Notes on Tourism
Updated 22 Feb 2014 for the new syllabus
1.
Who are
the tourists?
Different groups :
Short-haul
and long-haul destinations
7. What are the impacts of tourism?
Advantages
Erosion of the original heritage of Chinatown as many of the activities are focused on tourist souvenirs and accommodation. However, there are also some businesses that promote the heritage of the areas such as restaurants that claim to serve authentic Chinese dishes.
However, there are also negative social impact such as rising gambling addictions which requires more counselling and environmental impacts such as the disturbance of Sentosa’s land and maritime ecosystems and habitats. During the constructions of RWS, the coral reefs at the northern part of the island were in danger of being destroyed if they are not relocated.
To retain Chinatown’s cultural heritage, 33 heritage markers were installed by the STB throughout Chinatown as part of the Chinatown Experience Guide plan with the help of the National Heritage Board. The plan also resulted in the creation of the Chinatown Heritage Centre.
An entrance fee of S$100 for Singaporeans and PRs are imposed to manage the negative social impact of casinos on locals.
Tourism helps to boost a country’s economy as it generates employment and business opportunities for the people. It also provides incentives for the country to improve their infrastructure which can also be used by the locals other than the tourists.
Tourism also helps to increase foreign exchange and generate tax revenue. Other than economic benefits, countries can also use tourism to promote their local cultures and customs.
International tourism receipts increased 3% from 2011 to 2012, reaching US19.5 billion in 2012. It contributed to more than 4% of Singapore’s economy in 2011. The tourism receipts came from shopping, accommodation, sightseeing, food and even health care.
Increased tourism can bring about negative impacts such as seasonal unemployment, increased congestion, pollution, littering as well as a shortage of services.
Tourism is a key industry that has helped to drive Singapore’s economy. However, its capacity to grow is restricted by the country’s limited land and resources.
It seeks to
raise productivity for tourism growth by enhancing innovation among
different sectors and industries involved in tourism as well as investing in
software that will help existing infrastructure provide more value. This can be done
through reinvention and rejuvenation of tourist attractions.
Persons travelling to
and staying in places outside their usual environment for more than 24 hours
but not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes.
2.
How do
tourist destinations differ from one another?
- Places of scenic beauty
- Places with good facilities
- Places with rich culture
- Places of conflicts
Places of scenic beauty:
- Mountain
regions e.g Himalayas in South Asia
- Coastal
resorts e.g Phuket in Thailand
- National parks.
e.g. Grand Canyon, USA
- Honeypot tourism –
tourism that attracts large number of tourists due to a site’s scenic
beauty e.g. Victoria Fall on Zambezi River at the boundary of Zimbabwe
and Zambia in Africa
- MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events) help to attract a substantial number of tourists to an area. MICE locations have venues which can host large-scale events such as meetings and conventions. There are also supporting infrastructure and services such as hotels and retails shops. These attract organisers who organize trade fairs and international conferences, which bring in more business travelers. Singapore was the leading convention city in Asia-Pacific in from 2002 to 2012. Singapore drew 3.2 million business travelers which accounted for 24% of all visitors to Singapore in 2012. Singapore hosted important meeting such as the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in 2006, the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. Key factors that contribute to Singapore’s success are its reputation as a major aviation hub, the availability of reliable telecommunication networks and a variety of shopping and entertainment options nearby. The Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre was voted Asia’s best MICE Hotel in 2011 and 2012.
- Medical and spa facilities –
- Medical tourism
-to undergo medical procedure that would enhance or restore health e.g.
South Korea for cosmetic surgery
- Health tourism –
to maintain, enhance or restore their minds and bodies such as spa
towns, thermal springs and mud pools. e.g. Dead Sea
- Theme Parks –
amusement park settings or attractions with central theme such as
- Films
e.g. Walt Disney World in Florida, USA
- Famous landmarks
e.g. Window of the World in Shenzhen, China
- Fantasy and adventure
e.g. Everland Resort in Yongin, South Korea
- History and heritage
e.g. Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada
- Education
eg. Ocean Park in Hong Kong, China
- Health
e.g. Nagashima Spa Land in Kuwana, Japan
- Places with rich culture
- Heritage
tourism to experience different
cultures and history of the place eg. Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Forbidden
City in Beijing, China.
