Tourism
Tourism is defined as persons travelling to, and staying in, places outside their usual environment
for more than a day but less than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.
Tourists are people who travel away from their homes for pleasure whose visit is for at least 24
hours but less than 365 days.
Conservation: allowing for developments that do not damage the character of a location.
Sustainable Development: development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
Ecotourism: responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves
the welfare of local people. Ecotourism is a type of sustainable development. The ecotourism
approach includes the following guidelines:
• Ensuring that tourism does not exploit the natural environment or local communities.
• Protect the environment - keep to footpaths, don't leave litter or start fires.
• Don't interfere with wildlife - don't scare or feed the animals.
• Consultation with local communities on planned developments.
• Making sure that infrastructure improvements benefit local people and not just tourists.
• Support local communities - stay in locally owned accommodation and buy produce from local
people.
• Respect local customs and traditions - some communities are offended when tourists wear
inappropriate clothes in religious places, strip off on the beach or behave in a rowdy manner.
Locals appreciate tourists who try to learn the language and show an interest in their culture.
• Eat local food and drink - avoid products that have been imported from MEDCs.
Ecotourism now has the backing of the United Nations, which made 2002 the International Year
of Ecotourism.
➔ ACTIVITY: Research on Wilderness Safaris https://wilderness-safaris.com and briefly
summarise how they work to protect the environment and support the local community. Their
Linkwasha Camp in Hwange can be used as your case study with the addition of PSPs such as
annual tourists (approx. 150- 200 guests per month), climate data- research, attractions-research
Growth of tourism
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and it generates a lot of jobs and
economic, environmental, and social effect on many countries
The money spent by tourists adds to the wealth of countries (economic growth). For many years
Europe and the USA have had the most tourism but in recent years there has been a lot of tourism
development in Asia and the Middle East.
In 2013, a total of 1.087 billion people travelled to another country as tourists. This has increased
from just 25 million in 1950.
According to the World Tourism Organisation, the top four international destinations in 2010
were:
Rank Country Visitors
1 France 78.95 million
2 United States 60.88 million
3 China 55.98 million
4 Spain 53 million
1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010
Europe 261.5 304.1 385.6 439.4 485.2 461.5 476.6
Asia and the pacific 55.8 82.0 110.1 153.6 184.1 180.9 203.8
Americas 92.8 109.0 128.2 133.3 147.8 140.6 149.8
Africa 14.8 18.9 26.5 35.4 44.4 46.0 49.5
Middle east 9.6 13.7 24.1 36.3 55.2 52.9 60.3
%
change
Europe 3.3%
Asia and the pacific 12.7%
Americas 6.4%
Africa 7.3%
Middle east 14.1%
Why has tourism increased?
▪ More affluence - since 1950 people have become wealthier. There is more disposable
income. This is money left over once they have paid for essentials.
▪ People have more paid holidays. People also now have paid time off work for
holidays. In the UK, the number of weeks people have off work has increased from
about two weeks in the 1950s to four to six weeks now.
▪ Greater awareness - through advertising or television programmes people are more
aware of how and where they can spend their free time. People are visiting a wider
range of places - partly because they have a better knowledge and understanding of
places. As well as learning about different places at school, we watch television
programmes and browse the internet. This awareness increases people's
expectations.
▪ More car ownership - more families own a car. This gives greater freedom to choose
when and where to spend time.
▪ Improvements in technology - travelling today is much quicker. Motorways and
aircraft have helped reduce the time it takes to get to different countries. Travelling by
air has become more accessible as you can book online and choose more budget
options.
▪ More leisure time - people have paid holidays from work (on average three weeks per
year are paid). Also, people who are retired remain active for longer. There is also a
trend to take more than one holiday in a year.
▪ More choice - in the past seaside holidays and package holidays were the most popular.
The industry is seeing more people look at ecotourism and more unusual holiday
destinations.
▪ Many countries have invested money in facilities and infrastructure that make it easier
for tourists, such as roads, airports, and hotels.
▪ Ageing populations - people can travel in the free time that they have when they retire.
Statistics for Tourism In Zimbabwe (from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority)
(This information can be used in conjunction with the Linkwasha Camp case-study)
➔ ACTIVITY: Describe the trend of tourism in Zimbabwe [3]
➔ With the COVID-19 epidemic, describe what you believe will be the trends in tourism in
Zimbabwe and globally might be.
Types of tourism
Tourists can be divided into different categories. This can be based on which types of places they
like to visit or the type of activities they like to be involved in.
Physical resources are the attractions that have been made by nature such as beaches or lakes
▪ Beach holidays, eg in Spain and the Maldives. People can relax on the beach or
take part in water sports.
▪ Outdoor adventure, eg skiing and walking in the European Alps or the Rocky
Mountains of North America.
▪ the physical landscape - such as beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, and glaciers
▪ ecosystems - such as rainforest or tropical grasslands such as Hwange National
Park
▪ weather and climate - most tourists seem to like it warm and dry
▪ Water falls e.g. the Victoria Falls
Human resources are tourist attractions that have been made by people, such as the Eiffel Tower
in France.
▪ According to a recent survey of British people travelling within the UK, the activity that
people like to do the most while on holiday is walking. Walking allows people to enjoy
the physical resources of the countryside such as hills, rivers, and lakes.
▪ The second most popular activity was visiting heritage sites. This includes historical
buildings and sites of historic significance.
▪ Another popular activity was swimming. People like to swim at the beach or in lakes
(physical resources) or swimming pools (human resources).
▪ Other popular activities were visiting art exhibitions, watching performing arts and
visiting theme parks (all human resources).
