Anthropology, Development and Tourism - Essay Example

Aside from t counurce of foreign exchange, since the hoincome. tourism it is ia ma0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000providing considerable employment opportunities in sectors like the hotel industry, the transport sector and wildlife, tourism helps a country increase its foreign exchange reserves. Over the last 25 years, developing countries have increased their portion of the world’s tourism market by more than 20%. Tourism arrivals to destinations in developing countries made up 46% of the total global arrivals in 2011.

In 20 of the 48 least developed states in the world, tourism is either the first or the second export earnings source. In terms of the contribution of tourism to the economies of developing countries, more than 25% of the GDP comes from tourism. This statistic mostly applies to the small island countries (BBC, n.d., n.p.). This paper shall discuss the reasons why most developing countries have chosen to engage tourism as an economic tool for development. Further, it shall expose the challenges that developing countries undergo in choosing tourism as an option for development, and the opportunities presented to developing countries in their quest to use tourism for development.

The tourism sector may be the sole service sector that offers quantified and concrete trading opportunities (BMZ, n.d., n.p.). This sector is of immense benefits to any country, regardless of the country’s development levels. For developing countries, tourism is among the most fundamental pillars in their process of development because it has been marked as a dominant activity with the potential to spur economic growth. In some countries, tourism is the sole source of employment and foreign currency, therefore forming a concrete platform for development of the economy 90 (U.S.I.P, n.d., n.p.). The reasons for increased investment in the tourism sector by developing countries are as follows: The tourism sector