Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 12.19
Plano-Richardson,Texas.
The Plano-Richardson
Telecom Corridor is located just north of Dallas
and is home to telecom corporate headquarters,
such as Electronic Data Systems Corporation's head-
quarters in this photograph.
© EDS/AP/Wide World
Photos.
Tourism Services
Every service industry has its own locational characteris-
tics, but tourism is almost in a class by itself due to its
geographical extent and economic signifi cance. Once a rela-
tively small activity confi ned to a set of specialized locations,
tourism is now the world's largest service sector industry.
Tourism grew dramatically during the second half of
the twentieth century. The tourism boom began in the
global economic core as incomes and leisure time increased
for a rapidly expanding segment of the population. Over
the past three decades, the number of East and Southeast
Asian tourists has risen much faster than the global average,
refl ecting the economic boom in many of the Pacifi c Rim
countries. The combination of a weakening global econ-
omy and concerns over political stability caused noticeable
dips in travel at the beginning and end of the fi rst decade of
the twenty-fi rst century, but absent a major economic or
geopolitical crisis, tourism is likely to continue to expand.
In Chapter 10 we looked at some of the social and
cultural impacts of tourism, but it is important to recog-
nize that tourism is a major industry as well. Communities
all over the world have worked hard to promote tourism,
and many are now notably reliant on tourist receipts. The
tourist industry has transformed downtowns, ports, hin-
terlands, parks, and waterfronts. High-rise, ultramodern
hotels dominate urban skylines from Boston to Bri
directly and indirectly employ thousands of workers.
Dubai has constructed an indoor ski run in the Mall of the
Emirates in an effort to attract more visitors. Once-remote
wildlife parks and nature reserves in East Africa and South
Asia now receive thousands of visitors, requiring expanded
facilities and sometimes causing ecological damage.
Formerly isolated beaches are now lined by high-rise
hotels and resorts; in the Caribbean and the Pacifi c, some
entire islands have been taken over by tour operators.
The economic impacts of tourist-related development
are far-reaching. The monetary value of goods and services
associated with tourism is now conservatively estimated at
more than $2 trillion—and if spillover effects are taken into
consideration, the fi gure could be twice as large. With the
growing middle class in China and India and with increases
in average life expectancy, the fi gure is likely to continue to
grow, affecting the prospects of places all over the world.
Place Vulnerabilities in a Service Economy
Every type of economy carries with it potential vulnera-
bilities. In the early stages of industrialization the eco-
nomic destinies of places was tied to the manufacturing
operations established in those places. As a result, such
places were vulnerable to wrenching adjustments when
demand shifted for the goods produced by local manufac-
turers or when the changing costs of transportation or
labor lead business owners to downscale or shift produc-
tion elsewhere. Many older industrial areas in the United
States and Europe experienced such adjustments, and
their best hope for rebuilding often lay in the service
economy. Thus, in Duisburg—a city at the heart of
sbane.
The Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades
have been reconstructed to serve the cruise i
ndustry, and
many ports from Tokyo to Tampa have added cruise termi-
nals complete with shopping malls and restaurants. Theme
parks such as Disney's establishments near Orlando, Paris,
Tokyo, and Los Angeles draw millions of visitors and
