Introduction
Tourism is a recreational or leisure-time activity where people travel and stay in places outside their usual environment for a period of time not exceeding one consecutive year. There exist three kinds of tourism. These are;
Domestic tourism-This is whereby people travel within their own country to visit some areas that are away from their home area during their free time.
Inbound tourism-This form of tourism occurs when non-residents travel into a given country to explore various natural features which are not present in their country.
Outbound tourism-This is where residents move from one country to another country. There are various reasons why people move from one place to another. These reasons include.
Most of the wealthy people, especially from western countries, travel to developing countries and other distant parts of the world to see historic buildings or other works of art. They also travel to experience new cultures, and some visit new areas to have an opportunity to learn a new language from those people living in places they visit. The movement of people from the European countries to the developing countries is very common during winter. During This cold season, many Europeans travel from their countries due to the unfavorable low temperatures and visit other countries with relatively warm weather, such as African countries (Bacheitherand Zins, 1999).
There are many benefits that are gained by developing countries due to the tourism industry. Therefore the leaders from the developing countries should integrate the tourism industry into their country in the most positive way to help them realize the benefits associated with this industry. The leaders should ensure that a county has a diverse economy. This will ensure that a country is not relying too much on the tourism industry. This is because the country can incur huge losses if the tourists fail to turn up as expected, citing various reasons such as security problems. The tourism industry, if well managed, can contribute adversely to the well being of third world countries as follows.
Source of Foreign exchange
The export and imports of goods and services associated with tourism generate a lot of income for the host countries. This is because the local traders will get the ready market to sell their curios to these tourists. The tourists will also provide ready markets for the locally produced products such as fruits and other foodstuffs which they buy. A lot of money will be gained from the imports of some of the facilities that will be used by the tourist such as boats for the water sports which are common games for the tourists at the beaches. This money that is generated from the tourism industry can be used by the developing countries to accelerate growth in other economic sectors such as agriculture. This income will help to improve the economy of the developing countries and enable them to become self-reliant. The government can encourage the tourists to come with a certain amount of foreign currency to spend during their stay. It should not allow them to carry the money back to their countries.
Contribution to Government Revenues
Tourism earns the government revenues. This revenue can either occur directly or indirectly. The direct revenues will occur through the taxes of the employees employed by the tourism industry. It can also occur due to the taxes received from the businesses that are operated by tourists. The government will also receive some money due to the taxes levied on tourists during their departure. On the other hand, indirect taxes will be generated from the taxes levied on goods and services that are associated with tourism. This money received from the tourism industry by the government can be used to develop another government sector such as roads and schools. This money can still be used to construct more hospitals to equip them and buy drugs. (McminnandCater.1999)
Source of Employment
The tourism industry is a major source of employment in most developing countries. The employment opportunities created by the tourism industry ranges from high-paying jobs to low-paying positions. The highly paid employees include those in management levels such as managers and directors of the tourist hotels. People working in ministerial positions are also paid highly. Hence the enhancement of the tourism industry in the developing countries will enable these people to earn their living from this industry. Similarly, the industry helps to create employment opportunities for thousands of people in low-paying jobs such as cooks, waiters, gardeners, guards, those responsible for accommodation facilities, the tourist’s drivers, and those hired in the nightclubs to entertain tourists. This industry will also create more employment opportunities for business people. This is because traders will get the ready market to sell their products such as curios, foodstuff, fruits, among many others. If their businesses perform well, these people also hire more employees. The tourism industry, therefore, helps to curb unemployment that is a dominant problem in these countries. (Travel Association of America.2004)
Improvement of Infrastructures
The establishment of this industry in developing countries will help to improve infrastructure in these countries. This is because tourists will enforce the government to construct good roads, railway networks, and airports. This is meant to ensure that the tourists have a smooth flow from one place to another. These roads will also be of much help to the local people as they travel or even when transporting their farm products to the market. This will also boost industrialization in these countries, as there will be good transport networks that enhance the transportation of raw materials to the industries. The government will ensure that it provides better water and sewage system in the country to create a positive attitude to the tourists and hence encourage them to visit the country several other times. The government also ensures the availability of electricity and telecommunication to facilitate effective communication to the tourists. In the process, the local people benefit from these facilities. The availability of electricity to the local people will be of great help to them as they can use it in their crafts work to make curios and other local products that they sell to the tourists. These facilities will help to improve the living standards of the residents (Travel Association of America, 2004).
Promote Positive Community Attitude
The tourism industry helps to boost the confidence of the local residents towards the cultures of other communities. Due to the interaction between the tourists and the local residents, both parties acknowledge, respect, and learn to appreciate cultural differences within different communities. From the interest and satisfaction gained by the tourists from their admiration of the natural resources that the residents may have taken for granted, the local people acquire a sense of pride in their nation. As the tourism industry grows, it will enhance the beauty of the country and make life in these countries more and more exciting. This is because the locals will have more recreational facilities.
Improvement of Environment
Areas that have natural features such as waterfalls, mountains, oceans, unique fauna, and flora are the tourist major attraction sites. Therefore tourism industry in developing countries will be of much help in the preservation and in protecting these areas from undergoing further ecological degradation. Some of the money that will be received from the visiting tourists will be used to refurbish the historical buildings and monuments in these countries. In these tourist attraction sites, there is a lot of cleanups, repairs and construction of public arts such as water fountains and monuments that make these countries more beautiful hence attracting more tourists. All these activities benefit both the local resident and the visitors. The preservation of the flora helps to sustain good climatic conditions in these areas, which is vital to the residents, who are mostly farmers. This ensures that their farm produce will remain high, as they will be assured of receiving high rainfall thought out the year. In these countries, the original species will not become extinct but will be preserved for the benefit of the future generation (Omurrgonulsen, 1990).
Conclusion
For a country to gain maximum benefits from the tourism industry, the leaders should come up with the most creative and strategic plans for the development of the tourism industry. The rules and restrictions in the industry should be reasonable enough so as to favor the tourists. Taxes should be regulated to avoid overtaxing tourists as this puts them off and discourages them from visiting places where they are taxed heavily. The community leaders and tourism professionals should also create awareness to the community and sensitize people against burdening the tourism industry but instead preserve the environment’s beautiful scenery. Residents should be encouraged to be friendly to the tourist instead of being hostile to them, as this will discourage them from visiting places. When all these measures are taken into considerations and implemented, the developing countries will maximally benefit from the tourism industry (Korca, 1998).
References
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6.Omurrgonulsen, U.1990.Folowing the conference on tourism and environment. Anatolia I/8-9:6-10.