Factors Affecting Tourism: Natural Disasters
There are many factors which affect tourism globally; this report aims to
discuss the impact natural disasters can have on tourism, looking in particular
at certain events such as the Boscastle floods and the eruption of the
Soufriere Hills Volcano.
Tourism is “all temporary visits to another region (domestic) or country
(international) lasting more then 24 hours” [A-Z ] this includes visits for
holidays, sport, education religion, business and visits to family and friends,
A natural disaster is “a natural event with catastrophic consequences for living
things in the vicinity.” [encyclopedian.com] it can affect tourism for obvious
reasons as it destroys the natural environment and the things which the
industry relies on.
There is a very close link between tourism and natural disasters as in the
event of a natural disaster tourism is significantly disrupted and in most cases
the industry is destroyed, then requiring development and adjustment.
Tourism is an important part of countries’ economy and in less economically
developed countries such as those affected by the tsunami, on Boxing Day
2004, the local economy greatly relies upon the industry’s services for the
livelihood of its population. The massive affect a natural disaster can have on
tourism is related to the negative multiplier effect, which involves the impact
of the event spreading through the economy. It can be seen in the following
diagram:
Natural Disaster
Decline in number of tourists
visiting in the area
Decrease in money being spent in the area
due to lack of visitors, decrease in general
economy of the area
Businesses suffer due to lack of money
generated through tourism, local businesses
close, larger businesses decline – possibly
leading to closure of parts of the business
and job losses.
Unemployment in the area affected by the
natural disaster increases, the disposable income
of locals decreases meaning less money is spent
in the area which causes more businesses to
decline.
Government spending increases due to lack of
money generated through tax (as less people are
working in the formal sector), combined with the
aid needed to recover from the event, government
spending is very high and the area’s economy is at
its lowest.
There are several case studies which show the varying effect a natural
disaster has on tourism, the following case studies provide information
regarding the areas’ location, tourist industry, natural disaster and the
industry after the event.
In some cases natural disasters can actually increase tourism. In a strange
way, places affected by natural disaster can become tourist hot zones as a
place to visit. They often become places of educational and historical interest
and many people visit as full holidays, or as a part of another holiday in a
proximate area.
An example of this would be the small Cornish village of Boscastle. The village
witnessed the worst ever flash flood in its history on August 16th 2004. A
recorded 200.4mm of rain fell in just twenty four hours causing a 3m torrent
to flow through the village. Over 100 residents were airlifted to safety but
there were no fatalities. 116 cars were swept through the village in to the
harbour (36 of which have still not been found!) it caused millions of pounds
worth of damage to property, businesses and the surrounding vicinity.
Boscastle during the flooding.
(Data and image taken from www.bbc.co.uk/news)
Subsequently, £800,000 has now been spent on flood defences in Boscastle
to protect from any similar events. This has proved money well spent as three
years later in 2007, a 91cm flood affected only several houses and
businesses.(www.bbc.co.uk/news)
After the flooding, Boscastle was obviously subjected to a lot of media
attention. The event was reported throughout the flooding and ever since.
This attraction has not only increased public knowledge of the village;
increasing tourist interest, but has also attracted more bizarre goings on. For
example there have been things like a “Boscastle changing rooms special”
and a “sea side parish” programme involving Boscastle’s own priest. And
obviously, people of Boscastle encouraged such publicity because it was
“necessary to encourage visitors back”.(www.bbc.co.uk/news)
One year after the 2004 floods tourism began to resurface in the area. So
many people were visiting the small village that B and B owners were
struggling to find adequate accommodation for the visitors who were staying
over night. However many reports suggested that although Boscastle was
again beginning to thrive, many visitors were not staying over night. The
Wellington Hotel accounted “the day time businesses are doing well but the
B&B side is struggling more.”(Manager at the Wellinton Hotel, sourced from
BBC news) Thus many of these visitors cannot be classed as tourists to
Boscastle as they are not staying for twenty four hours or more. Many people
would visit Boscastle from other surrounding areas. For example, day visits to
the village from other Cornish villages or towns such as Camelford, Padstow,
Rock and Wadebridge.
However the clear increase of knowledge of this small Cornish settlement
would increase income to the settlement. Although day visits may not count
as tourism outright, they are clearly helping the village and contributing in the
way in which tourism does. Boscastle is a good example of how a place
affected by natural disaster can receive a positive impact afterwards as a
place of tourist attraction.
A more significant example of a tourist site developing from an area of natural
disaster would be Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius is located nine kilometres east of
Naples in Italy.
(www.volcano.und)
The 1,281m high mountain famously erupted in AD 79. This eruption
destroyed the proximate Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum (named
after the God Hercules as the Romans believed Mount Vesuvius to be sacred
to him.) The mountain was formed by the collision of the Eurasian and the
African tectonic plates and thus was susceptible to volcanic eruption.
A predicted image of Mount Vesuvius erupting (Google images)
During the AD79 eruption, 1cubic mile of ash and rock fell to the south of the
mountain in just nineteen hours. Three metres of this fell directly on to the
city of Pompeii. It is not known exactly how many people lived in Pompeii
although it is thought to be between 10,000 and 25,000. 1,150 human
remains have been found in and around Pompeii although this is thought to
be a small percentage of those actually killed. (www.wikipedia.com)
The eruption has greatly influenced tourism in the area today. The area
around Vesuvius was declared a national park on 5th June 1995. Tourists can
reach Vesuvius’ summit by road and then on foot. These visits are historical
and educational forms of tourism. Visitors would mostly come as a complete
holiday destination as opposed to day visits witnessed in Boscastle. People
are also so attracted to the area due to its vast archaeological sites. As the
city of Pompeii was never rebuilt, people can see the city as it would have
been over 2500 years age. Tourists can participate in guided tours to see a
number of different locations of interest: ancient ruins such as Oplantis and
the Ruins of Pompeii, historical sites such as The Forum and religious sites
such as The Madonna of the Rosary. In conclusion, Pompeii is very diverse in
terms of the attractions available and is clearly an area of tourist interest after
a natural disaster.
