The Development and Management of International Tourism (9696)

Welcome to the fascinating world of international tourism! This chapter is all about understanding why travel has boomed globally, what happens when millions of tourists descend on a destination, and how we can manage this powerful industry sustainably. Don't worry if some terms seem new—we’ll break them down step-by-step!

1. Reasons for and Trends in the Growth of International Tourism (13.3)

International tourism means travelling outside your usual country of residence for at least one night, for leisure, business, or other reasons. The growth since the 1950s has been explosive—a real global phenomenon!

Why has international tourism grown so much?

Think of it as a combination of Push Factors (why people leave their homes) and Pull Factors (why they choose a specific destination).

A. Economic Factors: More Money, More Time

  • Increased Disposable Income: In High Income Countries (HICs), average wages rose dramatically after World War II, leaving more money available for luxuries like travel.
  • Paid Leave: Laws requiring employers to provide annual paid holiday time means people have guaranteed time off to travel.
  • Increased Retirement: Healthier, wealthier pensioners have more free time and money to travel, often outside of peak season.

B. Technological & Transport Factors: Faster and Cheaper

  • Mass Air Travel: The introduction of larger, more efficient jet aircraft (and the rise of low-cost airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet) has significantly dropped the price of long-distance travel.
  • Better Infrastructure: Development of airports, motorways, and faster rail networks makes destinations more accessible.
  • Digital Connectivity: The internet allows for easy research, booking (flights, accommodation, tours), and sharing experiences (social media), which promotes destinations.

C. Sociocultural & Political Factors: Stability and Desire

  • Desire for Exploration: Greater media exposure (TV documentaries, travel blogs) fuels the desire to see new places.
  • Shorter Working Weeks: More weekends and short breaks available.
  • Relaxed Borders: Fewer travel restrictions and easier visa processes in many regions.
  • Political Stability: As previously unstable regions become safer (e.g., parts of Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia), they open up as tourist destinations.

Key Takeaway: The tourism boom is driven by HICs having the money and time, combined with technology making travel cheap and easy. Trends show a shift: while traditional HIC destinations still dominate, growth is fastest in Middle Income Countries (MICs) and Low Income Countries (LICs).

2. Key Economic and Environmental Concepts (13.3)

Understanding the impact of tourism requires knowing how money flows and how many visitors a place can handle.

2.1 The Tourism Multiplier Effect

This explains how tourist spending spreads through the local economy. It’s a very important concept!

Definition: The tourism multiplier effect is the process by which initial spending by tourists in a destination generates further rounds of spending, creating income and employment in other sectors of the economy.

Step-by-Step Analogy (The Hotel Scenario):
1. Direct Income: A tourist stays in a hotel and pays \$100 (initial injection).
2. Indirect Income (Round 1): The hotel uses that \$100 to pay staff wages, buy local food, and pay utility bills.
3. Induced Income (Round 2): The hotel staff then spend their wages at local shops, transport, and schools. The local food suppliers spend their money on fuel, repairs, etc.

The total economic benefit is often much greater than the initial \$100 spent. This is highly beneficial for LICs/MICs.

Warning: The Problem of Leakage
Leakage occurs when the money spent by tourists does not stay in the local economy but "leaks" out to other countries. This often happens in LICs where:

  • Hotels are owned by foreign Transnational Corporations (TNCs), and profits return overseas.
  • The destination has to import luxury goods (like high-end liquor or specific foods) to cater to tourists.
  • Highly skilled jobs (management) are often filled by expatriates whose wages are transferred home.
2.2 Carrying Capacity

A destination cannot handle infinite tourists without consequences. This is where Carrying Capacity comes in.

Definition: Carrying capacity is the maximum number of people that a destination can support without experiencing unacceptable negative impacts on the environment, local community, or quality of the visitor experience.

Did you know? The concept of carrying capacity is critical for sustainable management, helping governments decide when to restrict access (like limiting daily visitors to Machu Picchu).

Types of Carrying Capacity:

  • Environmental Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of visitors a natural ecosystem can absorb without irreversible damage (e.g., coral reefs being broken by too many snorkelers).
  • Perceptual Carrying Capacity: The level of crowding that visitors are willing to tolerate before their own experience is negatively affected (e.g., too many queues at a museum).
  • Social Carrying Capacity: The level of tourist activity that the local population is willing to tolerate without feeling that their daily lives, culture, or customs are severely damaged (e.g., locals unable to afford housing due to high short-term rental costs).

Quick Review: Multiplier and Capacity
Multiplier = More money moving around.
Capacity = Too many people spoils the place and annoys the locals.

3. The Impacts of International Tourism (13.3)

Tourism is a double-edged sword. It brings massive benefits but also significant costs. We must consider the impacts on the environment, societies, and economies at both local and national scales.

3.1 Economic Impacts (Local and National)

Positive Impacts:

  • Job Creation: Direct jobs (hotels, airlines) and indirect jobs (construction, farming).
  • Foreign Exchange: Tourists bring hard currency (US dollars, Euros), improving the country’s Balance of Payments. (National scale impact).
  • Stimulates Infrastructure: Governments invest in better roads, airports, water, and power systems, which benefit locals as well as tourists.
  • Diversification: Provides an alternative income stream for countries that relied too heavily on primary industries (e.g., Cuba shifting from sugar to tourism).

