Backpacker Tourism in Poor Countries
Backpacker Tourism in Poor Countries While most kinds of tourism attempt to attract tourists with luxurious accommodations and comfortable facilities, backpacker tourism differs from other tourism. According to Longman dictionary, the term backpacker or independent tourist means “someone who is traveling for pleasure, usually with not very much money, and who walks or uses public transport and carries a backpack” (Adamowicz et al., 2009, p.107). They move from one place to another rather than staying in one place, and they are likely to have guild books which can help them to set their unfixed plan freely (Anonymous, 2007). They love to experience new cultures, to meet local people, and to consume local products and services, so they will gain more experiences than other tourists. Also, whereas other tourists might have travel agencies to manage everything including their expense, route, and duration of traveling, backpackers have to manage their time and budget by themselves. Thus, the destinations that most backpackers decide to visit are usually the places that have low cost of living although their lives in there are not easy-in poor countries. Even though backpackers are low-budget travelers, they are enormously essential for a country’s economy (Simpson, 2006). Backpacker tourism can be beneficial towards poor countries. The first benefit of backpacker tourism in poor countries is to promote environmental protection and cultural preservation (Mozer, 2010). While other tourism leads local enterprises to destroy local natural resources, for example, flattening mountains, cutting down forests, and digging up beaches which eliminate coral reefs, to establish modern tourism complex, backpacker tourism focuses more on the beauty of original natural resources (Pleumarom, n.d.). Thus, most backpackers are interested in sustaining the local environment and preserving local natural resources. For example, in 2009, there were Dutch backpackers who became