MGBBT1TAS: Tourism and Society

September 2021
 
 
Student-ID:

Module name: Tourism and Society

  
Tutor name:
 
Academic year/group: September 2021

Essay title: The interrelationship of tourism and society

Word count (Actual): 2773 words

 Table of Contents

Introduction
The economic impacts of tourism on the society
Other impacts of tourism on the society
An anticipation of the future development of the interrelationship between tourism
and society
Recommendations and Conclusion
References

 Introduction 
Essay aims
    Tourism is vital for the economy of many countries. There are people around
the world that depend on tourism. It boosts the revenue of a society, develops the
infrastructure of a country and contributes in the exchange between foreigners and
citizens, last but not least creates thousands of jobs. There are several current
research issues at the intersections of tourism and contemporary society: social
justice, environmental sustainability, natural disasters, terrorism, heritage,
embodiment and affect and mediator action (Cohen, E. and Cohen, S.A. , 2012). In
these essay, it will be analyzed the interrelationship of tourism and society by
examining the broad social trends and specific historical events that recently
affected tourism and discuss the sociological implications by using recently
developed studies. Tourism is a economic field in continuous change, a hard hit
field, especially with the COVID 19 pandemic and lies among the most damaged
global industries. Many businesses and tourists were forced to find sustainable
ways of traveling and satisfying their needs.
Finally, tourism and travel are a major contributor to the service industry
worldwide, the leisure and internal tourism indicated a steep decline amounting to
2.86 trillion US dollars, which quantified more than 50% revenue losses (Jaffar
Abbas et al. Risk Manag, 2021).
The economic impacts of tourism on the society
  Max Weber defines sociology as “ a science which attempts the interpretive
understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of
its course and effects”. In fact studies human societies, their interactions, and the
processes that preserve and change them. 
  First of all, in order to evaluate the economic impact of tourism on the society it
necessary to bring in front the essential problems that society is facing since the
late 2020’s to present days, one issue is the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic and
now the political war between government of Russia and Ukraine. As it is
evaluated in the late studies the current pandemic COVID-19 has resulted in global
challenges, renewable energy, carbon emission, economic and healthcare crises,
and posed spillover impacts on the global industries, including tourism and travel
that the major contributor to the service industry worldwide (Lepp and Gibson,
2003).
The appearance of COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in massive financial losses
and caused global health and economic crises worldwide. Population was cut off
from a major part of social life, was limited and faced lockdown. This had a major
impact on global economy and caused a massive downfall of the tourism sector.
The European Commisions stated that COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the
largest and most abrupt peacetime drop in economic activity in modern history.
The impact has varied dramatically across different sectors of the economy.
The pandemic period affected the tourism in countries where COVID 19 had the
highest infection rates. In particular,services were affected based on the type of
interaction between people. The most, suffered high-contact services such as
tourism,, while those that facilitate non- contact activities, like IT support or
delivery of services, were barely affected. As shown in the OECD Economic
Outlook Service sectors requiring close proximity between consumers and
producers or between large groups of consumers, including hospitality services,
leisure activities and cross-border travel, were hard hit across all economies, with
output declining by 60-80% in several countries by April.
  Another discussion is the effect of Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine on the tourism
industry. It is suggested that in 2019, EU residents spent an estimated €479 billion
on tourism trips, mostly on trips abroad (57%) and  EU residents spent 83% of
their tourism expenditure on trips inside Europe (76% inside the EU). As it can be
acknowledged tourist chose to avoid countries near Russia’s borders. That affected
many cultural activities such as concerts, music festivals, medical events etc.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the war will affect Europe’s tourism
industry in four ways: a loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists; restrictions on
airlines and use of airspace; higher food and fuel costs; and a big hit to traveler
confidence and disposable incomes.
  Second of all, society acts like a domino game, if a sector of activity is affected
it’s likely possible to affect the overall sectors more or less and from the statistics
tourism is its based on socialization and social interaction between countries. The
negative consequences on the community and environment can shadow in some
cases the economic benefits, it is a fact that was never estimated in the past.  
Third of all, the impact of tourism on the society’s economy should be viewed
from three sides: tourists, local community and authorities.
 On one side we have the tourists, who pay to enjoy a certain form of tourism. On
another side, we have the local community who prepare for the arrival of tourists
and enjoy the benefits of tourism. The government and the local authorities see the
tourism as a generating revenues through taxes, the creation of jobs and
contribution to the balance of payments (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2012:24). On the
other hand there is a fourth side : the investors but in this case the benefits are
solely financial, therefore it is based on the incomes of the businesses set up in the
host- region. 
  It can be highlighted that tourism has an important impact on the economy of a
country and with it affected the sociocultural component of the population. 
 
