The Impacts of the Tourist Industry L.O - To understand the positive and negative impacts of tourism, including social, economic and environmental impacts

To Start Look at the sheet and identify at least 1 positive and 1 negative impact of tourism for each of the following categories Social Economic Environmental

Social Impacts of Tourism This means how tourism impacts on local communities Some of these are direct (immediate impact) and others are indirect (take time to be noticed)

Social Impacts - Zanzibar Tourism can change the culture of places Zanzibar (an island off the east coast of Africa) is a Muslim country Most tourists are from western countries who have different moral codes and culture (for example they do not cover their shoulders) This insults the local community (a direct problem) An indirect problem is also that the local start to change the way they dress and become more western thus losing their cultural identity

Social Impacts - Dubai Many westerners now travel to Dubai for business conferences Dubai is an Arab country with many cultural differences such as being fully clothed in public at all times and not allowing men and women to have public physical contact There is also no alcohol on sale outside international hotels This has caused some issue for business travellers who have to maintain the moral code of Dubai

Social Impacts – Yorkshire Dales The impact of second homes is another social effect In 2001 70% of house in Malham (a small village) were holiday or second homes Many of these are only lived in for part of the year and the people who own them often don’t use local services as they live elsewhere for most of the year This has caused the local shop to close for half the week and fewer children to go to primary school in the village However, a positive impact is that the bus service to Skipton ( a local town) is more frequent as tourists use it in summer

Social Impacts – Seasonal Employment In Malham there are a number of businesses (e.g. The Cove Centre) which are only open in summer so only employ people for a few weeks This is also the case in Cyprus when hotels are only 30% full in winter meaning that many workers lose their jobs at the end of summer This means that workers don’t have a steady income and struggle to live well during the winter However, a positive is that there are more bus services in summer from Larnaca to the resort in Ayia Napa that locals as well as tourists can use

Social Impacts – The Maldives These islands have been developed as enclave resorts in order to minimise the social impacts of tourism The tourists only mix with locals who work on the resorts as the majority of locals live on the ‘home islands’ This is a direct positive impact as there are no cultural conflicts An indirect positive impact is that money generated by tourism has been used to improve education and services for locals as well as funding new sea defences to protect against rising sea levels

Economic Impacts – the effects that tourism has on the money available in that country at a local and national scale

Economic Impacts – Direct Benefits In Machu Pichu, Peru the area is a World Heritage Site and generates $40million a year for the government In Zanzibar $220million comes into the country each year which has a positive impact on GDP In Cyprus 20% of total GDP is directly provided by tourism (accommodation and food/drink)

Economic Impacts – Indirect Benefits The amount of money spent in a country is doubled when you consider the MULTIPLIER EFFECT (how tourism affects other industries) For example $500 spent at a hotel is then re-spent by the hotel to purchase food from local farmers or to clean bed linen Therefore, the $500 has an indirect impact as the farmers then use the $500 they get to buy new supplies This money continues to move around until it is lost through leakage (importing things from other countries)

Employment Impacts In LICs jobs available in the tourist industry may be better paid than other jobs (especially farming) This may lead to a lack of young people working in farming as they are attracted to the tertiary jobs in tourism. This could affect the future of farming communities In the Maldives the jobs available to the local community are often menial and low paid whereas the better paid managerial jobs go to people from outside the country

Environmental Impacts - Negatives The enclave resorts on the Maldives have caused problems for surrounding coral reefs There has been a decrease in fish numbers and species because of the tourists swimming too close and the disposal of sewage from tourist resorts However, the government insists that new resorts are all built with eco friendly sewage disposal and that tourists are made aware of environmental issues

Environmental Impacts - Positives At Lulworth Cove in Dorset the environmental impacts have been minimised through the use of tourist money People pay to park their cars there and the money has been used to build a heritage centre to educate visitors about the area The council have also used money to improve signage and to re-lay footpath that had become worn away through erosion

Environmental Impacts - Positives Some tourist destinations have created protected areas for certain species which were threatened by the negative effects of tourism In Cyprus Lara Beach has been protected for turtles to lay their eggs This protects the future of the species In Zanzibar, Stone Town has been designated a World Heritage Site due to the numbers of tourists visiting This means it has protection from over development and has had money invested to improve the quality of the environment and traditional buildings

Attitudes to Tourism What would the following people think about tourism in their area Resort Owner in the Maldives Hotel Worker in the Maldives Malham shop owner Dubai businessman Lulworth Heritage Centre Manager Peruvian government official

Homework Complete the colour coded activity classifying the effects of the growth of tourism It is based on the growth of tourism in Kenya