Travel and Tourism (9395) Study Notes: Impacts of Tourism (7.3)

Hello future destination manager! This chapter is crucial because it moves beyond just *what* tourism is and looks at *how* it affects the destinations we study. Tourism is a powerful force—it can build up a community or tear it down. Understanding these impacts (positive and negative) is the foundation of sustainable destination management.

In your AS/A Level exams, you must be able to analyse impacts across three main areas. A helpful way to remember them is EES:

  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Sociocultural

7.3 (a) Economic Impacts of Tourism

Economic impacts deal with money—how much tourism brings in, how it’s spent, and whether the local community benefits.

Positive Economic Impacts (The Benefits)

Tourism is often seen as a fast track to development, especially for countries without major industrial or manufacturing sectors.

1. Income Generation and Foreign Exchange

When international tourists visit, they pay in foreign currencies (like USD, Euros). This influx of currency helps the host country purchase necessary imports (goods or raw materials) and strengthens its national economic standing. It is a vital source of income generation.

2. Job Creation and Training
Tourism creates diverse jobs, from high-skill management roles (e.g., hotel managers) to low-skill entry positions (e.g., cleaners, waiters). It also funds job training programmes, improving the skills of the local workforce.

3. Development of Infrastructure
The needs of tourists often justify investment in better infrastructure that benefits everyone: new airports, improved roads, better water and sanitation systems, and faster telecommunications. This leads to wider economic development.

4. The Multiplier Effect
This is a key concept! The multiplier effect occurs when money spent by a tourist is re-spent within the local economy, creating a ripple effect.

Step-by-step example:
1. A tourist buys food from a local restaurant ($100). (Initial income)
2. The restaurant owner uses that $100 to pay their local supplier.
3. The supplier uses that income to buy new clothes from a local tailor.
4. The tailor spends that money locally... and so on.

The initial $100 generates far more than $100 of total income for the destination.

Quick Review: Positive Economic Impacts
Tourism provides foreign cash, creates jobs, funds infrastructure, and boosts the economy through the multiplier effect.

Negative Economic Impacts (The Drawbacks)

Not all the money stays in the destination, and tourism can create risks for the local economy.

1. Leakages
This is the opposite of the multiplier effect. A leakage is when money spent by tourists leaves the destination economy.
Common causes of leakage:

  • Paying for imported goods (food, luxury items, building materials).
  • Profits repatriated (sent back) to overseas headquarters (e.g., if the hotel chain is foreign-owned).
  • Paying foreign staff and experts who send their wages home.

In developing countries, leakages can be as high as 60-80% of tourist spending!

2. Over-Dependency and Seasonality
If a destination relies too much on tourism (over-dependency), it is vulnerable to global events like pandemics, recessions, or political unrest. Many tourism jobs suffer from seasonality, meaning employment is only available during peak seasons, leading to income instability for local workers.

3. Increased Living Costs and Taxes
Increased demand from wealthy tourists can push up the price of goods, services, and land (housing). This results in increased living costs for the local population, who might struggle to afford to live in their own community.

4. Low Skills / Low Pay
Many tourism jobs are in the service sector and are often characterized by low pay and requiring low skills, which does little to improve long-term economic opportunity for the local population.

Key Takeaway (Economic): Maximise the multiplier effect by encouraging tourists to use local, independently-owned businesses and minimise leakages.


7.3 (b) Environmental Impacts of Tourism

These impacts relate to the natural environment, landscapes, wildlife, and resource use.

Positive Environmental Impacts (Conservation)

Sometimes, tourism is the only thing that saves a fragile environment, as it provides a financial incentive for protection.

1. Conservation, Preservation, and Protection
Tourism revenue can be directly invested into protecting sensitive areas (e.g., national parks, coral reefs). If a rainforest earns money through ecotourism, locals are encouraged to protect it rather than chop it down for logging. This helps in the preservation and conservation of natural destinations.

2. Improved Assets and Regeneration
Tourism funding allows for the renovation of historic buildings and the regeneration of previously damaged or polluted sites, turning them into attractive visitor attractions (e.g., cleaning up beaches). This results in improved assets.

3. Sustainable Practices and Building Regulations
Destinations may introduce strict building regulations or promote sustainable practices (like renewable energy use in hotels) to attract environmentally conscious tourists.