▪ Cultural/historic, eg people like to visit historic sites, art galleries and museums in
cities such as Rome and Paris. In cities like New York and London they can go
shopping or see shows.
▪ Ecotourism, eg small numbers of people go trekking in the Amazon rainforest or on
whale and dolphin conservation holidays in Scotland. This type of tourism is designed
to be sustainable. Sustainable tourism provides tourism opportunities for visitors and
jobs for locals while protecting the environment and culture from damaging change.
This means that in the future, people will continue to enjoy and benefit from them.
Examples of world popular tourist activities
Walking in Northern Ireland
The Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Eiffel Tower in Paris is an example of a cultural monument and a place of architectural
interest. As well as admiring it from ground level, tourists can go to the top and see a great view
of Paris, including the River Seine (physical resource) and many beautiful buildings (human
resources).
Guard Tower at Robben Island
Robben Island in South Africa is an example of a historical or political site. Many people who
visit South Africa go to Robben Island to see where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in
prison. People are interested because Nelson Mandela's struggle and sacrifice helped
end Apartheid in South Africa.
Beach on Rawa Island, Malaysia
National parks in the UK
Some places are very popular with visitors. They attract such large numbers of visitors that they
have become known as honeypot sites.
National parks are areas of great natural beauty that give the opportunity for recreation. Some
parts of national parks contain many honeypot sites. They need to be looked after to prevent the
large numbers of visitors destroying the attraction.
Positive and negative impacts of tourism
Tourism can provide jobs and improve the wealth of an area. Many developing countries are keen
to develop tourism to become richer and to improve the quality of life for their people. However,
when large numbers of visitors go to one place it is called mass tourism. This can have both
positive and negative impacts on the area.
Positive Negative
Jobs are often seasonal (based on the time of
Jobs created
year) and are poorly paid
Most money goes out of the area to big
More money for the country
companies, not locals
Local traditions and customs are kept alive
Culture and traditions change as outsiders
because tourists enjoy traditional shows, eg
arrive
Flamenco dancing
Damage to the natural environment, eg
Money from tourists can be used to protect the footpath erosion (the wearing away of
natural landscape footpaths), litter, habitats destroyed to build
hotels
New facilities for the tourists also benefit locals,
Overcrowding and traffic jams
eg new roads
Prices increase in local shops as tourists are
Greater demand for local food and crafts
often wealthier than the local population
Positive Negative
Some countries rely heavily on tourism and
this can be a problem if tourists stop coming.
Sometimes tourist numbers fall due to natural
disasters such as floods or because of war or
unrest. For example, some countries suffered
from a fall in tourism after the 2004 Asian
Tsunami and tourists were encouraged to
leave Tunisia and Egypt during protests and
unrest in 2011.
Tourism in an LEDC: advantages and disadvantages
Countries rich in physical resources - such as warm climates, beautiful beaches, rare ecosystems,
and abundant plant and animal life - are often sought-after holiday destinations by people
from MEDCs. Tour operators and developers invest in these locations in the hope that they will
become as popular as European resorts.
Places such as Kenya in East Africa, where tourists go on safari, or Bali in Indonesia, visited for its
beautiful beaches, all benefit financially from tourism. However, tourism in LEDCs needs to be
carefully managed to prevent harm to the environment and disruption to local communities.
Advantages Problems
Foreign currency spent by tourists can be Profits go to foreign companies, such as tour
invested in improving local education, health operators and hotel chains, rather than to the
and other services. local community.
Foreign companies may bring foreign
Jobs for local people are created and people workers to do the skilled jobs; so local
can learn new skills in tourism services. people only do low skilled, poorly paid
work.
House prices rise when foreign companies
Construction creates jobs and develops and investors buy property for hotels and
skills for local people. holiday homes. This often makes houses too
expensive for locals.
Local infrastructure is improved as water Important projects for local communities
and sanitation facilities, roads, buses, taxis might be sidelined as infrastructure
and airports are provided for tourists. developments are focused on tourists.
If the aim of activities is to entertain, rather
Visitors get an insight into local customs and
than educate tourists, this may belittle the
traditions.
local people.
Tourists see beautiful landscapes, wildlife
Pollution and disruption to wildlife
and plants. They can also be educated about
habitats could occur if tourism isn't
the dangers to fragile ecosystems in the
sustainable.
modern world.
Managing tourism
Many different types of people use the UK national parks. Managing these different groups in
terms of land use and conflict can sometimes be very difficult.
Below is a list of some of the groups who use the parks:
• farmers - grow crops and keep animals
• holiday-makers and day visitors - come on trips, e.g. to walk or climb
• local people need homes and places to work
• mining companies - quarry for rocks such as limestone and slate
• the Forestry Commission - woodland is protected and new trees are planted
• water companies - many parks are in highland, rural areas where dams can be built
• conservationists - want reserves to protect wildlife
There are many conflicts within national parks.
For example:
• Too many visitors in an area can destroy the environment that they have come to see.
• Much of the land within the national parks is privately owned - and the owners may not like
people roaming across their land.
• People may buy second homes within national parks because they like the environment offered.
This pushes up house prices for locals.
• Footpath erosion is common in many national parks and steps must be taken to repair paths
and prevent ugly scars appearing.
Methods of protecting footpaths include:
• marking routes to direct visitors away from sensitive or eroded areas
• fencing off eroded paths for a short time to let them recover
• reinforcing the surface with harder materials, eg re-constructing the path in stone or gravel.
➔ ACTIVITY: List down how tourism can cause noise, air, water and visual pollution.
➔ HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: In your opinion, is tourism good or bad, support your answer
with the use of your case study [10]
Case study example:
Cornwall, UK
www.visitcornwall.com/
https://www.visitcornwall.com/industry/research
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/tourism-and-travel/
