The advantages and disadvantages of tourism

Starter – Odd one Out Each row has an odd one out – which one and why? Great wall of China Times Square Niagara Falls Trafalgar Square Disneyland Paris Tokyo Disney Notre Dame Louvre Fishermans Wharf The vatican The coliseum Sydney opera house Grand Canyon Empire State Building London Eye Taj Mahal Giza Pyramids Magic Kingdom, Orlando What could you replace the odd one out with?

Advantages and Disadvantages of tourism Lesson Objective: To be able to describe and explain how tourism can affect people, places and the economy in a positive and negative way.

Positives v. Negatives Tourism has both positive and negative impacts for an area. In the majority of MEDC’s tourism has been the catalyst for economic growth. Some LEDC's rely on tourism as their principle industry so much that when a problem occurs they have to work very quickly to rectify it.

Activity One In pairs, note down 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of tourism. Try to think of more obscure ones!

Quick Facts Tourism in the world’s number one export earner (beating cars, chemicals, fuel and food) In 2011, more than 1 billion people travelled to a foreign country. In 2011, more than $478 billion was spent by tourists. Tourism supports 7% of the world’s workers. There are more than 11.3 million people working in hotels worldwide. Many jobs are created directly by tourism – hotels, restaurants, shops and bars/pubs. Also indirect jobs – supply of goods, delivery drivers, services etc.

Advantages of Tourism

Advantages Tourism brings much needed investment into an area. If it is an LEDC, the foreign currency is very important to the local people.

Advantages Tourism provides employment for many local people, ranging from working in the hotels to selling trinkets on the beach.

Advantages Tourism provides employment for many local people, ranging from working in the hotels to selling trinkets on the beach. Without the tourist industry some less developed countries would have a much greater unemployment problem.

Advantages The money that tourism brings in can be used to improve the infrastructure of the area.

Advantages New roads, airports and facilities can be built, which cater for the increasing number of tourists, but also benefit the local residents.

Advantages Income from tourism may be used to help conserve the natural environment that is the reason why visitors come in the first place.

Advantages The country can benefit from overseas investment, primarily in the tourist industry, but also in other related industries.

Advantages Tourism may help to preserve local cultures and communities, as they become a tourist attraction.

Advantages Tourism may help to preserve local cultures and communities, as they become a tourist attraction. This is certainly the case with some Masai tribes in Kenya and Maori's in New Zealand. Both use the visitor's interest and curiosity in their culture to become a tourist attraction.

Disadvantages of Tourism

Disadvantages In many resorts in LEDC's very little of the money paid for the holiday actually reaches the country. The holiday company, travel agents, airlines and hotel companies swallow most of it.

Disadvantages The jobs for the locals are often badly paid, with very poor working conditions.

Disadvantages The huge number of tourists coming to see it could easily damage the environment. It is very easy for a country to see the short-term economic gains of mass tourism without really taking heed of the long-term environmental damage going on.

Disadvantages Increasing numbers of tourists brings problems such as littering, pollution and footpath erosion. All of these take time and money to clear up.

Disadvantages Overseas investment, in things like luxury hotels, can mean that the money goes back to the country of origin.

Disadvantages These hotels may also take trade away from local guesthouses and hotels.

Disadvantages Local cultures could be devalued by tourism. They may almost become a freak show, where the visitors begin to look down on the locals as different.

‘Leakage’

‘Leakage’ There are two main ways that leakage occurs: Import leakage Export leakage IMPORT LEAKAGE: This commonly occurs when tourists demand standards of equipment, food, and other products that the host country cannot supply. Especially in LEDC’s, food and drinks must often be imported, since local products are not up to the hotel's (i.e. tourist's) standards or the country simply doesn't have a supplying industry.

‘Leakage’ EXPORT LEAKAGE: TNC's have a substantial share in the export leakage. Often, especially in poor developing destinations, they are the only ones that possess the necessary capital to invest in the construction of tourism infrastructure and facilities. As a consequence of this, an export leakage arises when overseas investors who finance the resorts and hotels take their profits back to their country of origin.

Exam Question What are the advantages and disadvantages of tourism? (6 marks) 10 minutes

Activity Two 10 minutes Complete the worksheet. This time you should categorise the impacts into positive and negative: Economic Social Environmental 10 minutes