Analysis of Policy of Tourism - Case Study Example

Analysis of Policy of Tourism “Support, protect and enhance the environmental assets (natural and cultural) on which so much tourism depends.” We are here talking about the sustainable tourism that most of the countries have adopted today. In tourism the main assets are the cultural peculiarities and environmental glories. Hence, it is necessary to protect them from the onslaught of tourism or vandalism without being fanatic about them. The attraction lies in them and naturally preserving them becomes very important. At the same time, they should be viewed and enjoyed by tourists and this means the tourism industry has to be provided with sufficient infrastructure to reach remote places, hill tops, forests and mountains. Infrastructure should not be provided at the cost of disturbing the cultural and environmental phenomena of the region. It is a challenge for the government to take steps to build the infrastructure, take adequate care of the tourist attractions, and create sufficient, round-the-clock tourist facilities and all the imaginable necessities without hurting the attractions or the environment much. All these should be done by keeping the environmental impact in check on not just the eco balance of the region, but also the possible impact on old historical buildings, precariously balanced ancient monuments and other equally endangered manuscripts, books, records, paintings, murals, scriptures, caves etc. This needs highly strategic management and professional approach from every angle. Conservation and rehabilitation should go hand in hand in tourism. Sometimes the task needs dedicated volunteers and ecotrackors. Ritichie and Crouch’s model belongs to the global (macro) environment, because global forces are shaping the world of tourism. “…the totality of global forces affecting destination competitiveness/sustainability is captured within what we term as‘onionskin taxonomy’. By this we mean that the global forces may be viewed as consisting of different layers surrounding the destination (represented by the globe in centre)” Richtie and Crouch (2003, p. 80). According to them, the environmental forces internal and external, rule the tourism of the region. The core resources and attractors are the essence of destination appeal and the climate is one of the chief issues of tourism. Even though social events could be attractive to tourists, they cannot take the place of cultural and environmental attractions. Economic environment definitely is a great encouragement of tourism, because tourism holds the potential of reducing unemployment while increasing and distributing income to the grassroots of society. It is also a multiplier of economy in various levels of income, output, employment and the balance of payments and thus, can create a cultural, social and economic awareness in it. It can also show immense possibilities by giving more importance to the local skills, dying arts, ancient customs, social peculiarities, anthropological educations and resurrecting the historical and cultural importance of the place that could have been long forgotten. At the same time, it can create a sense of pride and belonging in the local society, and hence, tourism as an industry is absolutely essential and worth investing. Again we come to the point that tourism and tourist attractions have to be protected, cherished and eco-balance of the region should be maintained. Marketing of tourism is another area where care should be maintained. Today’s tourism marketing has taken international proportions because tourism across the borders is more beneficial socially, culturally and economically than the tourism inside the same country. These tourism segments usually belong to diverse sectors of economy as well as marketing. “It is important to differentiate between country-of origin marketing, which is largely private sector, tour operator led, and destination country marketing, which is often public sector, national tourism organisation driven,” Witt (1995, p.15). At the same time, it is very difficult to assess all the tourism impacts, including the economic impact, very precisely as they are broadly spread into many areas like social, psychological and inspirational. “Trying to establish the contribution of tourism to a country’s development is not an easy task In addition to the definitional problems regarding tourist and tourism, there are also measurement problems in assessing tourist receipts and expenditures,” Seaton, p.23. Governments should incorporate policies of sustainable tourism as an integral part of tourism perspective. This is naturally an ongoing battle and the maintenance, protection, rehabilitation, should continue on a regular basis. “Government agencies themselves, however, can and should incorporate ecological effects in their broader cost-benefit calculation. They should modify the methodology itself so that it will take into account as a matter of course, the costs and benefits of proposed actions for the environment,” argues Smith (1994, p.62). Still it is necessary to know the areas where the impact could be obvious. Physical impact on the monuments, sites, historical buildings that have a precarious existence due to age or material used cannot be ignored. There are socio-cultural and political impacts. Tourists from democratic countries visiting countries managed by autocratic military junta could have a serious impact on one another. This was a major issue when communist countries were visited by tourists belonging to democratic countries and vice versa. There is definitely an ideological and mental impact on people. Tourism demand on closed countries could be less, because of the fear of ‘unknown’ as these countries had not been open for long. People initially had hesitated visiting China, although it is a friendly country today. Tourism sector consists of travel organisers at various levels, different sectors, retail travel agents, tour operators, tour wholesalers etc. Whoever they are, they should be aware of all the policies about sustainability and conduct the tours with preservation policies in place. Any slackening anywhere can have very serious effects. Sectors could be attractions sector, destination organizations sector and most important of all is the preservation and maintenance sector. The growth and spatial distribution of world tourism depends on mainly on the purpose of visit, whether it is business, holiday or miscellaneous. Tourism heavily depends on the seasonability and this depends on the purpose once again; but seasonability and climate can affect the tourism demand. In whichever we look at the tourism industry, there are no two different opinions that tourism is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy. This makes it more and more necessary to be guided and protected by sustainable policies and rules laid down by