helping hand
Geo Factsheet
September 1996
Number 1
International Tourism
International tourism is a common feature of many modern geography syllabuses and examination questions tend to focus on three main issues. 1. The size and nature of international tourism, including reasons for its variable rate of growth in different parts of the world.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of developing an international tourist industry. Here candidates need to be able to analyse tourism’s intertwined impacts - social, environmental and cultural as well as economic.
3. Management strategies for addressing the negative impact of international tourism.
This Factsheet will summarise the key points of the above issues and, through examples, will consider how some countries have attempted to deal with the threats and opportunities of international tourism. Finally the opportunities and challenges of ecotourism will be briefly discussed through three case studies
The Scope of International Tourism
1. The world has shrunk - almost everywhere is accessible and travel has become much quicker. International tourism now involves every country in the world as senders or recipients of tourists.
2. International tourism includes both business and leisure tourism. It is highly complex in its operations, with different sectors providing travel services, transport, amenities or accommodation, based in countries generating tourists and in destinations.
Increasingly, large companies operate throughout the sectors - a phenomenon known
as vertical integration, e.g. transport provider British Airways also acts as a tour operator and owns hotels.
3. Countries may allow these sectors to grow ‘ad hoc’, responding to market demands or they may decide to regulate the nature and scope of tourism.
Kenya Case Study- An example of government-led tourism growth
Tourism is Kenya's greatest source of foreign exchange and the Kenyan government have skilfully stimulated the
September 1996
Number 1
International Tourism
International tourism is a common feature of many modern geography syllabuses and examination questions tend to focus on three main issues. 1. The size and nature of international tourism, including reasons for its variable rate of growth in different parts of the world.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of developing an international tourist industry. Here candidates need to be able to analyse tourism’s intertwined impacts - social, environmental and cultural as well as economic.
3. Management strategies for addressing the negative impact of international tourism.
This Factsheet will summarise the key points of the above issues and, through examples, will consider how some countries have attempted to deal with the threats and opportunities of international tourism. Finally the opportunities and challenges of ecotourism will be briefly discussed through three case studies
The Scope of International Tourism
1. The world has shrunk - almost everywhere is accessible and travel has become much quicker. International tourism now involves every country in the world as senders or recipients of tourists.
2. International tourism includes both business and leisure tourism. It is highly complex in its operations, with different sectors providing travel services, transport, amenities or accommodation, based in countries generating tourists and in destinations.
Increasingly, large companies operate throughout the sectors - a phenomenon known
as vertical integration, e.g. transport provider British Airways also acts as a tour operator and owns hotels.
3. Countries may allow these sectors to grow ‘ad hoc’, responding to market demands or they may decide to regulate the nature and scope of tourism.
Kenya Case Study- An example of government-led tourism growth
Tourism is Kenya's greatest source of foreign exchange and the Kenyan government have skilfully stimulated the