The role of Government in encouraging tourism

The key questions Why would governments want to promote tourism? How might they go about promoting tourism?

Why would governments promote tourism? Tourism is a major foreign revenue earner Tourism provides lots of jobs It can act as a means of regional and local regeneration Tourism can help support a national interest in the environment and heritage resources Tourism can act as a means for improving and extending the physical infrastructure Tourism can help increase awareness of a country in an international context

What can governments do? Influence the rate of tourism Influence the type of tourists that visit their country Influence the location of developments Influence the relative roles of: –the public and private sector –Multinational tourism and community based tourism

How can they influence tourism? AIMS OBJECTIVES DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS EVALUATE OPTIONS MAKE A DECISION IMPLEMENT DECISION MONITOR IMPACT TOURISM & PLANNING

What might they actually do? Improve infrastructure in the form of roads, airports and services Provide training opportunities for key personnel such as hotel administration, tourist office management or market research Develop planning controls, for example on the number, quality and type of hotels that may be built in an area Pass/amend legislation regarding visas and entry for tourists Regulate exchange rates to encourage spending by tourists Control revenue from tourists via taxes, e.g. airport tax, tourist tax, “bed tax” etc Control work permits for foreign workers involved in the tourist or related industries

Spread effects Most governments would be keen to encourage the spread of economic and other benefits as widely as possible throughout the economy: TOURIST SPENDING DIRECT: payment for local goods, food, accommodation, transport & souvenirs INDIRECT: recipients spend money e.g. hotelier buys his food from local shops and markets INDIRECT EFFECT: further spending by local people who directly and indirectly receive money from tourism e.g. the wife of a waiter in a hotel buys clothes from local shops