The Impact of Tourism in the Construction Industry - Essay Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY: DERMITZAKI SOFIA IOAKEIMIDIS ARIS TAMPOSIS DIMITRIS TOPIC: THE IMPACT OF TOURISM IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND THE CONTRIBUTION IN VACATION HOMES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES Order #U19851054 TOPIC THE IMPACT OF TOURISM IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND THE CONTRIBUTION IN VACATION HOMES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES (Spain, France, Italy, Greece) ABSTRACT Tourist infrastructure development like construction of hotels, vacation homes, etc. is a must for development of tourism but such construction leads to land alteration consequently degrading the natural balance and the ecosystem of the concerned place or area. Areas rich in natural heritage and biodiversity like the costal zones and the Mediterranean regions are found to be very prone to the negative impacts of land alterations (WTO, 2005). However, tourist flow in nature-rich destinations like the Mediterranean countries is increasing thereby calling for construction of more tourist accommodations and infrastructures. This type of development is now under the scanner and faces various pressures and challenges like environmental regulations, land-use planning and protocols, local socio-economic forces and other requirements. Under this situation, it makes a good case to assess and investigate the impacts and implications of modern-day tourism on the construction sector. INTRODUCTION A careful look at any tourist destination reveals the cyclical link between tourism and the construction industry, both capacitating and facilitating each other. Identifying this link, Riera (1999) and Apostolopoulos et.al. (2001) expressed that mass tourism and accommodation construction are inter-woven, accommodations and hotels need tourist to survive and do business and tourism too needs good accommodation facility for attracting tourists (Riera A., 1999; Apostolopoulos et.al., 2001). Thus, the current trend is in favor of exotic destinations and vacation or second home, a home away from the home which is also an investment home for some. The growth of tourism is always welcome as it has the potential of offering multiple benefits (WWF, 2001; UNEP/CI, 2003; WITC, 2005)-economic opportunities, socio-cultural exchanges & integration, international relationship building and many other associated advantages. For any tourist destination or spot, the growth of tourism implies additional influx of tourists which in turn calls for construction of additional accommodations/vacation homes and tourism infrastructures. Under this situation, tourism growth means more tourists, more demands for accommodations and infrastructures and consequently more construction activities. Looking it the other way, good infrastructures and accommodations can also add to the real value of a destination and attract people facilitating tourism in the process. Thus, there seems to be a straight forward interrelation between tourism and the construction industry (Apostolopoulos et.al., 2001). However, this interrelation or interdependence is not as simple as it sounds. Tourism is intrinsically an activity constrained by time and space and construction too is heavily dependent on space or geographical area and land-use configuration (Hall, 2005). Space has limitations and thus, tourism and the construction industry cannot keep on growing or developing indiscriminately and ceaselessly or else, the realities of space constraints and the possible negative environmental consequences are sure to push this industry into the extinction. Construction related to tourism development (hotels, airports, roads, and vacation homes) causes the greatest negative impact to the ecosystem and more so when the destination is rich in biodiversity like the Mediterranean region. Loss of biodiversity and picturesque landscapes already affects a number of tourist destinations throughout the Mediterranean and often, these losses or negative impacts are far greater than the positive outcomes or the associated values of tourism (Paris Chris, 2006). Therefore, balancing the growth and development of tourism and the construction sector is an absolute must and this realization has marked the emergence of concepts like eco-tourism, green-construction and other environment-friendly practices all of which fall under the ambit of sustainable development. Tourist infrastructure development like construction of hotels, vacation homes, etc. is a must for development of tourism but such construction leads to land alteration consequently degrading the natural balance and the ecosystem of the concerned place or area. Areas rich in natural heritage and biodiversity like the costal zones and the Mediterranean regions are found to be very prone to the negative impacts of land alterations (WTO, 2005). However, tourist flow in nature-rich destinations like the Mediterranean countries is increasing thereby calling for construction of more tourist accommodations and infrastructures. This type of development is now under the scanner and faces various pressures and challenges like environmental regulations, land-use planning and protocols, local socio-economic forces and other requirements. Under this situation, it makes a good case to assess and investigate the impacts and implications of modern-day tourism on the construction sector. Considering the on-going tourism and construction activities, this study has been conceived with the objective of exploring and investigating the links between tourism and tourist constructions in some selected Mediterranean countries. This study shall address the following research questions: How does international tourism impact the Mediterranean construction sector, particularly construction of vacation homes How does the existing stock of tourist construction measure up to the present influx of tourist in the Mediterranean What are the opportunities and scopes for improving this situation THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Tourism