throughout the world in
search of destinations not affected by pollution or much human
intervention.
Leisure tourist: These tourists want to rejuvenate and
revitalize with comfort, while enjoying a break from mundane routine of life.
Examples of this type of tourism are cruising while vacationing or simple
relaxing on a beach.
Religious tourist: Religious tourist travel to sites of religious
significance. World is dotted with a number of religious locations like Hajj
in Mecca, Jerusalem in Israel, Varanasi in India, and the Vatican in Rome.
During Easter, a huge conglomeration of Christian pilgrimage takes place in
Zion City.
Sport and recreation tourist: These sorts of tourists either take active
part in or just watch sports events. Some of such popular sport events are
the Soccer World Cup, Wimbledon Tennis Championship, Comrades Marathon, and
Fisher River Canoe Marathon.
Backpacking or youth tourist: This group of tourist is of young age and they
travel with minimum luggage and on a limited budget. But they are very
passionate and love excitements and adventures, while traveling. They
generally have no specific travel schedules and tend to travel
independently.
Special Interest Tourist (STI): They nurture particular passion in different
things like bird watching, nature, fishing during the Sardine Run, food and
wine or attending the Cape Town Book Fair.
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Benefits of Tourism
The key benefits of tourism are economic,
socio-cultural and environmental.
Economic benefits - Tourism can provide direct jobs to the
community, such as tour guides or hotel housekeeping. Indirect employment is
generated through other industries such as agriculture, food production, and
retail.
Visitors' expenditure generates income for the local community
and can lead to the alleviation of poverty in countries which are heavily
reliant on tourism.
Economic diversification is important to areas where
there may be a concentration of environmentally damaging industries such as
mining or manufacturing.
Infrastructure development such as airports, roads,
schools, hospitals, and retail areas have the potential to benefit the local
community and can aid economic development by allowing more trade and better
flow of goods and services.
Social benefits - Tourism can bring about a real sense of
pride and identity to communities. By showcasing distinct characteristics of
their ways of life, history and culture, tourism can encourage the preservation
of traditions which may be at risk of
Environmental
benefits - Tourism
provides financial support for the conservation of ecosystems and natural
resource management, making the destination more authentic and desirable to
visitors. It also adds more value to the local tourism business.
8 Disadvantages of Tourism:
The Dark Side of Vacations
For those of
you that have ever gone on vacation, you know how special an experience it can
be. And by vacation, we don’t mean visiting your parents for the holidays –
vacations shouldn’t trigger migraines. By vacation, we mean the “saving up
money for months, taking time off of work way in advance, buying a fanny
pack” type of vacation – not a trip, but an honest-to-goodness vacation. Unless
you yourself happen to live in a tourist destination, chances are you don’t
even think about the other side of the equation when visiting another part of
the world, or another part of your own country. If you did, then you might feel
a bit guilty for renting, then erratically driving, those scooters you find in
beach towns, or taking that slow guided tour through the busy streets of
downtown.
Most people either never even consider this, or
if they do, they don’t want to think about it, because a vacation is supposed
to be stress-free fun, and no one should feel guilty about taking a vacation.
But in reality, there is a downside to tourism – the places you’re visiting, no
matter how magical they may seem, have residents who live there all year round,
and they, the businesses, environment, everything, are all affected by tourism.
Today, we’re discussing the negative side of tourism, and how the throngs of
tourists can have a detrimental effect on their dream destination. Hopefully, we
don’t scare you away from traveling after reading this article, but if it
does freak you out a bit, then this course on traveling
with confidence, and this article on packing for
travel should be enough to get you excited about it again.
Some of the following negative issues
associated with the otherwise-enriching experience of tourism and traveling may
seem obvious, and others you probably never would have thought of. Either way,
try to be aware of them next time you plan a trip somewhere, and try your best
to be a conscientious traveler.
Stress
on Insufficient Infrastructure
Many times, local governments are unable to
prepare for the dramatic influx of people that accompany a destination’s “busy
season”, or for a special event, like the ones that revolve around sports,
such as the World Cup or the Olympics, or a cultural event, like Carnival or
Mardi Gras. Traffic jams and crowded streets full of ambling tourists can bring
local life to a grinding halt. Granted, all the planning in the world can’t
make already-existent streets any wider, but with major events only getting
more and more packed as population increases, without sufficient planning,
tourism can put a strain on local facilities and infrastructure, which may
prove difficult, and perhaps impossible, for a community to overcome.
Loss
of Privacy
There are countless local communities the world
over that have felt a loss of not only privacy, but the feeling that their town
is no longer theirs. Whether it’s a small medieval city in Italy, or a
colonial town in Central America, excessive tourism can can strip the locals of
a feeling of privacy. It may be due to the newly-packed restaurants and bars,
or the very streets that used to be empty, it’s not unusual to feel as if their
humble town has been taken over by outsiders.
