Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
180 people and injured over 300 (Ramesh & Walker, 2008); the abduction
and killing of tourists in Timbuktu, Mali in 2011 and subsequent Al-Qaida
attacks in 2013 (BBC News, 2011b; CBC News, 2013). Attacks on tourists
may not necessarily be terrorism attacks as civil unrest, aggressive political
protests and industrial strikes can also impact tourist facilities. For example,
famous hotels in Cairo, Egypt, were stormed and ransacked by the local
population during the second anniversary of the uprising in 2013 (O'Reilly,
2013). Reports of bombings of heritage sites, museums and religious estab-
lishments where tourists visit are becoming more common. Moreover,
deathly attacks on tourist facilities and tourist areas also mean threats to
the safety and lives of local people who live and work in the areas. These
incidents also illustrate some of the growing challenges states face in fulfill-
ing their national and international obligations to protect people within
their territories.
Multi-national corporations and business practices
The human rights concerns in recent years regarding MNCs or multina-
tional enterprises (MNEs) are rather complex. The problems often stem from
alleged complicity between MNCs and their host nations. The popularity of
MNCs as agents to provide 'lifestyle' and 'identity' has increased since the
1960s (Muchlinski, 2001) and this trend is obvious in tourism today. MNCs
play a very important role in tourism development both in developed and
developing countries. They control a substantial part of the capital, technol-
ogy, labour and facilities that help to develop tourism. MNCs in tourism
development are often accused of exploitative treatment of local employees,
especially female and seasonal workers (George & Varghese, 2007). Globally,
they either own or have strong working relationships with hotel chains, air-
lines, tour operators, tour agencies and companies that operate coach and car
rental services, to mention a few (Keefe & Wheat, 1998: 14). The global politi-
cal economy of tourism largely reflects a 'metropolitan hegemonic' structure
in which developing states are more dependent on developed states for the
supply of capital, technology and tourists (Bianchi, 2002: 269; Leheny, 1995)
(see Chapter 10). Since the majority of MNCs operate from developed states
and control vast resources, they dominate in all aspects of tourism develop-
ment in developing countries. Local communities and entrepreneurs have the
right to access to land, water, housing, education, health care, natural
resources, information and access to tourism businesses without major legal
and financial hindrances as the UNUDHR states. Nevertheless, numerous
cases of MNCs' monopoly of access to and control over land, water and natu-
ral resources are reported.
This situation often puts small local entities in developing countries at
uneven economic positions since they are unable to compete with MNCs in
terms of capital investments and technology in tourism development. This
Search WWH ::
Custom Search