Governments. Most countries today look at international tourism as a generating source of foreign exchange. At the same time, tourism depends on the economic environment, physical and cultural environment and more importantly on the political environment of the country. This shows that tourism has the potential to bring in a subtle political change as happened in China in recent years. This also shows the importance of maintaining and protecting all the tourist attractions in the world. There is a lot of talk about ecotourism in these days and the Ecotourism Society describes it as: “purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of the environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources financially beneficial to local citizens (Ecotourism Society, 1987) in Theobald (1994, p.261). The protection of tourist attractions depends squarely on tourists too. It is not possible for the authorities and locals to police the attractions if visitors are unhelpful and non-cooperative. Adhering to all the principles of ecotourism might not very easy because this sector is still in its infancy. Ecotourism and even sustainable tourism for that matter do not result in great economy. For protecting the environment, it becomes necessary to spend increasingly more amount and tourism cannot fetch much when it is conducted as ecotourism or sustainable tourism. Still both are rapidly influencing the overall tourist industry and policy. It is difficult for people and policy makers to lose considerable income in the travel market to these two new sectors. The greening of the tourism industry cannot be popular in the foreign exchange and commercial segments because they include consumer awareness and education, and could be seen as hindrances in tourism pleasure. But the forecasters have great hopes for ecotourism which will definitely protect the environment. “Policy-makers and industry have the challenge, responsibility and mandate in the 1990s to bring market forces into harmony with the need for environmental protection and social equity. If accomplished, ecotourism may well become an example of how economic, social and environmental development can be achieved on a sustainable basis to the benefit of visitor, host and industry alike,” Theobald (1994, p.272). It should not be forgotten that tourism contributes to the cultural authenticity and social individuality of the region. As long as this identity does not venture to become a fanatic and aggressive trait, the diversity thus preserved should be a great contribution to the world that is threatened by the current globalised uniformity. Talking about the Alaskan tourism-influenced identity, Abram et al (1997, p.232) argue: “In this way, tourism contributes to an indigenous representation of Alaskan Native culture, such as dancing, singing, storytelling, mask-making, the sewing of skins, basketry and ivory-carving, as for ever traditional. Above all, the people themselves are portrayed as remaining in harmony with their environment, in complete contrast to those for whom they are performing”. Tourism spaces have to remain as untouched as possible to make the tourism continue. These spaces could be model environmental and cultural preservations of the society and definitely they will contribute towards the environmental health of the world by remaining as the best preserved spaces and models. While turning such spaces into commodities that could be used by tourism industry, governments and policy making agencies should be aware of the stakes. “Such forms of commodification have led to new constructions of the representation of tourist activity. The marketing of such spaces can often involve a form of narrativisation; the attaching of a familiar story to an unfamiliar space in order to render it less alien,” says Ravenscroft et al (1998, p.xi). This means, tourism could be risky by offering commodity spaces thoughtlessly. It is hence, important for society and governments to know that these commodities that are being offered as tourism attractions have to be maintained from every possible vandalism, carelessness, graffiti, misuse and rudeness. Culturally people tend to be very touchy and sensitive towards any outside interference. That trend need not appreciated; but if such sensitivity could be directed towards cultural and environmental protection, tourism would be healthier. The world has accepted tourism as the biggest and the most flourishing industry that need not see an end. If it does not get the protection and preservation it deserves, it could be regionally dangerous with worldwide repercussions. Hence, tourism should not be treated as an industry without investment, where people can visit any time and treat the attractions in any way. This could result in a set back to the industry itself. Tourist attractions are like any other natural resources. Natural resources do not have an unending supply. In the same way, tourism, if not treated well, could dwindle into nothing. The attraction lies in a very delicate thread of a bygone era, or a dangerously perishable monument, a precious all-informing fossil site or it could be just a highly sensitive natural environment. These cannot last long if extra and professional care has not been taken on a daily basis to preserve that thread of rarity which can bring people from all over the world in a continuous flow. The greatness pervading such attractions should be understood and appreciated. They are beyond commercial value. If the countries can be benefited by commercial advancement also due to those attractions, it is an added bonus to those countries. Here lies the necessity and significance of all these attractions and the atmosphere in which they are situated. Government rules, host discipline, guest co-operation, carefully and professionally guided environmental policies and devoted volunteers of green revolution all have to work together to celebrate these specialities for a very long time to come. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Abram, Simone, Jacqueline Waldren and Donald V.L. Macleod (1997), Tourists and Tourism, Berg, Oxford. 2. Ritchie, John and Crouch, Geoffrey (2003), The Competitive Destination, A sustainable Tourism Perspective, Oxon, CABI Publications. 3. Ravenscroft, Neil, Deborah Philips and Marion Bennett (1998), Tourism and Visitor Attractions, Leisure, Culture and Commerce, LSA Publications, Brighton. 4. Seaton, A.V. (1994), tourism, the state of the art. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester. 5. Smith, Valene L. and Eadington, William R. (1992), Tourism Alternatives, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. 6. Theobald, William F. (1994), Global Tourism, The next decade, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford. 7. Witt, Stephen, Michael Z. Brooke, and Peter J. Buckley 1995), The Management of International Tourism, Rutledge, London. Read More