Change of Priorities for Government
Because the local governments of smaller towns
and cities are easily overwhelmed, especially if they happen to be a popular
tourist destination, or are poised to become one, they may start focusing on
the potential influx of money brought in by tourists’ dollars, sometimes at the
cost of focusing on local issues. This may be especially true if a community is
not yet a destination, but has some type of event or landmark it can use to
bring in revenue. They may decide to focus attention and resources on this
potential cash flow rather than the local population and its issues.
Higher
Prices
Anyone who’s been to a popular tourist
destination knows that they’re going to spend a lot of money, not only due to
the volume of purchases, but because tourist destinations tend to jack up the
prices of everything: food, hotels, drinks, services, etc. Many tourists don’t
think about this, but the locals must also pay they exorbitant prices, which
are at their current state directly due to tourism. To learn how to stay on
budget when on the road, check out this course on traveling more
and spending less to save some bucks.
Local
Job Market Affected
In tourist destinations that tend to rely on
the weather for their tourist dollars, like places in the Caribbean, or towns
with good skiing, a majority of their workforce is tourism-reliant. What this
means for them is that many, if not most of these jobs are seasonal, and
virtually non-existent in the off-season, and when they are working, these
positions tend to be low paying. Hopefully this situation doesn’t describe you,
but if it does, or you’re just out of a job right now, no matter where you
live, then this course on getting a good
job will help you work on your resume, as well as your
networking and interviewing skills.
Resources
and Land Affected
This issue is related more to destinations that
cater to nature-lovers, and whose tourist appeal lies in their physical beauty.
These communities tend to be on the smaller side, and feel the magnified
effects of the tourism industry more so than other places might. Here, natural
resources such as water, energy, food, and even habitat areas, which were
possibly already in precarious positions, feel much more strain when a large
population is using them, in addition to the locals. Also, the physical land
may be at risk of negative affects. Soil erosion, pollution, discharge into
water, deforestation, and issues with local species of animals and plants may
come about due to the increased activity. If you’re planning a trip to a
beautiful destination, in addition to respecting the physical beauty, make sure
you document it, as well, and this course on the art of
travel photography will show you how to take better photos
of the beauty that surrounds you.
Commodification
When a tourist destination also happens to be
sacred, with spiritual and/or religious notions and activities associated with
it, there’s a good possibility that these places and ideas can just become
entertainment and commodities to some visitors. Associated with the concept of
“reconstructed ethnicity”, various rites, rituals, festivals, and places that
are seen as spiritually important, may end up taking on an air of entertainment,
possibly resulting in changes in local values, as well as lost respect for
these things.
Standardization
Tourists go to a place because it’s different
than what they’re used to, which influences some destinations to play up
their “unusualness”, but not too much so. While they may attempt to
keep their identity for tourists, destinations sometimes don’t want to be too
“different”, and must water down and standardize their product, as well as
throw in the food and hotel chains that many tourists feel comfortable with.
Hopefully
we haven’t scared you away from your next vacation to a tropical paradise, or a
small ancient town. All we wanted to do was inform you of some of the potential
downfalls of the normally glamorous tourism industry. Rarely do people discuss
the other side of this coin, and while these situations may not always be the
case, they very well could exist – just be aware of them, and try to be a
respectful and conscientious tourist next time you’re on vacation, and make
sure you document your travels well, which this course on travel
journaling will help you out with.
The
effects of tourism on LEDCs
Advantages
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Problems
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Foreign currency spent
by tourists can be invested in improving local education, health and other
services.
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Profits go
to foreign companies, such as tour operators and hotel chains, rather than to
the local community.
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Jobs for
local people are created and people can learn new skills in tourism services.
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Foreign companies may
bring foreign workers to do the skilled jobs; so local people only do low
skilled, poorly paid work.
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Construction creates
jobs and develops skills for local people.
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House prices rise
when foreign companies and investors buy property for hotels and holiday
homes. This often makes houses too expensive for locals.
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Local infrastructure is improved as water and sanitation facilities, roads, buses, taxis
and airports are provided for tourists.
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Important projects for
local communities might be sidelined as infrastructure developments are
focused on tourists.
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Visitors get
an insight into local customs and traditions.
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If the aim of
activities is to entertain, rather than educate tourists, this may belittle
the local people.
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Tourists see
beautiful landscapes, wildlife and plants. They can also be educated about
the dangers to fragile ecosystems in the modern world.
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Pollution and disruption to wildlife habitats could occur if tourism isn't sustainable.
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