Tourism and Development

For much of the developing world, tourism is regarded as an activity of great economic significance. Some see it as the main instrument for economic and regional development, whilst for others it is an option to enhance local economic capacity. Development success through tourism can be both obvious and elusive, but the expectations of it are primarily for economic enhancement. Tourism investment, growth and decline in its various forms directly affect development at all levels. Tourism may have positive economic impacts on the balance of payments, on employment, on gross income and production, but it may also have negative effects, particularly on the environment and on communities. Tourism might also perpetuate existing socio-spatial inequalities, so promoting uneven or dependent development. However, there are tourism activities whose roles are neither identified nor well understood, and attractions and destinations evolve and change. World-wide, small communities aspire to tourism where there appears to be no alternative resources for development, but a tourist attraction which initially demonstrated qualities of development may evolve to become damaging and exploitative.
Also, conventional analysis of tourism neglects the significant role of domestic and inter-regional tourism in the Developing World. The opportunities and conflicts emerging from tourism expansion within such regions contribute to a distinctive understanding of development through tourism. Tourism NGOs, academics and others have long voiced opposition to the exploitative nature of some tourist activities and now challenge the developmental claims from within the tourism industry. Recent debates in the tourism literature have focused on whether newer forms of tourism and more 'ethical' forms of consumption contribute to development. Both tourism and development and the debates surrounding each, have changed during the past decade, aspects of which are explored in this text.