British University Vietnam

HAN16080027

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TOURISM AND EVENTS

DEBATE PAPER
Individual Assignment

Topic: The ‘dominant view that travel is a “good thing” which should be unconstrained, has
resulted in international arrivals being the celebrated indicator of the health of the sector’
(Goodwin, 2017, p. 10). This focus on growth is often seen as a key reason for ‘over tourism’.
Discuss whether growth in tourist arrivals is a desirable goal or not.
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Tourism for recent decades has been regarded as one of the most dynamic and thriving industries
in the world. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (2018) acknowledged the significance
of contemporary tourism as “Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses
a growing number of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for
socio-economic progress”. Thanks to the emerging technology, increasing capacity and mobility,
and enormous numbers of cost-effective suppliers, travel has never become easier, more
affordable and more universally accessible. Tourism thus has experienced exponential growth in
tourist's arrival for the past few decades and become one of the major players in economic sector.
The unprecedented development of tourism and the fact that destinations take tourist’s arrival
growth as a criterion for success have captured global attention. Goodwin (2017) also once
mentioned that “The dominant view that travel is a ‘good thing’ which should be unconstrained,
has resulted in international arrivals being the celebrated indicator of the health of the sector”.
This has led to controversial debates whether tourist arrival is a desirable goal or not since the
focus on growth has made numerous destinations victims of “overtourism”, which is interpreted
as “destinations where hosts or guests, locals or visitors, feel that there are too many visitors and
that the quality of life in the area or the quality of the experience has deteriorated unacceptably”
(ibid). However, it is the author’s contention that the increasing and constant growth of tourists'
arrival is of great value for destinations and should be taken as crucial element for the sector’s
success thanks to the massive socio-economic and environmental well-being it contributes to
local communities. The essay will then strengthen the proposition with the idea of encouraging
growth while developing sustainable tourism management strategies, instead of supporting the
negative and extreme movement of “tourismphobia”.
The first major argument is that tourist’s arrival offers enormous socio-economic benefits for
local destinations in terms of generating substantial tourism revenues, enabling jobs creation, and
stimulating foreign investment and regional co-operation. According to World Tourism and
Travel Council (WTTC) (2019), travel industry contributed nearly 9 billion USD which
accounted for over 10% of the world’s total gross domestic product (GDP). This demonstrates
the economic activity yielded by different sectors including accommodations, food and beverage,
travel agents and tour operators, aviation companies, commuter services, and attractions. Not to
mention the contribution of ancillary service providers such as leisure sector, banks and retailers
of all kinds. Furthermore, visitor export, known as money spent by foreign visitors to a country,
has brought in considerable tourism earnings. Lee (2008) also acknowledged that “tourism
expenditure by foreign tourists could enhance domestic tourism construction as well as bringing
about an accumulation of physical capital, and the needs for skilled labor in the tourism sectors
would cause human capital investment to increase”. As reported by WTTC (2019), visitor export
is a key economic contributor from tourism and travel, the world generated more than 1.6 billion
USD in visitor exports in 2019. Third, tourism growth also enables the creation of quality jobs.
In 2019, tourism has created more than 300 million jobs for the global employment, meaning
that the industry accounts for 1 in 10 jobs worldwide (ibid). Tourism development has
encouraged residents to participate in the new economy to produce goods and services which
helps to replace their lower-income jobs and enhance life quality. Residents living near tourists'
destinations can also produce suitable and innovative products and services and take the
advantages from the industry by encouraging purchases from visitors, which result in enhanced
income and living standard (Sharpley and Telfer, 2002). The growth in the number of tourists
also helps to attract foreign investment and co-operations within region which is believed to
improve infrastructures and facilities that not only better serves tourists but also contribute to
local well-being. In 2018, “tourism has attracted capital investment of $ 980bn” and money has
been spent on different development projects such as more flight connection and networks,
airlines competition, and improved airport services (ibid). For example, Vietnam and Russia
decided to launch new direct flight route from Nha Trang to Moscow in 2013 due to the
increasing demand of Russian tourists to Vietnam and vice versus. This cooperation was a
cornerstone for two countries’ relation and led to reciprocal benefits for both destinations.
Revenues and investments for tourism can be also reflected in the transformation of uninhabited
areas into inhabited and more sustainable facilities such as hotels, restaurants, parks or other
recreation amenities facilitating the movement of goods and services and adds in the sustainable
urbanization (Bramo, 2013, cited in Catudan, 2016). Hence, it can be seen that tourism growth
played an indispensable role in improving economic welfare for local population regarding
creating quality employment and increasing personal income, facilitating foreign exchange, and
generating higher tax income for local governments (Lee, 2008).
Tourist’s arrival growth has not only triggered socio-economic well-beings but also
environmental benefits for local destinations. First, a large number of tourists visiting natural
areas brings direct financial resources for conservation efforts. Revenue from park-entrance fees
and other related sources, collected from individual tourists or tour operators, can be allocated
for the protection and management of environmentally sensitive areas (United Nations
Environment Program UNEP, 2001). For example, protected areas in Costa Rica welcomed
approximately 1 million national and foreign tourists every year, who generated about US$ 2.5
million in admission fees and payment of services, and the majority of revenue has been spent on