Other impacts of tourism on the society

Although the literature traditionally describes the economic, social, and cultural
impacts of tourism, there is a gap related to the impact of tourism on residents'
health. The results demonstrate that tourism arrivals negatively influence residents
health, as it was on the pandemic period were infection rate was higher in the
regions were the fluctuations of tourists was high. This led to border closures,
cancelation of international flights, and loss of people's mobility.
But on the long period of time increased the benefits because of the people that
visit different areas that are based on cultural exchange, where residents depend on
tourism in order to survive. As long as the residents can sustain their activities they
afford their lifestyle.
Health is an important part of a human’s life, it improves the quality of life and as
is highlighted that there is a positive impacts of tourism on public health as a result
of the positive emotions and social interactions between tourists and residents.
It is a fact that tourists emotions are inseparable of their experiences. Therefore it
influence physical health and longevity. It has been suggested that frequent
experiences of positive emotions reduce the likelihood of developing
cardiovascular disease, inflammation, headaches, weakness, and congestion. This
are the main health problems of the 21st  century therefore there is a golden
argument in bringing tourism in front of the discussions. Is the main factor that
contributes in improving the quality of life.
  According to a National Sleep Foundation survey, 43 percent of people aged 13–
64 have reported that due to stress they have problems with falling asleep and
additionally have a poor quality of sleep. This issue has a major impact on physical
and mental health. Positive affective experiences by traveling creates resilience,
endurance, and optimism. This emotions are capable of eliminating the harmful
consequences of stressful life events.
  Several papers have described the impact of tourism development on residents'
well-being, quality of life, and life satisfaction by using different indicators,
however there are important theoretical and managerial implications that need to
be studied on the short- and long-term. As an example, on of the most visited
destinations in the world, was Spain. Accordion to the World Bank, Spain had
81.8 million visitors in 2017. International visitor numbers to Spain rise
dramatically, leading to resistance, protests, and anti-tourism marshes. Therefore, it
is important to take a closer look on the situation created in Spain, to analyze the
positive and negative outcomes of tourism development thoroughly.
Regarding environmental considerations, it can be said that there are positive
impacts such as conservation of the natural environment, improvement of
recreational facilities, and preservation of natural habitats. Fluctuations of the
population creates in time negative environmental impacts related to water, air, and
noise pollution, also destruction of natural habitats, traffic congestion,
overcrowding and of course obstruction of views.
  To summarize, the number of tourism arrivals has an indirect impact on residents'
health.