Did you know? The entrance fees paid by tourists to visit places like the Galapagos Islands or various African national parks directly fund anti-poaching units and scientific research.

Negative Environmental Impacts (Damage)

The sheer number of tourists and the necessary infrastructure can put massive strain on the environment.

1. Pollution and Waste
Increased transport (flights, cruise ships, cars) causes air pollution and traffic congestion. Hotels and resorts generate massive amounts of solid waste and litter, and increased sewage disposal can cause water pollution, especially in coastal areas (which often leads to coral reef destruction).

2. Pressure on Local Resources
Large resorts often consume vast amounts of fresh water and electricity, putting pressure on local resources. If a hotel pool and golf course use all the available water, local farmers or residents may suffer from shortages.

3. Land Degradation and Erosion
The development of resorts and infrastructure leads to land degradation and habitat loss. Popular footpaths or hiking trails can suffer from erosion of natural resources due to heavy foot traffic.

4. Destruction of Wildlife Systems
Noise from tourist activities (boats, planes, music) can disrupt animal behavior, including their feeding or breeding patterns. Uncontrolled tourist interactions (e.g., feeding wild animals, touching coral) can severely damage delicate ecosystems.

Key Takeaway (Environmental): Tourism provides the funds to protect resources, but mass tourism risks consuming or polluting those same resources.


7.3 (c) Sociocultural Impacts of Tourism

These impacts look at how tourism affects the people, their culture, traditions, lifestyle, and community structure.

Positive Sociocultural Impacts (Cultural Benefits)

Tourism can help revive traditions and promote peace and understanding.

1. Preservation of Culture and Identity
Tourism creates a demand for traditional customs, music, art, and crafts. This gives locals a reason to keep their traditions alive (strengthened cultural identity) and provides an income stream from selling authentic goods.

2. Provision of Community Services
Taxes and income generated by tourism can fund community facilities and public services (e.g., museums, libraries, better healthcare) that benefit both visitors and locals.

3. Cultural Understanding
Interaction between tourists and the host community fosters cultural bonding and mutual cultural understanding, breaking down stereotypes and promoting global social integration.

4. Empowerment
Through involvement in tourism planning and management, the local community is empowered to make decisions about their own environment and future development.

Negative Sociocultural Impacts (Cultural Harm)

The interaction between two different groups of people (hosts and guests) often results in friction and changes to the local way of life.

1. Loss of Cultural Identity and Conflict
When cultural practices are performed repeatedly for money, they can lose their spiritual or traditional meaning—this is called commodification. Traditional ceremonies might become timed, simplified shows for tourists (staged authenticity). This commercialization can lead to a loss of cultural identity and conflicts with the host community who resent the changes.

2. The Demonstration Effect

This happens when locals observe the wealth, dress, and consumer habits of tourists and try to imitate them, often leading to abandonment of traditional values or increased desire for foreign goods. For example, local teenagers might swap traditional clothing for Western fashion and prefer to work in modern hotels rather than traditional jobs. This can cause changes to traditional family structures.

3. Social Problems and Crime
Increased visitor numbers, often associated with high spending power, can attract unwelcome social problems such as drug use, gambling, prostitution, and general crime or begging, especially in poorly regulated areas.

4. Damage to Heritage Sites
Overcrowding and careless behaviour by tourists can cause direct physical damage, erosion, or vandalism to historical monuments, ancient buildings, and artefacts.

Don't worry if this seems tricky at first! The key is remembering that sociocultural impacts are about the *people*—their traditions, values, and quality of life.

Key Takeaway (Sociocultural): Tourism helps fund cultural revival and understanding, but it risks commercializing and damaging the very culture it seeks to celebrate.


Comprehensive Summary of Impacts (EES Framework)

Type of Impact Positive (Maximise) Negative (Minimise)
Economic Income, foreign exchange, job creation, infrastructure, multiplier effect. Leakages, over-dependency, seasonality, increased living costs/taxes, low pay.
Environmental Conservation, preservation, regeneration, improved assets, sustainable practices. Pollution (air, water, noise), traffic congestion, resource pressure, land erosion, wildlife disruption.
Sociocultural Preservation of customs, cultural understanding/bonding, community facilities, empowerment. Commodification, staged authenticity, demonstration effect, conflicts/crime, loss of identity.