conservation projects (ibid). In Maldives where sea-tourism is the primary player in the country’s
economic sector, it is recorded “that direct business revenue from shark-diving tourism was
estimated to be US$14.4 million,…,and further economic benefits from shark-diving occurred in
form of annual business tax revenues of US$7.2 million” (Zimmerhackel, 2019). The increasing
number shark-diving tourists and the revenues from this tourism activity is “crucial for
maintaining the value and sustainability of the industry to improve ongoing conservation efforts
for shark populations” (ibid). Second, tourism has the potential to raise public awareness about
environmental issues when bring tourists closer to nature. Encouraging tourists to visit sensitive
areas or wildlife sanctuary might increase people’s appreciation of nature and lead to more
environmentally conscious behaviors and activities, such as reducing waste during travel,
boycotting souvenirs and products made from endangered species, or refusing tourism activities
that involve unethical animals’ participation (UNEP, 2001). Third, tourism growth has led to and
strengthened the cooperation of stakeholders in applying environmentally friendly policies. For
instance, Bali’s government from 2018 has enacted a ban on single-use plastics including
shopping bags, Styrofoam, and straws which have been reported to lead to a 70 per cent decline
in the island's marine plastics within a year (The Straits Time, 2018). A further example is that it
is now a standard that hotels must deliver a message of water conservation in guest’s room;
hotels and restaurants have been replacing single use plastic by alternative products; or travel
agents and airlines are encouraging clients to pay for CO2 emission as the compensation for their
flight, which all create viral campaigns across the industry that helps raise public awareness
about responsible travel (Li, 2019). Despite the arguments that environment degradation is the
victim of tourism, it is undeniable that tourist’s arrival growth remains a key driver for
environmental protection and management efforts.
Undeniably, focusing on growing the volume of tourists without appropriate management can
lead to overtourism with uncontrollable negative impacts on environment and the resident
communities. However, “tourismphobia” should not be the alternative movement as tourists are
indispensable source of tourism income. Sustainable tourism development, the concept of
concurrently boosting economic growth and making positive impacts on destinations by
involving active participation of all stakeholders, should be taken as a desirable goal for the
sector’s success (Cole, 2006). Ritchie and Crouch (2003) also endorsed the significance of
balancing between increasing tourist’s arrival and implementing appropriate strategies for
sustainable growth as “what makes a tourism destination truly competitive is its ability to
increase tourism expenditure, to increasingly attract visitors, while providing them with
satisfying, memorable experiences, and to do so in a profitable way, while enhancing the well-
being of destination residents and preserving the natural capital of the destination for future
generations”. There are certain suggestions for government and private sectors to continue
attracting visitors while enhancing local people and environment well-beings, such as creating
meaningful and quality employment, diversifying tourism products and enhancing customer
services, encouraging innovative and responsible suppliers, applying responsible policies in
business operation, offering fair competition and environment to support small-scale enterprises,
investing in and supporting national efforts of managing natural and cultural resources, educating
travelers about responsible behaviors, and raising better understanding of tourism’s contribution
to prosperity and overall welfare to improve public support. It is a general consensus that
targeting economic benefits while ensuring the sustainable management of residents’ life and
environmental standard does not necessarily lead to opposition of further tourism development of
those residents since they feel the benefits provided to their home community outweighs the
disadvantages (Andereck, 2005). There are some contemporary works such as Goodwin’s (2017)
and Balli’s (2019) arguing that international arrival is a wrong metric for tourism management
and other indicators such as resident and visitor satisfaction, or tourist spend should be substitute
indicators. However, anti-overtourism is not necessarily anti-tourism in general which might
damage the industry as a whole. Instead, more thoughtful and appropriate actions need to be
taken to make sure tourism benefits both socio-economically and environmentally.
In conclusion, there are sound arguments that destinations should restrict number of tourist's
arrivals due to the phenomenon of over tourism which lead to environmental degradation and
resident’s distress, and the arrival growth should be replaced by another metric. It is the author’s
assertion that the gains from tourist’s arrival surpass the downsides thanks to the considerable
economic and social benefits such as job creations, enhanced income and life quality, and
potential foreign investment and regional collaboration; and positive environmental impacts such
as direct financial contribution to conservation work, better public appreciation and awareness
for nature and environmental issues, and nature restoration and preservation effort. Besides, “the
problem of overtourism could be solved by striving to develop sustainable tourism goals, thus
balancing equality between the right to travel and residents’ rights to live” (Perkumienė, 2019).
A firm resolution of sustainable tourism development has been made as an alternative approach
for degrowth movement. In other words, tourism should be used as an engine for inclusive
growth to generate national income while mitigating negative impacts on local communities and
to fairly distribute benefits to all people and regions. The growth of tourism in recent years
confirms that the sector is today one of the most powerful drivers of economic growth and social
development. Therefore, appropriate and deliberate policy should be adopted to encourage better
and more thoughtful behaviors rather than developing a sense of tourism hatred and losing
benefits from the sector. Setting international arrival growth as a desirable achievement, along
with effective development strategy will create successful destinations and an inclusive tourism
industry that is beneficial and ethical for all.
Word count:
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