Drivers of Globalization in International Tourism - Essay Example

Impact of Globalization on International Tourism Drivers of Globalization in International Tourism There has been the occurrence of fundamental shifts in the global economy over the preceding few years. In this similar context, one of such fundamental shifts can be apparently recognized as the gaining momentum of globalization influencing several industries in the world. With this concern, according to Hociung & Frâncu (2012), the four stages of globalization eventually made the tourism industry more internationally recognized. In this similar context, the initial stage involves the efforts made by the tourism industry for reaching into new business markets through attracting new customers in terms of selling them with exclusive tourism packages and products. This in turn improved the communication process between international customers and tourism companies, which removed the barriers of tourism in several nations. In accordance with the research undertaken by Hjalager (2007), the second phase or the second driving force is the integration of tourism business wherein a huge transfer of investments from one nation to other can be witnessed, which certainly helped in booming tourism business globally. The third stage involves rapid transfer of manufacturing process, which made product availability quite easier for tourists in the global market. Hociung & Frâncu (2012) identified that the fourth part involves value chains that develop by tourism companies for globalizing their respective business. On the other hand, Agarwal & Shaw (2007) possess a different perspective regarding the impact of globalization drivers especially in international tourism. According to Agarwal & Shaw (2007), market drivers including introduction of newer brands and following of effective marketing principles have certainly raised customers’ demand towards the tourism sector, resulting in globalizing the industry at large. Agarwal & Shaw (2007) stated in this regard that the increased extent of business market competition amid various multinational companies (MNCs) operating in tourism industry has created greater interdependence, establishing a new trend of promoting international tourism. It has been further asserted by Lupan & Lyakhovych (n.d.) that the formulation of newly governmental policies acted as one of the driving forces, which ultimately resulted in globalizing the tourism industry at large. In this similar concern, Dwyer et. al. (2009) identified five globalization drivers that directly influenced the tourism industry by a considerable degree. These drivers included economic, technological, political, social and demographic aspects. According to Brooks et. al. (n.d.), economic drivers of globalization in the tourism industry demonstrates growth in the transnational companies (TNCs) that induced global trade and business. Specially mentioning, deindustrialization specifically in American and European regions also acted as an potential economic driver of globalization impacting international tourism at large. Brooks et. al. (n.d.) asserted that the technological drivers of globalization affected international tourism in the form of enhancing transportation facilities worldwide, which helped in developing the information and communication procedure amid various nations. Likewise, Dwyer et. al. (2008) affirmed that technology transfer undertaken by MNCs along with the role played by social media also acted as the other technological driver, which influenced international tourism. As per the observation made by Brooks et. al. (n.d.), the political drivers of globalization influencing international tourism include relaxation in the governmental policies for mitigating trade barriers, formation of international governing bodies, large-scale privatization of industries and liberalization of capital along with trade markets. Similarly, Brooks et. al. (n.d.) recognized one of the social drivers of globalization influencing international tourism is the changing preferences of the people availing tourism service concerning geographical locations. Positive Impacts of Globalization on International Tourism According to Dwyer (2013), globalization effects can be felt in supply as well as the demand of tourism related products or services. In this regard, Dwyer (2013) asserted that globalization has ensued greater economic affluence for various nations due to increased degree of trade, contributing in raising Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at large. It is worth mentioning that there has been huge expansion in the tourism sector due to globalization because of which the economic growth of emerging nations has reached to the fullest extent. In terms of analyzing the positive impacts of globalization especially on international tourism, Dwyer (2013) further stated that globalization in international tourism has contributed towards mobilizing labor worldwide, resulting in creating maximum employment opportunities. The employment opportunities created by tourism industry have certainly encouraged the individuals to develop their respective living standards, enhance their language skills and work in a distinctive environment (Dwyer, 2013). Based on the observation made by Dwyer (2013), there has been a spread in technological knowledge amid the tourists due to globalization of tourism industry, which in turn empowered them to possess more range of options or tourism facilities. Specially mentioning, in the context of increased level of globalization, social media has played an imperative role in creating more choices for the tourists wherein they can use websites to enquire the best tourism package being provided in a particular nation at a reasonable rate or within a given budget. In addition, it can be affirmed that social media has provided a huge platform for small tourism companies to sell their respective