Research has shown that socio-cultural impacts are more likely to be experienced when the development of tourism is rapid and uncontrolled. It is also important to note, of course, that societies and cultures are dynamic; they are all in a constant state of change and no society is immune from external influence, tourism is undoubtedly one such influence but, frequently, tourism contributes towards, but does not cause, socio-cultural impacts and change. Nevertheless, tourism is often blamed for what are seen as undesirable changes in destination societies, and therefore care must be taken to determine the precise components of socio-cultural
As tourists, are we responsible for exploiting workers, upsetting cultures and damaging the environment? Tourism is the world 's fastest growing industry, worth several trillions of dollars. Developed countries, such as Italy or France continue attracting tourists all over the world , hence promoting a constant economic growth. On the other hand, developing countries such as Thailand, have harnessed the rapid expansion of global tourism, to promote fast economic growth. Due to economic and political differences between growing and developed countries, tourism and tourists differently affect countries they visit.
Tourism is viewed as an environmentally friendly way to revitalize distressed rural communities and economies (Sekhar, 2003). Tourism has emerged as the largest global industry of the 20th century and is projected to grow even faster in the 21st century. Recently, academicians have paid attention to the changing patterns of tourism as an embodiment of broader societal changes and the shift towards post-modernism. It is said that leisure related activities have become increasingly commoditized, reflecting a global “culture of consumption” (Gupta, 2011). Tourism is one of the world’s most rapidly growing industries and it has emerged as a fast growing sector in terms of employment and income generation.
The tourism sector of the economy has become one of the most significant components of globalization. With the expansion of the fordist middle class in the 1950s, tourism has become a globalized phenomenon that has and is sweeping across all countries and continents (Fletcher, 2011). For continents like Africa, tourism has become one of the top foreign income generators in most of the continent’s countries. At the same time commodification of African culture has become an eminent problem in most African societies. Every aspect of culture, may it be tangible goods like clothes or intangible factors like tradition, is now transformed into a commodity (Pröschel, 2012).
The interaction between tourists and poor communities can provide a number of intangible and practical benefits. These can range from increased awareness of cultural, environmental, and economic issues and values, on both sides, to mutual benefits from improved local investment in infrastructure. At the world conference held in Manila on tourism in 1980, importance of tourism and its effects were recognized in the declaration, which stated as; ‘’tourism is an essential activity both on the life of the nation since its direct and indirect effects on economical, social, cultural, and educational sectors of the society and their international relations’’. Economic benefits of tourism 1. Contribution to Gross Domestic Product; Tourism is being one of the world’s largest industries and contributes directly and indirectly (total contribution) to the global economy.
Moreover, another positive point that comes with public attention is the income of tourists, attracted by UNESCO's relevance. Nonetheless, tourism might not be as positive of an effect as we think, for instance, the cases of Venice or Amsterdam immediately come to mind, these overcrowded European cities are being destroyed by tourism, instead of benefitting from it, in Bali, as well, tourism is becoming an issue. Not only this, but also the influence the List has on tourism is not as relevant as one might think. As a matter of fact, the UNESCO World Heritage List is not one of the main factors that drives tourism, as most do not investigate whether a particular city has sites
Tourism is a long-run economic growth factor that plays an important role in standard living of people in developed countries. Tourism has large economic impact on creating job opportunities and achieving good revenue to reduce the unemployment. Furthermore, tourism is a main element that provides foreign exchange and tax revenues for nations in order to raise the standard of living of their own citizens. This may raise the standard living and improving the facilities and infrastructure in tourist attractions. In Italy, the participation of Italian in tourism market is based on their individual characteristics especially the level of education and occupation which indirectly reflect their income that affect the tourism
Tourism industry has both impacts which are positive impacts and negative impacts. The impacts of tourism can be divided into seven common categories which is economic, environment, social cultural, crowding and congestion, services, taxes and community attitude. There are several positive impacts for tourism in the perspective of economic. It can contribute to income and standard of living; improves and contribution to local economy; raising employment opportunities, improve investment, development and infrastructure spending, raise government tax revenues; improves public utilities infrastructure; improve transport infrastructure; raising opportunities for shopping; economic impact is widespread in the community; creates new business opportunities;
Cultural tourism is deemed as one of the most important forms in the tourism industry and UNWTO predicts that it will become one of its main forms of focus by 2020 (Niemczyk, 2013). The council of Europe has actively developed cultural tourism to support culture. The record of protected monuments in the European Union (EU) and that of buildings of historical interest in European Commission indicated that the development of cultural tourisms underscore the increasing critical position of culture and cultural attractions in modern society (Greg Richards, 2007). Urry (1990) pointed out that culture has discontinued to be the purpose of tourism in the 20th century; however, tourism is culture. Some attractions such as the Pyramids, Taj Mahal and
Introduction With an overall numbers surpassed 1.135 billion of international tourists arrivals in 2014 (UNWTO, 2015), tourism has become one of the key driver for socio-economic progress around the world. With the continuous growth and diversification, it is especially more evident in the developing countries. Sustainable Tourism has immense potential for positive change when decision of stakeholders is based on the economic, environmental, and social-cultural considerations. For instance, helping the local communities, protecting the habitats and natural resources, providing employment, improving living standards. Unfortunately, a lot unfavourable effects arises with the growth of tourism.