Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the mid to long-term relative contribution of international tourism projects
to development strategies remains poorly evaluated (Hawkins & Mann,
2007), with some research suggesting that more gradual small-scale domestic
tourism focused projects may be more beneficial (Zapata et al. , 2011).
Economic benefits associated with international tourism development may
not be as great as expected because of profit repatriation by foreign investors,
the nature of local economic networks and structures, relatively low wages,
underemployment because of seasonal demand and the replacement of exist-
ing economic activity in some tourism resort areas (e.g. Chok et al. , 2007;
see Chapter 10). For example, Blake's (2008) study of Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda, indicated that hotels and restaurants, and in particular the transport
industry, provide below-average shares of income to poor households com-
pared to other export sectors, leading to the conclusion that 'these results
paint a fairly poor picture of the ability of tourism to alleviate poverty' (Blake,
2008: 511), particularly because tourism tends to be disproportionally benefi-
cial to the already wealthy (Blake et al. , 2008; Schilcher, 2007) and can rein-
force existing inequalities (Scheyvens & Momsen, 2008a). Similarly, the
contribution of international aviation to sustainable development has also
been brought into question (Daley, 2009; Walker & Cook, 2009).
In addition, the extent to which a nation or specific region is economi-
cally dependent on tourism and the relative cost-distance from markets will
have implications for the overall economic vulnerability of that destination
to climate change and emerging climate policy regimes and its capacities to
achieve development objectives. As Table 11.3 illustrates, those economies
that are highly dependent on tourism tend to be island states, which are also
some of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Mimura et al. ,
2007; McMullen & Jabbour, 2009; UNFCCC, 2008). However, other highly
significant vulnerabilities for developing countries include tourism being con-
centrated in coastal regions and estuarine systems (e.g. Nicholls et al. , 2007),
mountain regions (e.g. Beniston, 2003), having environmentally-based attrac-
tions, such as safari and ecotourism (Gössling & Hall, 2006a; Scott et al. ,
2008, 2012b), as well as having a substantial proportion of their market based
on long-haul travel (greater than six hours). Indeed, some of the reasons that
make tourism attractive as a development mechanism are also the very ones
that make it vulnerable to climate change.
Taking into account the drawbacks of tourism development, is important
for understanding the tourism/development/climate change nexus and the
potential vulnerabilities that may arise from a focus on tourism development
in an era of rapid climate change. Assessing the contribution of tourism to
development on the basis of its immediate potential employment and eco-
nomic generation alone provides an extremely limited understanding of tour-
ism's contribution to development. This means that tourism's environmental
and socio-cultural affects also need to be considered when assessing its role
as a development mechanism, but also the importance of seeking to assess
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