Negative Impacts:

  • High Leakage: As discussed, much profit can leave the host country. (National scale problem, often worsening national debt).
  • Inflation/Price Rises: Tourist demand for food, water, and land pushes up local prices, making goods and housing unaffordable for the local population. (Local scale impact).
  • Seasonality: Many jobs are temporary, leading to high unemployment during the low season and unstable income for workers.
  • Over-reliance: If a country relies too heavily on tourism (e.g., The Maldives), political instability or global events (like the COVID-19 pandemic) can cripple the entire economy.
3.2 Sociocultural Impacts

Positive Impacts:

  • Cultural Preservation: Revenue generated can fund the restoration and maintenance of historical sites, traditional dances, and museums, which might otherwise be neglected.
  • Improved Services: Better schools and healthcare might be provided in areas developed for tourism to support workers and expatriate staff.

Negative Impacts:

  • Commodification of Culture: Local traditions (like dances or ceremonies) are turned into simplified performances purely for profit. The authentic meaning is lost.
  • Demonstration Effect: Locals imitate the often-wealthy tourists, leading to a breakdown of traditional values or increased desire for expensive foreign goods.
  • Social Friction: Conflicts arising from tourist behaviour (e.g., loud partying, inappropriate dress) and competition over resources (e.g., land, water).
  • Increased Crime and Drugs: Tourism hubs often attract crime, prostitution, and drug use.
3.3 Environmental Impacts

Positive Impacts:

  • Conservation Funding: Money from national park fees or eco-lodges directly funds wildlife protection and habitat maintenance (e.g., funding rhino patrols in South Africa).
  • Awareness: Tourists and locals become more aware of the need for conservation.

Negative Impacts:

  • Habitat Destruction: Coastal development (hotels, marinas) destroys sensitive ecosystems like mangroves and sand dunes.
  • Pollution: Increased air pollution from flights and cruises. Water pollution from sewage and waste disposal overwhelming local systems.
  • Resource Stress: Tourists use significantly more water and energy per capita than locals (e.g., demanding lush golf courses in arid regions).
  • Footpath Erosion: Overuse of trails in natural areas, damaging fragile vegetation.

4. Managing Tourism Growth: Models and New Forms (13.3)

To manage these impacts, geographers use models to predict how destinations will evolve, and destinations are shifting toward more responsible types of tourism.

4.1 The Tourism Life Cycle Model (Butler Model)

This model, proposed by R.W. Butler in 1980, suggests that almost all tourist destinations evolve over time through a series of predictable stages. Understanding this helps managers plan for future issues.

The Six Stages:

  1. Exploration: Very small numbers of adventurous tourists arrive, little local adaptation. e.g., Remote Himalayan village.
  2. Involvement: Locals start providing basic services (guesthouses). Small tourist season develops.
  3. Development: Large companies and TNCs invest, building big hotels. Tourist numbers soar, local influence decreases. e.g., Bali in the 1970s.
  4. Consolidation: Growth slows down. Mass tourism dominates. Marketing focuses on wider appeal. Social and environmental problems become obvious.
  5. Stagnation: The destination becomes unfashionable or run-down. Capacity has been reached or exceeded. Tourist numbers peak and then decline. e.g., Some old Mediterranean resorts.
  6. Decline or Rejuvenation:
    • Decline: Tourists go elsewhere; facilities close (often resulting in socio-economic problems).
    • Rejuvenation: New investment or a change in focus (e.g., switching from sun-and-sea to heritage or specialized niche tourism) brings new life.

Critical Evaluation (Why the Model isn't Perfect):

  • The stages are not rigid; destinations can skip stages or get stuck.
  • The model assumes a destination has infinite resources, but some places might never reach the stagnation phase if managed well.
  • It doesn't account for sudden external shocks (like pandemics or wars) which can cause instant decline.
4.2 Recent Developments: The Rise of Ecotourism

As the negative impacts of traditional Mass Tourism (large numbers, package holidays, centralized operations) became clear, demand grew for alternative forms of tourism.

Ecotourism Definition:
Ecotourism is defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.

Key Characteristics of Ecotourism:

  • Small Scale: Typically lower volume and smaller groups.
  • Locally Owned: Revenue stays within the local community (minimizing leakage).
  • Minimises Impact: Uses sustainable building materials, low water and energy use.
  • Educational: Focuses on teaching tourists about conservation and culture.
  • Supports Conservation: Profits often contribute directly to environmental projects.

Struggling with the difference? Think of Mass Tourism as a huge cruise ship docking in Venice (overcrowding, pollution). Think of Ecotourism as a small, locally-run jungle lodge in Costa Rica (low impact, educating guests, supporting locals).

5. The Management of a Tourist Destination (13.4)

The syllabus requires you to study a specific Case Study—a named tourist area or resort—and evaluate how it is being managed.

Your case study must cover:

1. Growth and Development: How did it get from Exploration to its current stage?

2. Issues of Sustainability: What problems does it face concerning environment, society, and economy (refer back to carrying capacity)?

3. Evaluation of Impacts and Management: What attempts have been made (e.g., quotas, zoning laws, investment in ecotourism)? How successful are they?

Example Checklist for a Case Study (e.g., Barcelona, Spain or Mount Everest, Nepal):

  • Environment: Is there too much waste/pollution? (Management: New waste management systems).
  • Society: Are locals being priced out of housing? (Management: Restricting AirBnB licences or setting 'tourist tax').
  • Economy: Is there too much leakage? (Management: Promoting local food suppliers and small businesses).

Key Takeaway for Case Studies: Remember to always evaluate. No solution is 100% successful. Discuss the conflicts of interest between groups (tourists vs. locals; government vs. TNCs).