Tourism and Socio-cultural Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 205

7 Tourism and Socio-cultural

Development Issues

Atsuko Hashimoto

Introduction

In the pursuit of modernisation and the promotion of development
within a country, many developing nations have chosen tourism as their
preferred growth mechanism. During the process of development, it is often
economic indicators that draw the most attention and tourism is seen as
attractive as it is argued that it generates foreign exchange, increases employ-
ment, attracts development capital and promotes economic independence
(Britton, 1982b). As it creates jobs and generates income, 'tourism is. . .said to
promote a level of economic development conductive to increase social well-
being and stability' (Weaver & Opperman, 2000: 285). Tourism has always
been regarded as a means of encouraging economic development, but it has
not been seriously considered as a means of promoting social and cultural
development. The concept of socio-economic development emphasises the
improvement of various indicators, including improvements in living condi-
tions and the quality of life and well-being of populations. Often, these indi-
cators include decreasing mortality rates, increased literacy rates and access
to health care and clean water supplies, as well as broader socio-political
aims, such as improving freedom of choice, increasing political autonomy,
promoting the opportunity for endogenous decision-making and the encour-
agement of self-reliance. The extent to which tourism can contribute to the
improvement of these indicators is difficult to say. One of the reasons for
the lack of clear understanding of the impact of tourism on a society is the
fact that tourism development is often only a smaller part of larger develop-
ment schemes, such as national economic development or regional economic
improvement plans. In addition, for many of these broader indices, there is
no explicit guideline as to what constitutes a necessary level of 'improve-
ment' of these conditions in various cultural and social contexts. Also at
issue here is the fact that the concepts of 'improvement' and 'development'

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