Introduction
Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries as well as the major source of foreign
exchange earnings and employment for many developing countries.
World tourism demand continues to exceed expectations, showing resilience against extraneous
factors. According to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, released (November 2006):

In the first eight months of 2006 international tourist arrivals totaled 578 million
worldwide (+4.5%), up from 553 million in the same period of 2005, a year which saw an
all-time record of 806 million people traveling internationally.

Growth is expected to continue in 2007 at a pace of around 4% worldwide.
Tourism is vital to the well being of many countries, because of the income generated by the
consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism
industry and the opportunity for employment and economic advancement by working in the
industry.
What defines tourism
The concept of tourism refers to the broad framework that identifies tourism’s essential
characteristics and distinguishes tourism from similar, often related but different phenomena
The two terms ‘travel’ and ‘tourism’ can be used in isolation or together to describe three
concepts:

The movement of the people

A sector of the economy or an industry

A brad system of interacting relationships of people, their needs to travel outside their
communities and services that attempt to respond to these needs by supplying products
According to the WTO tourists are people who: “travel to and stay in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes
not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.”
Devised by WTO was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in 1993 following an
International Government Conference held in Ottawa, Canada in 1991.
Before people can experience tourism they usually need at least:
1. disposable income, i.e money to spend on non-essentials
2. leisure time
3. tourism infrastructure, such as transport and accommodation.
4. Other factors such as health and motivation to travel are also important.
As a service industry, tourism has numerous tangible and intangible elements. Major tangible
elements include transportation, accommodation, and other components of the hospitality
industry. Major intangible elements relate to the purpose or motivation for becoming a tourist,
such as rest, relaxation, the opportunity to meet new people and experience other cultures, or
simply to do something different and have an adventure.
Following is a range of aspects to do with the tourism industry. Please feel free to expand the
dot points with your own findings and research.
Economic Impacts of Tourism
Tourism is considered by many to be the largest industry in the world and the fastest growing.
Tourism can provide many benefits for host communities and countries but there are also
negative effects. Impact studies are carried out with the aim of improving our understanding of
the positive and negative impacts of tourism so that steps can be taken to lessen the negative
effects and work at sustainable tourism development. In other words, sustainable tourism
development is concerned with maximising the benefits while minimising the negative effects.
Tourism is seen by governments as a useful tool for economic development. The economic
benefits tourism may offer include:

Employment: tourism is a labour intensive industry,

Entrepreneurial opportunities,

Generate tax revenues,

Development in rural regions,

Foreign exchange generator,

Tourism promotes other industries, particularly in services sectors of the economy.
Tourism contributes in four major areas of the national economy:

