PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
College of Business and Government Management
Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management
ITM 2105 – Sustainable Tourism
Topic 1: Definition, Dimensions, and Determinants of Tourism Impacts
I. Definition of Tourism Impact
Hall and Lew defined impact as “a change in a given state over time as the result of an external
stimulus.”
Tourism Impact – may be defined as an effect brought about directly or indirectly by tourism
policies, tourism-related establishments and infrastructure, and tourist behavior.
II. Dimensions of Tourism Impacts
Tourism impacts may be categorized in terms of;
1. Their Scope
2. Direction of Change
3. Type of Impact
4. The Scale
5. The Distribution
6. Duration of the Effects
1. The scope of tourism impact:
1. Economic Impact
2. Environmental Impact
3. Social Impact
4. Cultural Impact
5. Political Impact
Example: Inflation
Example: Improved connectivity among
transportation nodes
Example: Increase crime and prostitution
Example: Cultural Diffusion – broadening of
food choices in major tourist areas and
spread of such sports as surfing.
Example: Places contribute substantially from
their tourism income are able to get higher
government allocations
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2. In terms of the direction of change, tourism may cause:
1. Positive Changes
2. Negative Changes
Example: Creation of employment
Example: Leakage – refers to the money that
gets out of the local economy due to
spending on imported goods, and
remittances to their home countries by
expatriate managers.
3. The type of impact may be categorized in many ways:
1. Actual (Objective) Impacts – are
backed up by hard data.
2. Perceived (Subjective) – refers to the
opinions of somebody concerning the
effects of tourism.
3. Quantitative – are impacts which can
be measured and expressed in
numerical form.
4. Qualitative – are impacts that can only
be observed and described.
Example: Higher profits from the increased
arrivals, will view tourism as a benefit.
Example: Ordinary residents, expecting
crowding and traffic congestion may see
tourism as a curse.
Examples: Amount of taxes collected,
number of people employed and the length
of roads constructed.
Examples: Effects of tourism on social
relationship and tourism experiences on an
individual’s self-esteem.
5. Direct Tourism Impact – is one that is Example: Salaries paid by a hotel to its
immediate and flows from tourism to employees.
the receiver of impact (e.g., residents)
without intervening persons, agencies,
or industries.
6. Indirect Tourism Impact – flows from Example: income earned by taxi drivers
tourism to the receiver of the impact servicing the hotel employees.
through
intervening
persons,
agencies, or industries.
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4. Tourism impacts may also be seen in terms of its temporal dimension:
1. Cumulative Impact – is one that is
caused by tourism development over
time.
2. Immediate Impact – is an impact that
is caused by a single event, and could
happen within a short period of time.
3. Long Term Impact – are those that will
be borne or experience by the
affected sectors or stakeholders for
years or even generations to come.
4. Short Term Impact – are those that do
not endanger the welfare of the
affected people or places way into the
distant future.
Example: Water pollution on the coastal
areas.
Example: Increased occupancy of hotels
brought about by an Olympics.
Example: Extinction of cultures in places
which have undergone commercial tourism
development.
Example: School reunion creates short term
impact on a community.
5. Tourism impacts in terms of their distribution among stakeholders or geographical coverage:
Tourism income is said to accrue mostly to Poor people are not able to take advantage of
only the local elites, such as wealthy the opportunities presented by tourism
entrepreneurs and powerful politicians.
because of lack of skills, financial capacity, or
social capital (lack of connections).
6. Duration of the Effects
1. Reversible Impact – is one which can
be corrected immediately or over a
short period of time.
2. Irreversible Impact – is one that
requires a long period of time to
recover.
Example: Trash left by festival attendees can
be collected and disposed in a matter of
hours or days.
Example: Effect of divers on coral reefs.
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According to Hall and Lew, a tourism impact may come from:
1. Point Source – is a specific tourismrelated facility, project, or object.
2. Non-Point Source – is a mobile,
intangible, and has an indefinite
lifespan.
III. Determinants of Tourism Impacts
1. Level of Development of the Tourism
Industry
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2. Strength of the Economy and Linkages
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3. Stakeholder’s Power and Capacity

Example: Airport, hotel, attraction, or event.
Example: Tourist as a non-point source may
negatively affect the destination through
irresponsible behavior.
The more developed the tourism industry, the more the destination stands to
gain economically from tourism.
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World Economic Forum –
is a measure of the level of tourism development in a country.
A similar framework for assessing a place’s potential for tourism is the A’s
framework suggested by Cruz (2009). The framework consists of (1) access –
covers political access, such as visa policies, (2) accommodation, (3) activities, (4)
attractions, (5) amenities (6) atmosphere – refers to the general impression of
being welcome and safe in a destination, (7) attitude – is about the friendliness
and readiness of residents in a destination to have tourists in their midst, (8)
administration – is the management of tourism in the destination and covers how
effective the national and local tourism agencies are in doing their jobs, (9)
assistance – is the level of support provided by government to tourists and to the
tourism industry, and (10) awareness – refers to the tourism promotional effort
of the government.
The net economic impact of tourism depends on the proportion of income that is
retained in the local economy.
This retained income is basically the difference between the tourism revenues
and the amount of leakages.
The more powerful stakeholders are able to rake in the benefits while the weaker
ones get to bear the costs of such development.
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4. Tourism Policy

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Embodied in republic acts, presidential decrees, or local ordinances.
Tourism policy provides focus and direction to tourism development.
5. Investment Incentives Criteria and
Weights

The kind of tourism impacts is shaped by the chosen tourism development
strategy.
One of the major strategies for tourism development that was formulated in the
National Tourism Development Plan for 2011 – 2016 is the establishment of
Tourism Enterprise Zones or TEZ.
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6. Tourism Volume, Density, or Ratio
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7. Distribution of Tourist Zones
8. Tourist Markets Served
Tourism Density – refers to the number of tourists at a given time in relation to
the area of the destination.
Tourism Ratio – refers to the volume of tourists in relation to the local
population.
The impact of tourism rises in proportion to the increase in tourism density or
ratio.
Tourist movement is tightly controlled in order to Intent is to spread the benefits of
minimize tourist-host contact.
tourism; the strategy would be one of
dispersal.
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The tourist markets served determine the kind of impacts that are exerted on the
host destination as well as those experienced by the tourists themselves.
The Canadian Tourism Commission categorizes people by their explorer quotient
(EQ). EQ breaks down markets into nine psychographic groups, called explorer
types. The EQ types are described by the CTC as follows:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Authentic experiencers
Cultural explorers
Cultural history buffs
Free spirits
Gentle explorers
No-hassle travelers
Personal history explorers
Rejuvenators
Social samplers
9. Technology

Tourism impacts, especially on the environment, may be modified by technology.
10. Carrying Capacity

The impact of tourism in a given environment will depend on the volume of
tourism compared with the carrying capacity of the site.
Tourism carrying capacity – is defined as “the level of human activity an area can
accommodate without the area deteriorating, the resident community being
adversely affected, or the quality of visitors experience declining” (Middleton &
Hawkins 1998; Chamberlain 1997 in Massiani & Santoro 2012)
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11. Other Factors
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Ryan (2003) added the emergence of bureaucrats, the rise of unlivable industrial
cities which drove people to escape the physical crowding of the cities, and
women’s liberation as driving force for tourism development.
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