Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
imports of building materials and equipment strain the
country's supply system, and funds are diverted to hotel
construction that could have been spent on other needs
such as housing for citizens. Moreover, many hotels and
other tourist facilities are owned not by the host country
but by large multinational corporations. These corpora-
tions earn enormous profi ts, most of which are sent back
to owners, shareholders, and executives.
Countries that do earn substantial income from tour-
ism include Thailand, Kenya, Barbados, and Fiji. Much of
the income a country receives from tourism revenues are
reinvested in the construction of ai
down the street, children suffer from malnutrition. If the
tourist industry offered real prospects for economic prog-
ress in low-income countries, such circumstances might be
viewed as temporary, unfortunate by-products. However,
the evidence too often points in the other direction.
rports, cruise-ports, and
other infrastructure that supports more tourism. Tourism
can create local jobs, but they are often low-paying and
have little job security. In tourist zones, many employees
work two or three jobs in order to break even. Tourism can
bring wealth to owners, shareholders, and executives out-
side of tourist destinations.
Tourism frequently strains the fabric of local com-
munities as well. The invasion of poor communities by
wealthier visitors can foster antipathy and resentment.
Tourism can also have the effect of altering, and even
debasing, local culture, which is adapted to suit the visi-
tors' taste. In many instances tourism fosters a “demon-
stration effect” among locals that encourages them to
behave in ways that may please or interest the visitors but
that is disdained by the larger local community. Some
tourism workers consider employment in the tourist
industry dehumanizing because it demands displays of
friendliness and servitude that locals fi nd insulting.
A fl ood of affl uent tourists may be appealing to
the government of a poor country whose elite may have
a fi nancial stake in the hotels where they can share the
pleasures of the wealthy, but local entrepreneurs often
take a different view. Indeed, powerful multinational cor-
porations and national governments may intervene to
limit the opportunities of local, small-scale operators in
favor of mass, prearranged tourist destinations (“exclu-
sive” resorts) that isolate the tourist from local society.
Overreliance on tourism can also leave an economy vul-
nerable if shifting economic circumstances cause a sharp
decline in the number of tourists or if natural disasters hit.
Because many tourist destinations in poorer countries are
beach attractions, natural hazards such as the 2004 tsu-
nami in Southeast Asia can destroy the lynchpin of a coun-
try's economy (we discuss the tsunami and other natural
hazards in greater detail in Chapter 13). Suffering the loss
of thousands of people; dealing with the after-effects of
sewage, homelessness, orphans, and the destitute; and
coping with rebuilding the tourist destinations must occur
while the fl ow of tourist-related income has stopped.
The cultural landscape of tourism is frequently a
study in harsh contrasts: gleaming hotels tower over mod-
est, often poor housing; luxury liners glide past poverty-
stricken villages; opulent meals are served in hotels while,
Think of a trip you have made to a poorer area of the coun-
try or a poorer region of the world. Describe how your expe-
rience in the place as a tourist was fundamentally different
from the everyday lives of the people who live in the place.
HOW DO POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
INSTITUTIONS INFLUENCE UNEVEN
DEVELOPMENT WITHIN STATES?
In our globalized world, poverty is not confi ned to
the periphery. Core countries have regions and peoples
that are markedly poorer than others. On the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in the northern Great Plains of the
United States, unemployment hovers at 80 percent, and
more than 60 percent of the people live in poverty with
a per capita income of just over $6000. Other countries
of the core have similar regions where peoples' economic
lives do not improve when the country's economy grows.
In Europe, areas of isolation and stagnation persist—
particularly in the east. At the same time, some places
in peripheral countries are experiencing rapid economic
growth. The local conditions in these places differ sharply
from those prevailing in surrounding areas. Recent eco-
nomic growth on the Pacifi c Rim of East Asia has created
huge regional disparities in economic conditions between
some coastal provinces of China and distant interior prov-
inces. Such regional economic contrasts have signifi cant
political as well as social consequences.
As noted at the beginning of this chapter, regional
contrasts in wealth are a reminder that per capita GNI
does not accurately represent the economic development
of individual places. Any statistic that is derived for an
entire country or State hides the variety of economic situ-
ations within. Peripheral countries are notoriously marked
by severe regional disparities. In Chapter 9 we discussed
the stark contrasts between wealthy and poor within Latin
American and African cities. When viewed at the scale
of the State, major cities (particularly capitals) and their
surroundings often look like islands of prosperity, with
