Ozan Yaman

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WHY TOURISM MATTERS The article, Why Tourism Matters, firstly summarizes the emergence and development of the tourism industry, and the history of its study. Afterwards, economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of tourism are explained one by one. The writer of the article, Sharon Bohn Gmelch, becomes interested in tourism while directing an anthropology field school in Barbados, a popular tourist destination. She observes that her students are mistaken for tourists by local people for all that their experiences are deeper and more valuable. They are learning the culture and living with local people, not lying on the beach she says. Eventually, this situation raises some crucial questions about the nature of tourism. Tourism is a key sector for economic growth and employment in many less developed countries such as Barbados. On the other hand, it is a common leisure activity for citizens from rich nations. According to the article, citizens from just five the US, Germany, Japan, France and the UK- account for five of every ten international trips and half of all global spending on tourism. As a result of Chinas growing economy and middle class, this profile is changing. It says that there is a strong connection between tourism activity and economic conditions. A Brief History Before the development of large scale tourism, there always were individual trips for trade and commerce, spiritual renewal, knowledge and health. After the industrial revolution,

improvements in transportation created favorable conditions for mass tourism. As we can see in the article, early entrepreneurs were in cooperation with railways and shipping companies. Thomas Cook, one of these early entrepreneurs, realized the peoples need for a specialist agent who could

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organize complex journeys. In 1841, he organized the first guided tour between Leicester and Loughborough. And this led to the birth of modern travel agencies. In 20th century, domestic and international tourism gradually increased with new railway lines, ferry routes and terminals, jet travel and increasing use of private automobiles. The Study of Tourism As a result of the development of mass tourism, social scientists became interested in its origins and impacts. The term origin means the reasons people travel and what determines where they go. These two challenging questions help tourism become comprehensive and interdisciplinary study. Costs and safety are important considerations for most tourists. But also some tourists want to experience wilderness. Some of them travel with their families, and the other one desire sexual excitement. This complexity of demand creates more and more questions for anthropologists, and due to the tourisms large scope and economic importance, it is worthy of serious study. Tourisms Many Impacts As in all other sectors, economic impacts of tourism depends on how it is organized and who controls and profits from the industry. Theoretically, it provides opportunities for local people to become independent entrepreneurs in liberal economies. But there is an inequality between local people and foreign employees or expatriates. Mostly, jobs that are avaiable to local people are lowpaying and seasonal. This is one of the reasons that most research on the impacts of tourism has stressed the negative, according to the article. On the other hand, because of the all-inclusive

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mentality, tourists rarely leave their resorts or cruise ships to visit local places and dont spend their money outside. Infrastructure developments that are built by local governments to support tourism sometimes effect negative on social welfare. In some of the less-developed countries, priority is usually given to guaranteeing the tourists comfort, not the local population. The need of hospitals, schools or other public services are not considered enough. With the development of mass tourism, environmental issues became important in the tourism industry. Too many people that visit same places may cause negative impacts on environment. Besides, hotels and tourist facilities significantly depletes natural sources. However, there are also new developments in tourism against these harmful tourism habits. The idea called ecotourism has minimal environmental impact and financially benefits the local community. As we can see in the article, there are also other perceptions like alternative tourism and responsible tourism to avoid creating pollution and destroying the environment. There are also social and cultural impacts of tourism, according to the article. Interaction between tourists and local people may result in negative. Sometimes, local peoples preconcieved ideas and stereotypes about tourists can be a problem. However, problems like drug trade, crime and prostitution that increasing with touristic activity cause cultural stress. Sometimes tourism involves the search for authenticity. Local people are found to be different and exotic. As a result of it, local people feel a psychological pressure. They cant feel comfortable when tourists take photos, want to enjoy with them. They become the objects of the tourist gaze. But there is also a benefit of this orientalism for them.

Ozan Yaman

They market unusual, old and generally simple products as authentic or traditional and they sell more expensive than expected. Of course, some of tourists dont care about tradition and they prefer artifical environments and activities. Phantasmagoric touristic places like Disneyland or Las Vegas usually give them what they want from their holidays. Lastly, the writer says that tourism can have positive effects on different cultures in contrast to globalizations destructive effects on these differences.

02.10.2012