Tourism Leakages - Dissertation Example

Tourism Leakages Most countries have benefited from tourism economically due to foreign exchange. However, some countries have not highly benefited from the venture. This is because of the high expenditures that these countries incur due to the demands of the tourists. The countries that suffer most from the high expenditure caused by tourism are the developing countries. This is because this countries experience higher leakage of revenues thus the minimal benefits to the local community. Bhattacharya (131) indicates that that tourism can lead to financial growth. However, due to other factor like tourism leakages a country can experience serious economic crisis. This is because, the growth of tourism industries results into high demand for the imported goods that are more expensive than the locally processed goods. Bhattacharya (131) indicates that goods, which are provided internationally, leave the local community with a very small portion of the earnings. This problem affects mostly the developing countries. These leakages thus diminish the positive influences of tourism to a country (Bhattacharya 131). Countries that are developed benefit more that developing countries in tourism. This is because such countries lack industries to process goods that tourists need. UNEP indicates that a government ensures that the positive effects of tourism are maximized by reducing the tourism leakages. For this to happen, Governments especially in the developing countries should promote the ownerships of tourism resources by the local communities. In most cases, the governments have favored the ownership of the tourism resources by the private sectors or the foreigners. Consequently, a recognizable percentage of the tourism resources belong to the foreign investors. Therefore, the local communities benefit less from the tourism revenues due to the leakages of tourism profits. The ownerships of large portions of tourism businesses in developing countries belong to the foreigners (UNEP). This has resulted into a tourism agenda distorted in favor of external benefits. The result of the high leakage through repatriation of profits, employment for foreign emigrant, importation of goods and services from foreign countries and the use of airlines that foreign countries own. The leakage in developed countries is not very high (Jones 65). The government should come up with strategies to promote the ownership of the tourism resources by the local community. The application models for agricultural development can be integrated to tourism development to enhance the local community ownerships of the tourism resources. An example of the agricultural development model is the one, which, farmers engage in agricultural businesses by forming associations to manage important functions like marketing. Exploitation of land by foreigners should be discouraged because it is the local communities, which will suffer environmental degradation after the foreigners have left. There should be the emphasis of strong connection between the local communities and the tourism industries to reduce leakages and to increase the benefits from tourism. Moreover, the increase of leakages is due to the high expenditure by the government to meet the high tourists’ demands. The governments use a lot of money to import goods to meet tourists’ demands. Apparently, the escalation of tourism expenses due to importations result into the reduction of profits leading to economic constrains. To reduce high importation, there should be the emphasis on the use of the locally produced goods to enhance increased output effects of tourism (UNEP). Tourism Policies Kenkel (2) indicates that tourism is a very important business internationally. It is one of the central sources of revenues particularly, in those countries that are still developing. However, the high demands of tourism have had undesirable effects on the local people and the environment. The growth of tourism has showed some serious adverse impacts. Continuous planning and growth of a tourist area are some of the important tourism management. To enhance the economic gains of tourism, there should be suitable policy formulation and accomplishment that involves the local community. The significance of tourism policy is to provide guidance, to all the stakeholders, and the local community in decision-making in order to attain rational outcomes (kunkel 2). A tourism country hosts visitors in order to provide its stakeholders with a wide range of economic and social benefits. These benefits are to enhance employment chances and source of income. This employment and income allow stakeholders to live and enjoy the worth of their country. Tourism policy, therefore, seeks to ensure that the hosting of tourists maximizes the benefits to stakeholders while reducing the negative effects, costs and impacts associated with the success of the country. Graeme (307) indicates that the function of the policy is to guarantee that tourists enjoy themselves according to their expectations, while the stakeholders acquire the profits. It also ensures that tourism does not cause harm to the environment, social and cultural integrity (Graeme 326). Poor policy formulation, planning, and management of tourism development lead to the long-term negative effects on the economy (Jones 35). The negative effects of tourism can be reduced by the effective tourism policy formulation. At the global level, many organizations support tourism. The organizations give support to tourism by increasing the gain from tourism and lessening the negative effects. One of the roles this organizations play is the synchronization of policies. An example of such organization is the World Tourism Organization. For tourism to benefit a country, the government should guarantee the formation of appropriate policies. Local communities need to benefit from tourism, and this can only be achieved by implementation of effective policy. All stakeholders should be able to design and implement effective measures to promote continuous tourism improvement that will enhance economic development. The government should support involvements of the local communities in making and monitoring policies. This will ensure equal distribution of socio-economic benefits by monitoring and minimizing negative impacts (Eagles, Bowman & Tao 27). Cevat & Dallen (352) indicate that public policy and policymaking processes are efforts that reduce the adverse effects of the tourism sector globally. The most appropriate ways to reduce negative impacts caused by tourism is to identify stakeholders’ relationships and the related policies that affect economic tourism. The tourism policy relevance in ensuring the success of tourism has often been ignored. Tourism policies should ensure the support and acknowledgement of the collaboration of many stakeholders in the tourism industry. The policies maximize the positive impacts because they define the rules and the conditions under which tourism stakeholders must operate. Furthermore, they set out activities and behavior that are acceptable for visitors. They offer the general guidance for all tourism stakeholders within a country. Lastly, the significance of policies in tourism is to facilitate harmony around specific approaches and objectives for a given country (Cevat & Dallen 352). In order to enhance the economic gains of tourism, there should be the formulation and implementation of suitable policies that involve the local community. Furthermore, there should emphasis in reducing leakages which contribute to negative economic impacts of tourism. Works Cited Bhattacharya, Ajoy. Forestry for the Next Decade (in 2 volumes) Forestry for the Next Decade (Vol. 1) Forestry for the Next Decade, volume 2. New York, NY. Concept Publishing Company. 2007. Print Cevat, Tosun. & Dallen, Timothy. Shortcomings in planning approaches to tourism development in developing countries: the case of Turkey. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 2001. Vol. 13 Iss: 7, pp.352 – 359 Eagles, Paul. & Bwoman, Margaret. & Tao, Chang-Hung. Guidelines for Tourism in Parks and Protected area of East Asia. New York, NY. IUCN.2003. Print Graeme, Evans. Planning for urban tourism: a critique of borough development plans and tourism policy in London. International Journal of Tourism Research.2000. Vol. 2. Is 5: p 307–326. Jones, Eleri. Tourism SMEs, Service quality and destination Competitiveness. Wallingford. CABI, 2005. Print Kunkel Lily. International Tourism Policy and the Role of Governments in Tourism in the Context of Sustainability. Norderstedt. GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). Economic Impacts of Tourism. UNEP. 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Read More