- Film-induced
tourism to see locations featured
in films. For example, Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea from the film
Stairway to Heaven, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China as the film
Avatar feature scenery inspired by the park
- Gourmet food and shopping
tourism e.g. Hong Kong
- Pilgrimage tourism
for religious activity e.g. Mecca, Saudi Arabia for Muslims or Jerusalem,
Israel for Jews, Christians and Muslims, Vatican City for Catholics.
- Places of conflicts – dark tourism where people travel to
sites associated with death and tragedy.
- Military campaign eg.
Củ Chi tunnels
and Vịnh Mốc, Vietnam
- Natural disasters
e.g. Ruins of Pompeii, Italy
- Terrorist attack
e.g. Ground Zero in New York, USA
- Human atrocity –
Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in Nanjing, China
- Genocide e.g. Tuoi Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia
3.
What factors affect the nature of tourism?
Natural – type of landscapes,
climate and weather
Human – cost of travelling,
effectiveness of marketing, infrastructure
4.
What are the roles of different groups in promoting tourism ?
Different groups :
- Government
- Media (including Travel writers)
- International organisations
- Influence the number of visitors and their length of stay
- Authorise air landings
- Allow building of facilities such as hotels
- Planning, funding and building infrastructure projects linked to tourism e.g airports, roads and ports
- Ensuring safety and security of tourist sites
- Set up agencies to promote tourism e.g. Singapore Tourism Board
- Encourage development of new attractions such as River Safari
- Media reports influence decisions of tourists.
- Positive reports such as interesting culture or attractive scenery encourage tourists to visit but negative reports such as incidence of violence, disasters and outbreaks of disease can deter visitors.
- Tourists more aware of
destinations they have previously not considered
- Travel writers evaluate the destination on accommodation, transport and food for their readers
- Inspire readers to travel to destinations that reader may not have thought of before.
- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) work with governments, international organisations such as UNWTO and the International Labour Organisation to promote tourism as a tool for national growth and job creation
- World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) works primarily with private organisations including tourism organisations and academic community, as well as the government to promote sustainable tourism development. It encourages countries to use tourism to reduce poverty and create job and business.
- WHO – leading authority for health is capable of influencing global behaviour –e.g. situation updates and health advisories on avian influenza H5N1 from 2003 to 2013. Discourage visitors to at-risk countries.
5. In what ways is
tourism changing?
- People can and want to travel farther to destinations that were once considered unreachable
- Nature and purpose of tourist travel has evolved e.g. package for ecotourism and medical tourism
International
tourism
- More than half
of all international tourists originate from developed countries in
Europe and North America.
- Increasing
number of international tourists from rapidly developing countries in
Asia Pacific and South America e.g. China, India and Brazil.
- Europe received
the highest number of international tourist arrivals in 2011
- Out of 10 top
most popular tourist destinations, 6 are found in Europe.
- Asia Pacific region has increased in popularity as a tourist destination.
Domestic
tourism
- 83% of all
tourist arrivals were domestic tourism and 69% of all overnight stays in
hotels are from domestic tourism worldwide in 2010
- Domestic
tourism receipts of US$22.9 billion are higher than international tourism
receipts of US$3.2 billion in the Philippines, 2010. 53% travelled for
vacation 36% travelled to visit family or relatives
Evolution
of mass tourism to niche tourism
- Mass
tourism involves large numbers of tourists visiting a particular place
together.
- Package
holidays involve a tour usually arranged by a travel agent,
with transportation, accommodation and most meals with the service of
guides.
- Niche
tourism refers to special-interest
tourism based on a particular area, interest or activity by
independent travelers or combined with package tours. e.g. whale watching
in Hawaii or whitewater rafting and bunjee jumps in New Zealand.