products or services through online portals that ultimately provided brand recognition to these small tourism companies globally. It has been further stated by Dwyer (2013) that through the globalization of tourism industry, there has been a huge improvement of transportation facilities in various regions that benefitted the people in terms of creating better income prospects for them. Dwyer (n.d.) also revealed that through the globalization of tourism industry, various nations have undertaken certain steps to conserve the environment and its resources. Negative Impacts of Globalization on International Tourism Apart from the above discussed positive aspects, increased level of globalization also imposed certain negative impacts specifically on international tourism at large. According to Tayebi & Ohadi (n.d.), globalization has had a huge negative influence on the tourism industry, which can be justified with reference to the fact that certain nations faced the problem of income inequality in relation to international tourism. This was mainly because the developed nations were incessantly becoming more richer and the developing nations to be poorer as the individuals from developed nations were paid higher as compared to the people belonging to developing nations (Tayebi & Ohadi, n.d.). Lew et. al. (2014) further identified that economic dependency has been another challenge being posed by globalization in the circumstance of international tourism. This generally occurred owing to the reason that numerous nations have utilized their resources to the maximum extent so as to develop better tourists’ destinations for attracting the visitors. Thus, in the context of economic dependency, these nations might highly suffer during the phase of global financial crisis while the tourists will not prefer to travel such destinations, damaging the economic prospects of these nations at large. Lew et al. (2014) asserted in this regard that leakage in tourism expenditures due to gaining momentum of globalization has been a challenging factor for international tourism, as this resulted in loss of foreign currency for numerous tourism based nations. As per the observations made by Lew et. al. (2014), increased extent of globalization relating to international tourism has certainly resulted in the demolition of local businesses. This might be owing to the reason that the level of business market competition tends to be quite greater in a globalized market, wherein local businesses might not possess enough resources to compete globally. Deligny (2013) further identified the negative impact of globalization on international tourism in the form of damaging the natural structure of the environment. Natural resources including land as well as water have been depleted due to gaining momentum of globalization in the tourism sector. According to United Nations Environment Programme (n.d.), globalization in tourism industry has certainly transformed the culture being followed by people in a particular region, which ultimately affected their local identity by a considerable extent. In addition, Deligny (2013) revealed that the tourism industry might face the problems concerning profitability and attaining superior competitive position as compared to other industries due to the adverse impacts imposed by globalization on international tourism. References Agarwal, S., & Shaw, G. (2007). Managing coastal tourism resorts: a global perspective. UK: Multilingual Matters. Brooks, I., Weatherston, J., & Wilkinson, G. (n.d.). Globalisation, challenges and changes. Retrieved from http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/assets/hip/gb/hip_gb_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/Brooksch9.pdf Deligny, M. U. (2013). Globalization and tourism sector. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/meltemlaleunal/globalization-and-tourism-sector Dwyer, M. L., 2013. Globalization of tourism: drivers and outcomes. L’Institut de Recherche et d’Etudes Supérieures du Tourisme (IREST), 3-22. Dwyer, L. (n.d.). Globalization of tourism: drivers and outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEAQFjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.univ-paris1.fr%2Ffileadmin%2FColloque-imaginairetourism%2FDwyerParis.ppt&ei=XBqLU7_tOoa1uATNk4LIBg&usg=AFQjCNGoB25ef16e58L9_r3DuydsoQTp8w&bvm=bv.67720277,d.c2E&cad=rja Dwyer, L., Edwards, D., Mistilis, N., Romand, C., & Scott, N. (2009).Destination and enterprise management for a tourism future. Tourism Management, 30, 63-74. Dwyer, L., Edwards, D., Mistilis, N., Romand, C., & Scott, N., Cooper, C. (2008). Megatrends underpinning tourism to 2020 Analysis of key drivers for change. CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd, 1-60. Hociung, I G., & Frâncu, L. G. (2012). Globalization – tourism – communication, competitiveness triangle on the market affected by the economic crisis. Theoretical and Applied Economics, 572 (7), 133-146. Lew, A. A., Hall, C. M. & Williams, A. W. (2014). The Wiley Blackwell companion to tourism. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Lupan, M., & Lyakhovych, M. (n.d.) Globalization in tourism sector. Journal of Tourism, 38-42. Tayebi, S. K., & Ohadi, S. (n.d.) Relationship between globalization and inequality in different economic blocks. Retrieved from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CFIQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgdri.dreem.free.fr%2Fwp-content%2Fd32-tayebi-ohadi_final.pdf&ei=AhyLU5XZFZedugSN_4D4Cg&usg=AFQjCNHxUah76WV6_HtwKX-G-ZPUu8rIIg&bvm=bv.67720277,d.c2E&cad=rja United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.). Negative socio-cultural impacts from tourism. Retrieved from http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/business/sectoralactivities/tourism/factsandfiguresabouttourism/impactsoftourism/socio-culturalimpacts/negativesocio-culturalimpactsfromtourism/tabid/78781/default.aspx Read More