The following examples illustrate the changes in the industry which can take
place in the event of a natural disaster and the impact of disasters on less
economically developed countries.
The eruption of the Soufriere hills in Montserrat is an example of how natural
disasters can affect tourism, and illustrates the changes in the industry which
take place due to natural disasters.
Montserrat is a Caribbean island in the Caribbean Sea, south east of Puerto
Rico. It is a volcanic island, mostly mountainous, subjected to severe
hurricanes (June-November) and volcanic eruptions.
The Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1997, burying streets and buildings
around the island and wiping out the capital city of Plymouth. Also destroyed
by the eruption were the island’s airport and the ferry terminal. This had an
obvious impact on the tourism of Montserrat, which was once thriving, yet not
as popular as Antigua or Barbados. Prior to the eruption Montserrat’s tourism
relied mainly on villa rental and tourists returning year after year.
Montserrat in the eruption
(image taken from www.geosc.psu.edu)
The effect of the eruption on the island’s tourism industry varied. There was
an initial slump in the industry but ten years after the volcanic eruption the
island has a new £10million airport and is determined to recover from the
disaster in the 1990s. Instead of ignoring the events that took place
Montserrat’s tourist board decided to embrace its history and as tourism
officials said God “gave us a volcano, so we’re selling volcano tourism” (quote
taken from Times article: Jewel Rises from Ashes). The island offers tourists
the chance to walk round the streets of Plymouth with a police officer to
explore the ruins of the once busy capital of the island. Also available is a new
volcano observatory to provide visitors with a different view of the Caribbean
island and emphasise the island’s natural assets.
Montserrat illustrates the way in which the tourism industry can change and
adapt in the event of a natural disaster, and in this case although the tourist
industry isn’t as thriving as before it is slowly increasing and working with the
natural disasters it is subjected to.
Another example of a natural disaster which had a massive impact on an
area’s tourism is the Boxing Day Tsunami, 2004. Thailand was one of the
countries subjected to the tsunami. Thailand is in South-eastern Asia,
bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma; it
can be seen in the map below:
(Location map of Thailand taken from www.bbc.co.uk/news)
The tsunami was one of the world’s most devastating disasters; an
underwater earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, struck 10km
under the sea’s surface on the North coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The
earthquake displaced tectonic plates on the sea floor, resulting in the
tsunami. The tsunami had two main affects on tourism:
1. creating the image the area was unsafe
2. Physical damage to the area (leaving most tourist resorts in ruins.)
Tourism was of great importance to Thailand, it contributed to the economy
of the country and local economy (tourism accounted for almost 6% of GDP
in 2002 and the hotel and restaurant sector accounts for 3.8% of Thailand’s
GDP). This is even more so in Phuket where tourism accounted for 42% of
the area’s gross provisional product. (All data taken from
www.ecoescapes.co.uk)
This natural disaster had a significant impact on Thailand’s tourist industry. At
the time of the tsunami the United Nations Development Fund estimated the
tourism related job losses in Thailand to be 120,000 and considering the
negative multiplier effect the United Nations Development Fund expected this
figure would in theory increase to 500,000. Thailand’s tourism steeply
declined following the Tsunami, as tourism relies on infrastructure, food,
transportation, electricity, water and other services – all of which were wiped
out due to the disaster. But since the disaster Thailand’s tourism is slowly
rising, and there is now a different type of tourist visiting the area but
unfortunately for Thailand, according to several news articles taken from The
Times and the BBC news , the new average tourist goes on cheap package
deals to take advantage of the cheap resorts and is unwilling to spend money
on diving, excursions and other services the destination has to offer.
In some ways this disaster parallels that of Montserrat, as both are less
economically developed countries which suffered a massive decline in tourism
but developed the industry to incorporate factors of the disaster they
experienced. In the case of Thailand people saw the event on the news and
have since chosen to travel to Thailand to see the event for themselves, for
example taking taxis to travel to the areas worst hit by the disaster. This type
of tourism could be described as disaster tourism, as the industry relies on
the curiosity of people regarding the disaster.
Although tourism is on the increase in Thailand it hasn’t returned to its
previous state, small businesses which depend on the support of tourism are
desperate for visitors and the tourist agencies are anxious to send the
message out that Thailand’s beaches, shops, bars and restaurant are open for
business as usual. It is essential tourism returns to the area, as Giovanni
Romchi said:
“The people who survived the disaster here need money. If tourists do not
come back soon, they will face another disaster – this time a financial one.”
(quotation taken from BBC news article, Thailand's tsunami-hit tourism)
In conclusion the unpredictability of natural disasters and the tourism industry
can have disastrous effects when occurring simultaneously. In general natural
disasters have the effect of initially decreasing tourism but destinations
affected can then change and allow the industry to adapt to involve the
disaster. As countries rely so much on tourism there is a need to regenerate
their trade and deal with natural disasters in order to survive. This is
especially true in the case of LEDCs but unfortunately it is often these
countries which find it most difficult due to the massive reliance on the
industry for their economy and livelihood.
Bibliography:
www.encyclopedian.com
www.timesonline.co.uk
www.news.bbc.co.uk
www.em-dat.net
Google images
www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk
www.wikipedia.com