- A form of niche
tourism
- Responsible
travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the
well-being of local people.
- Help travelers
better appreciate natural beauty and biodiversity
- Provide funds
for ecological conservation
- Enable tourism
to benefit local communities involved in tourism directly
- Foster respect
for different cultures and lifestyles
- Example- tour to Waitomo Caves in New Zealand
managed by government with local Maori to minimize human impact on its
internal environment. Tour operations are closely monitored and are
halted if CO² level reach 2400 parts per million as CO² become corrosive
to the caves. The Maori benefited from the income from the entrance fees
as well employment as the cave staff.
- Short-haul
destinations refer to destinations that are a short
distance away from the tourist’s home country reachable in less than 6 hours e.g. Hong Kong is a short-haul
destination from Singapore
- Long-haul
destinations refer to destinations
that are a long distance away from the tourist’s home country
reachable by a flight in 6 hours or more e.g. Europe is a long-haul
destination from Singapore
5. What
are the reasons for the growth of global tourism?
- Developments in technology
- Demand factors
- Destination factors
Developments
in technology
- Better
and affordable transport
– shorter travel time and cheaper travelling cost e.g. In the 1950s a
commercial flight from Singapore to London would take 2 to 3 days with
many stopovers at different cities compared to the present 14 hours
- Increase in budget airlines helped to
increase number of international travelers
- Enabled people
to travel internationally and more frequently
- Opportunity to
go on holidays further away from home
- Enabled travel
to destinations not covered by major commercial airlines e.g. Bhutan,
the Pacific Islands, Northern Thailand
- More
air routes and agreements
- Open
skies agreement made between governments remove
restrictions on commercial flights between their respective countries to
allow commercial airlines to decide the routes, capacity and price of
their flights without interference from the government. This helped the growth of aircraft routes and
flights as well as number of commercial airline companies and budget
airlines. The competition has helped reduce the prices of flights for
passengers.
- Deregulation
allows fares to rise and fall according to market demand and competition
between various airline companies.
- Ease
of access to information
- Online
booking and research to find out more about their
destinations.
- Surveillance,
electronic checks and other safety control research which makes tourists
feel safer and more confident about travelling.
Demand
factors
- Increase in disposable income due to economic growth has allowed people to spend more on goods and services including travelling e.g. China
- Increased
availability of leisure time due to shorter working weeks,
more public holidays and more paid annual leave has allowed more people
to travel.
- Changing
lifestyle –travelling becomes a way for people to relax and
take a break from their fast-paced lifestyles at work and at home. Due to
advances in medical technology and knowledge, people are now more
health-conscious and lead healthier lifestyles. People live longer and
are more physically fit to travel frequently. E.g. Grey nomads in
Australia.
Destination
factors
- Attractions
- Natural
attractions such as place of scenic beauty
- Built
attractions such as medical services, educational
facilities and theme parks. Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the middle
East has a wide range of retail and luxury outlets, world class MICE
facilities, luxury hotels and large-scale architectural and engineering
projects
- Investment
in infrastructure and services
- Airport
expansion and development e.g. Singapore’s Changi
Airport’s Budget Terminal closed in 2012 to make way for a new Terminal
4 which will increase the airport’s total capacity for passengers
- Sufficient
hotels to serve a range of tourist budgets, from
five-star hotels to backpacker hostels. e.g. HK will add another 49
hotels to its 189 operating ones from 2012 to 2016
- Services
for tourist sites such as food outlets, entertainment facilities and telecommunication
links such as free Wi-Fi in hotels. Trained personnel for tourist sites such as hotel managers,
restaurateurs, guides, travel agents, drivers, porters and cleaners are
also needed.
- Offer tertiary
and diploma courses on tourism,
hotel management and catering to meet the demand for formal training
for people in the tourism industry.
- Access
to information
- Tourists are
more likely to visit a destination when travel-related information such as transport routes,
schedules, weather conditions, accommodation is easily obtained.
