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READING PASSAGE 10
The Context, Meaning and Scope of Tourism
A
Travel has existed since the beginning of time, when
primitive man set out, often traversing
great distances in search of game, which provided the food and clothing necessary for his survival.
Throughout the course of history, people have travelled for purposes of trade, religious
conviction, economic gain, war, migration and other equally compelling motivations. In the Roman
era, wealthy aristocrats and high government officials also travelled for pleasure. Seaside resorts
located at Pompeii and Herculaneum afforded citizens the opportunity to escape to their vacation
villas in order to avoid the summer heat of Rome. Travel, except during the Dark Ages, has
continued
to grow and, throughout recorded history, has played a vital role in the development of
civilisations and their economies.
B
Tourism in the mass form as we know it today is a distinctly twentieth-
century phenomenon. Historians suggest that the advent of mass tourism began in England during
the industrial revolution with the rise of the middle class and the availability of relatively inexpensive
transportation. The creation of the commercial airline industry following the Second World War and
the subsequent development of the jet aircraft in the 1950s signalled the rapid growth and
expansion
of international travel. This growth led to the development of a major new industry: tourism. In turn,
international tourism became the concern of a number of world governments since it not only
provided new employment opportunities but also produced a means of earning foreign exchange.
C
Tourism today has grown significantly in both economic and social importance. In most
industrialised countries over the past few years the fastest growth has been
seen in the area of
services. One of the largest segments of the service industry, although largely unrecognised as
an entity in some of these countries, is travel and tourism. According to the World Travel and
Tourism Council (1992),Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the world on virtually any
economic measure including value-added capital investment, employment and tax contributions,. In
1992’ the industry’s gross output was estimated to be $3.5 trillion, over 12 per cent of all consumer
spending. The travel and tourism industry is the world’s largest employer the almost 130 million jobs,
or almost 7 per cent of all employees. This industry is the world’s leading industrial contributor,
producing over 6 per cent of the world’s national product and accounting for capital investment in
excess of $422 billion m direct indirect and personal taxes each year. Thus, tourism has a
profound impact both on the world economy and, because of the educative effect of travel and the
effects on employment, on society itself.
D
However, the major problems of the travel and tourism industry that have hidden, or obscured, its
economic impact are the diversity and fragmentation of the industry itself. The travel industry
includes: hotels, motels and other types of accommodation; restaurants and
other food
services; transportation services and facilities; amusements, attractions and
other leisure facilities;
gift shops and a large number of other enterprises. Since many of these businesses also serve local
residents, the impact of spending by visitors can easily be overlooked or underestimated. In addition,
Meis (1992) points out that the tourism industry involves concepts that have remained amorphous to
both analysts and decision makers. Moreover, in all nations this problem has made it difficult for
the industry to develop any type of reliable or credible tourism information base in order
to estimate the contribution it makes to regional, national and global economies. However, the
nature of this very diversity makes travel and tourism ideal vehicles for economic development in a
wide variety of countries, regions or communities.
E
Once the exclusive province of the wealthy, travel and
tourism have become an
institutionalised way of life for most of the population. In fact, McIntosh and Goeldner (1990) suggest
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that tourism has become the largest commodity in international trade for many nations and, for
a significant number of other countries, it ranks second or third. For example, tourism is
the major source of income in Bermuda, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and most Caribbean
countries. In addition, Hawkins and Ritchie, quoting from data published by the American Express
Company, suggest that the travel and tourism industry is the number one ranked employer in the
Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, France, (the former) West Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan,
Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. However, because of problems of definition,
which directly affect statistical measurement, it is not possible with any degree of certainty to
provide precise, valid or reliable data about the extent of world-wide tourism participation or its
economic impact. In many cases, similar difficulties arise when attempts are made to
measure domestic tourism.