Income

Balance of Payments

Employment
Income
Salaries, interest, rent and profits all contribute to income generation. In the tourism industry,
which is labour intensive, the greatest proportion of income will be derived from salaries paid to
the workers both directly serving tourists or from those benefiting indirectly from tourists’
spending.
Tourism is the main income generator for one-third of the developing nations but is also a major
generator in the Western world. In New Zealand, tourism is of prime importance in areas where
there is little other industry such as in Wanaka and the Bay of Islands. Interest, rent and profits
can generate income from loans to companies building hotels or rental paid to the landowner
for a tourism attraction.
Taxation also contributes to income in the form of G.S.T. in New Zealand and V.A.T. in the United
Kingdom. In Fiji, there is an accommodation tax of 3% levied on hotel rooms. Departure taxes
are now levied by most countries and some including the USA also have an arrival tax.
The sum on all incomes is called the national income and the importance to a country’s
economy is measured by looking at the proportion of national income created by tourism. In
New Zealand, for the year ended 2004, tourism contributed $6.2 billion or 4.9% of New
Zealand’s total industry contribution the GDP.
Multiplier Effect
The tourist income multiplier or ‘ripple’ effect accounts for the indirect impact of tourist
spending on the economy. The multiplier is expressed as a ratio between one dollar of tourist
spending and the number of times it is re-spent. For example, a multiplier of 0.72 has been
calculated for Fiji. This means that 72 % of each dollar of original visitor spending is re-spent in
the Fijian economy.
Some major weaknesses have been identified in calculating economic multipliers. One
particular problem is the difficulty involved in collecting accurate data of tourist expenditure.
Tourism involves a large number of sectors in the economy and tourists spend their money on
extremely diverse goods and services. Also, tourism comprises many small, owner-operated
businesses. It is likely that a number of operators do business informally, though cash or barter
transactions and some transactions are never recorded. Due to the difficulties in obtaining
accurate data on how much money is spent by tourists and the numerous small and informal
businesses in the industry, multiplier ratios can only be approximations.
Leakages
Determining the economic impact of tourism is more complicated than simply calculating
tourist expenditure. The value of tourist expenditure to the host country is reduced by the value
of imported goods and services required to satisfy the needs of tourists. This is referred to as
leakage. If the host country has constraints on its ability to supply goods and services to tourists,
the grater the number of visitors the more imports will be required and the multiplier ratio will
fall. Imports may include materials for construction, petrol, information technology and even
food and water for some small island communities. Leakages explain why only a portion of the
income generated is re-spent in the local economy.
Balance of payments
International tourists contribute to a receiving country’s balance of payments through money
being spent credited to their balance of payments. A New Zealander spending money in
Australia, places a debit on New Zealand’s and a credit on Australia’s balance of payments. The
outflow of New Zealand money being spent abroad by New Zealanders is an import, while the
inflow of foreign tourists’ money spent in New Zealand counts as an export.
The total value of receipts minus the total payments made during the year represents a
country’s balance of payments of the tourism account.
International tourism is an ‘invisible’ export which helps to balance imports and thus improve
the balance of payments.
Employment
The UNWTO has estimated that around 260 million people work in jobs directly related to
tourism worldwide and will represent approximately 8.3% of total world employment.
In tourism dependant countries such as the Caribbean, as many as 25% of all jobs are associated
with the tourism industry. An estimated 102,700 full-time employees (or 5.9% of total
employment in New Zealand were actively engaged in producing goods and services for tourists
in 1994.
Developments in technology are affecting labour opportunities in employment. Computer
reservation systems are replacing manual systems and as a result fewer agents are working in
airlines and hotel chains. The increasing use of the Internet for reservations has also reduced
numbers of travel agencies are airline offices.
Call centres are replacing branches, often situated in low-wage countries like India. The success
of the tourism industry relies on the supply of a skilled labour force to serve the needs of the
tourists.
Investment and development
The level of investment in tourism can determine the success of a region. The investment can be
private of public. Often there is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation where there is an unwillingness to
invest until there is a flow of tourists but the tourists will not come to the region until there is
facilities e.g. hotels, restaurants to attract them.
Often there is a flow on effect and other industries will be attracted to the area to provide
services for both tourists and workers
Another consideration in calculating the economic effects of tourism involves the opportunity
costs. Money and other resources, committed to tourism could have been used for different
purposes, providing alternative benefits for the host community. Labour is a good example. If
local workers are employed in tourism then other industries such as fruit picking or agriculture
may suffer. If there is a shortage of skilled labour, workers may be imported from other
countries, resulting in further leakages from the economy. Capital expenditure on developing
tourism-related establishments precludes spending scarce resources on other types of
development with alternative uses. Inflation can be caused by high levels of expenditure by
foreign tourists which increase the prices of food, transportation, and clothing and as in the
case of Queenstown, land values,
Social and Environmental Impacts of Tourism
A cost-benefit analysis for tourism developments should assess the social and environmental
impacts as well as economic effects. Sustainable development means that tourism is designed
to fit with the social and natural environment and not cause the destination to become less
desirable for visitors and permanent residents. Social and environmental can also have the
negative impact, for example, tourist that coloring the tree, destroy the pathway of the forest
and so on
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Planning for tourism safety and security requires consideration of risks originatingin four source
areas:
• human and institutional environment outside the tourism sector
• the tourism sector and related commercial sectors
• the individual traveller (personal risks)
• physical or environmental risks (natural, climatological, epidemiological)
HUMAN AND INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
The risks originating in the human and institutional environment appear when visitors fall victim
to:
•common delinquency (theft, pickpocketing, assault,burglary, swindle, etc.)
• indiscriminate and targetted violence (such as rape) and harassment
• organized crime (extorsion, white-slave trade, coercion, etc.)
• terrorism and unlawful interference (attacks against state institutionsand state vital interests,
etc.), highjacking and hostage taking
• wars, social conflicts and political and religious unrest
• lack of public and institutional protection and respective services
TOURISM AND RELATED SECTORS
Deficient functioning of tourism and related sectors(transport, sports, retail trade, etc.) may be
held responsible for damages to the visitors’ personal security,physical integrity and economic
interests as aconsequence of:
• defects in safety standards in tourism establishments
(fire, construction errors, lack of anti-seismic protection,
etc.)
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Georgios Drakopoulos (307-99-294)
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 6:48:11 AM
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• defects in sanitation and respect for sustainability of
the environment
• absence of protection against unlawful interference, crime and delinquency in tourism
facilities
• fraud in commercial treatment
• non-compliance with contracts
• personnel strikes
INDIVIDUAL TRAVELLERS
The travellers or visitors themselves may create problems for their own safety and security, and
for their hosts aswell. The causes may be:
•excesses and dangerous practices of tourists in sport and leisure activities, driving, food and
drink
• tourists’ previous health conditions which may deteriorate while travelling
• visitors’ conflictive or inadequate behaviour with respect to resident populations or local laws
• specific illicit or criminal activity (e.g. trafficking in illicit drugs)
• visits to dangerous areas
• loss of personal effects, documents, money, etc., through inattentive actions or careless
activities
PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Finally, physical and environmental risks manifest if the travellers:
• are unaware of the natural characteristics of the destination and their effects, in particular of
its flora andfauna
• are not prepared from the medical viewpoint (vaccinations, prophylaxis)
• do not take the necessary precautions in their eating and hygienic habits
• are exposed to emergencies (natural disasters, epidemics, etc.) arising from the physical
environment Physical and environmental risks are also largely personal risks, but unlike those in
the preceding areawhich are characterized by deliberate action, the latterare due to the
traveller’s ignorance or passive approachto potential risks.
References

http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socio-eco/tourism

http://www.world-tourism.org/newsroom/Releases/2006/november

Wikipedia:Tourism

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/tourism/introduction

Sete.gr/files/media/ebook/110301-tourist safety and security