is not a stand-alone activity, nor is it an independent business sector on its own (WTO/OMT, 1997). In fact it is a package of different activities or an amalgamation of various sectors or industries. To see tourism happen, sectors like transportation, construction, foods and other basic sectors need to contribute in an integrated manner and produce the tourism product in keeping with the requirements of sustainable development (refer, WTO, 1998; Manera et. al., 2006; Cedefop, 2005). Stressing on these virtues, it has been decided to build this study following an integrated and sustainable development framework. This implies that this study shall consider tourism as an entity produced or offered by different activities working together and assess the efficacy of the construction sector from the standpoint of sustainable development Tourism requires a proper place or destination to succeed and construction too requires adequate land or space to build infrastructures and facilities. Tourism plays an important role in the development and re-development of a country or a region thereby calling on the construction industry to provide accommodations and infrastructures for the tourists. Tourism can be developed in such a destination, which has the required attributes or factors for attracting tourists (nature, beauty, monuments, etc.) and once tourism development starts, constructions follow automatically. Thus, place or destination is the central point in this case. More competitive a place is more tourism and construction developments it witnesses (WTO, 2005; Andriotis, 2004). This calls for assessing and analyzing the competitive advantage of specific place or destination for evaluating the prospect and situation of the construction industry in that specific destination. Such analysis can be conducted best using the 'Poter's Diamond Model' for competitive advantage of nations or destinations (see, Slater & Olson, 2002; Hill & Jones, 1995). Poter's model proposes five potential forces or competitive factors that determine the profitability and attractiveness of a given industry. Out of these five components, the primary and the most important component is the 'factor conditions' whichincludes: Land Location Natural resources Labor and Local population size In this study, the tourism and construction industry will be assessed applying the above model. LITERATURE REVIEW Our literature review is based on the following resources. At first, we will define literature based on constructions which is a research from Eurostat called "Euroindicators" and "Eurobusiness facts and figures, Part 1 (constructions)". These papers give us important statistical figures in the construction industry. Second, as far as tourism concern we draft information from Eurostat and the research papers "Panorama on tourism" and "regional tourism in the EU". One of the most important reports we found was "move holidaymakers and more holidays" by Hais - Werner Schmidt from Eurostat, which give us the opportunity to explain and combine the impact of the vacation homes in the construction industry and the rate of tourists have their own vacation home abroad. To close the second part another report is "explaining the spatial distribution of second homes in EU". As far as the theoretical background we referred to the book of Adam Smith "wealth of nations" which analyzes the theory of the absolute advantage and "International business" by Charles W.L. Hill, chapter 5 which appose the Porter's diamond model. RESEARCH DESIGN In order to design our research we have made a methodological path that has to be followed to derive in a conclusion. The analysis in this study will be done using the Poter's Diamond Model for competitive advantage of nations for which the input data and information shall be sourced from secondary data sources like-country tourism reports, WTO publications, prior-research studies and other authentic sources available. This being predominantly a theoretical assessment, the option of collecting primary data has not been selected taking into consideration the financial, manpower and duration requirements. DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS Our research is based on secondary data only, because our topic is very strict and theoretical in order for primary data to be collected. If we tried to do so and collect these primary data it will be costly and time inefficient. Our secondary data was collected especially from internet and some books and reports. It is characterized as macroeconomic quantitative data. Our analysis will have a descriptive approach and for our final conclusion we will follow the method of Meta analysis because we will analyze the outcome of two different studies. CONCLUSION In the end of the day we want to have unanswerable facts that tourism has a great impact in constructions and vacations homes. We want to prove that tourism expansion and recession is analog with region development and construction industry expansion. Hopefully we will have some statistical evidence that interrelates the tourism sector with the weekend homes. REFERENCES Tourism trends in Mediterranean countries" by office for official publications of the European communities, 2001. "Panorama on tourism" by office for official publications of the European communities, 2001. "Regional tourism in the European Union" by Eurostat "Estimating economic impacts of tourist spending on local regions, a comparison of satellite and survey" by Daniel J. Stynes "European business, facts and figures (construction part)" by office for official publications of the European communities, 2001. "Euroindicators" by Eurostat "Move holidaymakers and more holidays" by Hais - Werner Schmidt by Eurostat "International business" by Charles W.L. Hill, 2001. "Wealth of nations" by Adam Smith "Explaining the spatial distribution of second homes in EU". CONTEXT Abstract..page 2 Introductionpage 2 Theoretical background..page 3 Literature review....page 3 Research design..page 4 Data collection and data analysis...page 5 Conclusion..page 5 References..page 6 Read More