"Out of the world tourist industry radiates stimuli for a wide range of industries producing goods and services; this is the very concept of tourism as an axial product. Viewed in this light, the tourism sector can play an important role in the diversification and transformation of a region."[Time for Action, 1992, cited in Pattullo, P., 1996:6]
1.1. The World Tourist Industry
In international trade terms, the global tourism industry is the second largest industry in the world. The industry has experienced rapid growth this century; in just the past two decades international tourism receipts have grown by 300% and are expected to grow by half as much again by the year 2000 [WTO, 1996].
In 1990 the tourist industry generated US$ 245 billion in international revenues and accounted for 6% of total world trade. In 1991, 8% of the worlds population - some 450 million people - travelled internationally compared to 25 million in 1950. [Figure 1. International Tourist arrivals] [WTO, 1996]. By 1995 this figure had climbed to 500 million representing 7% of world employment and 6% of world GNP [Burford, 1995:1]. With an expected 50% growth rate this decade, estimates for the year 2000 see tourism as the largest global industry involving 661 million tourists generating 300 million related jobs [Ceballos Lascurain 1994:4]. With respect to developing countries, the WWF calculated that 55US$ billion were earned from tourism across developing countries in 1989 [Panos, 1995:2].
The reasons for such unprecedented growth has been attributed to a wide range of factors including increased leisure time, higher incomes, the introduction of paid holidays, enhanced mobility, improvements in facilities and cheaper and easier travel [Matheison et al, 1990:1]. However to put this into perspective it is necessary to establish what is meant by tourism and exactly who is a tourist.
Defining Tourism. Who is a Tourist?
Tourism encompasses the whole world-wide industry of travel, hotels, transport and facilities that serves the needs and wants of travellers. This must, however, be distinguished from business travel where the primary motive for travel is not that of leisure. Thus tourism may be described as "An extreme form of recreation which is distinguished by relatively long lengths of stay away from home and relatively large distances travelled" [Briton, 1979, cited in Matheison et al, 1990:3]. It may be further regarded as the:
Tourists have many motives for travelling, thus finding a common definition that encompasses everything from action tourist to the sports lover or the anthropologist, yet excludes those who travel for business, study or as permanent travellers [nomads] is difficult. For the purpose of this study:
A tourist is a voluntary, temporary traveller travelling in the expectation of pleasure from the novelty and change experienced on a relatively long and non-recurrent round trip [Cohen cited in Lea.1995:6].
1.3. Tourism in Developing Countries.
The 1960's have come to be seen as the point in time in which developing countries were experiencing the political and social climate suitable for the introduction of large scale tourism projects as part of national strategies for economic development. Developing countries with failing economies, sat up and took notice of the mass-tourist 'phenomenon' sweeping through the western developed world [Prosser, in Cater, 1992:19].
Governments of developing countries have opted for development policies favouring tourism as an industry with the potential to increase economic growth by generating all important foreign currency. At the same time, demand for holiday resorts in the developing world has increased at a steady pace as tourists are increasingly attracted to hot climates with exotic cultures.
Only this decade has it been acknowledged that developing countries have become popular tourist destinations, notably for European and North American tourist traffic. However the relative success of the introduction of such large scale tourism into some of the most unspoilt corners of the earth must be considered in terms of costs and benefits.
1.4. Costs and Benefits Associated with Mass Tourism in Developing Countries.
1.4.1. Economic.
Considerably more is known about the economic advantages of the tourist industry than of the possible costs. The tourist industry can undoubtedly be a large contributor to the economic development of a country, stimulating industry, gaining large amounts of vital foreign exchange and creating employment possibilities. Employment may be direct, that is whereby jobs are created within the facilities that actually serve the tourists or indirect in "businesses benefiting from the boost in the local purchasing power" [Millman, 1989:275]. These economic benefits must however be weighed up against the disadvantages. These may be summarised as;