An anticipation of the future development of the interrelationship

between tourism and society

   The World Economic Forum’s latest Travel & Tourism Development

Index gives expert insights on how the tourism sector will recover and grow. 
The post-pandemic recovery of the global travel and tourism sector is picking up
pace as the world's stagnant appetite for travel resurfaces. The difference between
the number of international tourists in January 2021 and the same period in January
2022 is equal to the growth of the whole year 2021. However, with 62 million jobs
lost in 2020 alone, the road to recovery remains long.
   In the next few years it will be difficult to rebuild the economy and find the
equilibrium, but using sustainable practices will become more prevalent as
travellers become both more aware and interested in what countries, destinations
and regions are doing in the sustainability space. 
   The second part of this is the growth of interest in outdoor activities and
events because it creates that sort of natural social distancing, that natural safety
piece.
   Additionally, data shows that a majority of travelers want to explore destinations
in a more immersive and experiential way, and to feel more connected to the
history and culture. 
  A Tripadvisor survey revealed that three-quarters (76%) of travellers will still
make destination choices based on low COVID-19 infection rates.
 In order to anticipate the future development of the interrelationship
between tourism and society is by understanding the following key trends: the
ongoing need to feel safe and the growing desire to travel differently - and
planning for the next crisis.
  Based on the intersection of cultural tourism demand and modes of
governance, Calvi et al. (2020) have identified four distinctive scenarios of cultural
tourism futures: (1) a community-driven slow cultural tourism, (2) an economy-
driven slow cultural tourism, (3) a globalised cultural tourism and (4) a glocalised
cultural tourism.
   The community-driven slow cultural tourism scenario bottom-up participatory
initiatives steer cultural tourism development, here the social and ecological
elements becomes the core of the cultural offer. 
The economy-driven slow cultural tourism scenario is characterized by a
predominance of slow demand for cultural tourism with the adoption of an
economy-driven management approach. In this scenario, the government
encourages local entrepreneurship. For the Globalised cultural tourism approach
the most likely consequences will be the deterioration of the socio-cultural fabric,
environmental damage and excessive economic dependence on tourism as typified
in regions affected by overtourism. Glocalised cultural tourism is characterized by
a community-based governance approach and a "fast-track" need for price-
sensitive tourism experiences.
  As far for this scenario goes, the initiative for the approach will be mainly led by
small and medium-sized local businesses that promote authentic aspects of local
cultures. They may face the risk of a mismatch between supply and demand,
whereby the provision of cultural tourism based on authentic cultural resources
and representations may not meet tourists' expectations of less-authentic but
entertaining cultural products.
However, since destinations are complex, fragmented, and multidimensional
entities, it can be argued that while certain governance mechanisms may prevail in
certain contexts, all scenarios can coexist to varying degrees..
  As a conclusion the future of cultural tourism is uncertain. There are to many
variables to be taken in consideration, yet some positive changes can be
anticipated.
 
Recommendations and Conclusion

   In a closer vision, tourism in an important key element in the wellbeing of the
society, it has a role in the economy, development and sociocultural aspects of the
community. In is importance is highlighted by many studies from early years to the
present days, it affects the quality of life, as it’s presented it the fallow up study
and as it’s shows in the pandemic period, how it’s down falling due to the
lockdowns changed the economy, environment and wellbeing of many people.
Most of these above mentioned articles are established on self- analytical,
interview, survey and overall self-reporting works. So there are several current
research issues, which suggest important areas for problem-oriented work at the
intersections of tourism and contemporary society: social justice, environmental
sustainability, natural disasters, terrorism, heritage, embodiment and affect, and
mediatization. However, there are further important issues not dealt with, issues
that are under-explored and under-theorized in the contemporary sociological study
of tourism, such as medical, urban, spiritual, space, volunteer and dark tourism,
and tourism’s relationship to global financial crises, social media, crime, and
prostitution.
One high important issue that it’s been discussed is that tourism creates
a cultural exchange between tourists and local citizens.In addition, local people
have opportunities for economic development and education. Tourism is a great
opportunity for foreigners to experience a new culture, but it also creates many
opportunities for locals. It allows young entrepreneurs to establish new products
and services that are not sustainable by relying solely on the local population. As
the future of tourism goes, it is hard to predict it’s way, because there are many
variables, tourism is a socially constructed phenomenon that rely on human
conventions and decisions.
  Furthermore research should also explore the effect of tourism arrivals on
residents in other countries to reveal the similarities and differences between
groups of tourism destinations.
As a conclusion, it is acknowledged the importance of tourism on the society, the
impact of the experiences between the participants and there are needed to invest
more resources in order to preserve and develop ways to predict the outcomes and
factors associated with tourism, for a functional society and wellbeing of its
participants. 
 
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