Benefits of Tourism free essay sample

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes. [1] Tourism is important and in some cases vital for many countries, such as France, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Thailand, and many island nations, such as Mauritius, The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles. It brings in large amounts of income in payment for goods and services available, contributing an estimated 5% to the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP), and it creates opportunities for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. [2] These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxicabs; hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, music venues and theatres. We will write a custom essay sample on Benefits of Tourism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Benefits of Tourism There are a number of benefits of tourism for both the tourist and the host destination. On a large scale it offers a good alternative to some more destructive industries for generating income both on nationally and privately. The tourism industry encompasses many different areas, so it also creates jobs in many different areas. With tourism comes hotels, resturants, car rental agencies, tour companies, service stations, souvenier shops, sports equipment rentals, and much more. All of this creates many different levels of employment for people in a given community. In many places the introduction and development of tourism allows local people an opportunity for economic and educational growth that would not otherwise be available. In addition, it allows both the tourist and the local community a chance to experience other cultures, which broadens understanding. If properly used, tourism generated income can be tremendously beneficial to the host country and its local communities. Tourism generated income can be used on a national and local level to better education, improve infrastructure, to fund conservation efforts, and to promote more responsible tourism. ? Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of not only recreation, but also the provision of services for this act. It might occupy local services such as entertainment, accommodation and catering for tourists. It may seem, that tourism brings only benefits, but further consideration shows that it also has disadvantages. Firstly, many countries depend heavily upon travel expenditures by foreigners as a source of taxation and as a source of income for the enterprises. Therefore, the development of tourism is often a strategy to promote a particular region for the purpose of increasing commerce through exporting goods and services. Secondly, it provides direct employment for the people associated with occupations in bars and hotels. Thanks to it, the average standard of living of people increases well and at the same time unemployment is on the decrease. However, tourists cause environmental damage through forest fires, destruction of sand dunes and pollution. Consequently this serves negatively as increased pollution disturbs local residents and also it may discourage tourists from further entering the country. After this, tourism undermines culture by commercializing it and this is often connected with increasing litter, graffiti, vandalism and noise tourists do not always respect traditional cultures, which is sad but true. In general, tourism is an extremely profitable process in loads of countries, especially those in which the process of development continue to depend on this industry because this industry does not require a lot of literacy and also it yields maximum profits with less investment.