1.4.2. Cultural.
Tourism should be considered in the main, destructive of culture and tradition. It leads to over-crowding, large influxes of outside visitors [often replacing local potential for industry] and of foreign employees [who occupy the positions of higher responsibility and carry better salaries]. This can cause considerable local resentment by local residents toward both the industry as a whole and toward the tourists, something that was witnessed in 1992 in St. Lucia with the construction of the Jalousie 'all in' exclusive resort. Locals argued that the construction of the resort in virgin territory between two pietons was disrespectful of national culture and identity [something that the pietons represent] and that the land should be preserved for the good of all St. Lucians rather than be sold to a large foreign company. The project went ahead despite local protest and whilst a number of jobs were created, it raised the question amongst St. Lucians over the relevance of tourism development to the population as a whole [Patullo, 1996:3]. Additional problems that may be caused by large scale tourism development may be summarised as; increases in crime and prostitution [notably in countries of the Far East] and a general loss of local culture and spiritual values. This is especially the case with indigenous peoples, where tourism is one of the principal factors attributed to the loss of tradition and culture.
1.4.3. Physical
As the basis of this thesis is of ecotourism or nature tourism, the costs and benefits of tourism on the physical environment are of particular importance. On the whole, mass-tourism [large scale tourism development], is seen to hold little or no advantage for the natural environment. However, the disadvantages are considerable. These involve air pollution, pollution of coastal regions, rivers and lakes from increased human waste, traffic congestion, loss of natural habitats, increased land pressure, disruption of feeding and breeding habits of wildlife by inconsiderate or simply naive tourists, and in some cases large amounts of wildlife are simply wiped out to make way for the latest hotel construction [Matheison et al,1990].
1.5. Changing Ideas: Development Vs Sustainable Development.
Development in developing countries had concentrated largely on economic progress and growth [measured by G.N.P]. However critics suggest that such a measurement does not truly reflect the overall economic situation of a nation and thus, calls for new criteria to define development. Social progress resulting from mass-tourism in the developing nations to date is questionable, as is an equal spread of the economic gain from the industry [i.e. a small percentage of the population actually gain from the tourist revenues]. With the limited success of original development policies to eradicate inequalities, the increasing spread of poverty and in the face of the wide spread destruction of our planet, the need for a new approach was finally recognised. Social goals were incorporated along with desires to protect the natural environment in the idea of sustainable development. Again definitions differ; some incorporate both social and environmental aims, others focusing on just one:
Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [The Brundtland Commission, 1987].
Sustainable development suggests that lessons of ecology should be applied to the economic process [Redclift, 1987].
[Sustainable development] implies a political commitment to a programme of economic growth that will ensure a renewable resource base and respect for quality of life in environmental terms [Cubitt, 1994].
To draw these together it can be said that sustainable development is socially and environmentally aware progress that may be measured by the extent to which specific goals are met [Latin American Geography Lecture, 1996]. There was a change in fashions and nature of demand, which Prosser suggests was due to four main factors :
1) Dissatisfaction with existing products.
2) Growing environmental awareness and cultural sensibility.
3) Realisation that of precious resources regions possess, both human and natural, and the vulnerability of these regions.
4) Changing attitudes of developers and tour operators [Prosser, in Cater, 1995:31].
1.6. Conclusion.
This century has seen a rapid increase in the tourism industry, the perceived benefits outweighing the drawbacks. Developing countries have seen this industry as a means to developing their country and have thus opted for projects favouring large scale tourist development using foreign capital to further this industry. In the past decade, however, there has been a shift in thinking surrounding the relevance of tourism to development. The new wave of thinking surrounding the tourism issue and its consequences for development coincided with the new sustainable development ideology. Whilst early suggestions lead the worlds decision makers to believe that tourism development and foreign investment in the industry offered a solution to underdevelopment, critics in the 1970's began to suggest otherwise. In a response to the devastation of mass-tourism, tourism was changing course. It was suggested that the notion of sustainable development was applied to the tourism industry and it was not long before the idea of sustainable tourism or ecotourism was being entertained by developers, ecologists and the worlds decision makers.
Ecotourism : Reality or Rhetoric: Ecotourism Development in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico is a critical analysis by Natasha Kate Ward. Author retains copyright; all rights reserved. Contact Natasha Kate Ward via email: natasha_ward@hotmail.com
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