Tourism, Climate Change and Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 340

connections, which can then be utilised to export other products and
services as well. The UNWTO (2006b: 1) has argued that there are several
reasons that make tourism an 'especially suitable economic development
sector for LDCs' (see also UNEP, 2011):
(1) Tourism is consumed at the point of production; the tourist has to go to
the destination and spend his/her money there, opening an opportunity
for local businesses of all sorts, and allowing local communities to ben-
efit through the informal economy, by selling goods and services directly
to visitors;
(2) Most LDCs have a comparative advantage in tourism over developed
countries. They have assets of enormous value to the tourism industry -
culture, art, music, natural landscapes, wildlife and climate and World
Heritage Sites. Visits by tourists to such sites can generate employment
and income for communities as well as helping in the conservation of
cultural and natural assets;
(3) Tourism is a more diverse industry than many others. It has the poten-
tial to support other economic activities, both through providing flexi-
ble, part-time jobs that can complement other livelihood options, and
through creating income throughout a complex supply chain of goods
and services;
(4) Tourism is labour intensive, which is particularly important in tackling
poverty. It also provides a wide range of different employment opportu-
nities especially for women and young people - from the highly skilled
to the unskilled - and generally it requires relatively little training;
(5) It creates opportunities for many small and micro entrepreneurs, either
in the formal or informal economy; it is an industry in which start-up
costs and barriers to entry are generally low or can easily be lowered;
(6) Tourism provides not only material benefits for the poor but also cul-
tural pride. It creates greater awareness of the natural environment and
its economic value, a sense of ownership and reduced vulnerability
through diversification of income sources;
(7) The infrastructure required by tourism, such as transport and commu-
nications, water supply and sanitation, public security, and health ser-
vices, can also benefit poor communities.
Nevertheless, there has also long been substantial criticism of what has been
perceived as the negative impacts of tourism as a development strategy (e.g.
de Kadt, 1979b; Chok et al. , 2007; Hall, 2007b; Hall & Lew, 2009; Telfer &
Sharpley, 2008). Furthermore, the supposed comparative advantages of LDCs
with respect to tourism are not evenly distributed. As noted above, there are
many developing countries and regions with only limited opportunities to
benefit from international tourism. It is important to note that while tourism
has been promoted by some in the development community for over 40 years,