- Signs at
many tourist destinations displayed in different languages help provide
security and comfort to visitors.
- Local
tour guides and travel agents trained to
answer questions and meet the needs of tourists.
- Disasters
- Regional and global recessions
- Unfavourable political situations
- Outbreaks of diseases
Impact
of disasters e.g. 2011 Japan Tohoku earthquake and
tsunamis decreased tourist arrivals by 28%, Japanese travelling to South
Korea also fell by 12%
Regional
and global recessions
- Many people
experience a loss of income or
jobs in recession so they cut back on spending and are less likely to
travel overseas in a recession.
- Regional
recession such as the European
Sovereign Debt Crisis caused by Greece unable to pay its government
debts in 2010.
- Global
recession such as the global
financial crisis when some of the world’s largest financial firms
went bankrupt in 2007 and 2008 resulting in the crash of the housing
market in the USA. It affected many countries in different parts of the
world, causing their economies to slow down or shrink.
- Domestic travel
increased as people choose to go for holidays in their own country rather
than travel abroad during recession because they spend less on transport.
Unfavourable
political situation
- Political
conflicts which may results in war pose dangers to tourists
so they may postpone or cancel their travel plans. Services are disrupted and infrastructure is damaged in
political conflicts.
- Government may
also issue travel advisories
to discourage citizens from travelling to a particular region or country
due to the dangers of conflicts.
- In
February 2011, the Arab Spring uprising took place in Egypt so
international tourist arrivals declined sharply.
Outbreak
of diseases
- Drop in tourist
arrivals as they do not want to risk getting infected with a contagious disease such as SARS outbreak in 2003. By the end
of 2003, the number of international tourist arrivals in Singapore
declined by 19%.
- Government may
also advise travelers to avoid areas with disease outbreaks.
7. What are the impacts of tourism?
- Economic impact
- Socio-cultural
- Environmental
Economic impacts
Advantages
- Employment opportunities –
The growth of tourism led to increase in the number of tourism-related
jobs e.g. workers in hotels,
transport vehicles, souvenir shops and tour agencies. There are also
jobs indirectly linked to the tourist industry when tourists travel and
consume goods e.g. taxi drivers and shop owners.
- Growth in income for individuals and for a country. Fishermen on Pamilacan Island in the Philippines are paid to bring tourists on their boats to look for and swim with whale sharks and dolphins. The tour companies which hire the fishermen will experience an increase in revenue. There will also be an increase in revenue for the country through taxes collected from the fishermen and tour companies.
- Increase in government revenues. Directly from taxes on tourists
e.g. airport tax and from income taxes on employees of tourism-related
businesses. Indirectly from taxes
placed on goods and services which are supplied to tourists e.g.
manufactured goods such as petrol used in rented cars.
- Development of infrastructure
such as transport and
communication networks, electrical frameworks and systems for water and
waste disposal as well as facilities such as airports, roads,
electricity and hotels help to develop tourism. Roads that link airports,
cities and tourist sites allow tourists access to local attractions. They
also allow local people better access to more markets, health care,
education and jobs. Thus, infrastructure
built to enhance tourism also benefits the locals. E.g Underground
rail systems expanded to cater to increased numbers of visitors during
the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 and in Beijing 2008. Both rail systems
continue to serve local populations and tourist even after the Games. It also creates employment for local
such as workers in the construction process as well as help to boast
local industries which provided materials in the construction. The
increased spending in the local economy encourages economic growth.
Disadvantages
- Leakage of tourism receipts to
other countries, especially in LDCs. The
revenue earned from tourism is paid to other countries for the import of
goods and services needed to meet the needs of tourists. This
includes payment to international airline tickets, imported food,
foreign-owned hotels or prepaid tours booked internationally.
- Seasonal unemployment – Some countries experiences seasonal unemployment e.g. some tourist activities which depend on climatic conditions. Ski resorts in the Alps experience a drop of tourists during summer as skiing is carried out in winter. As a result, the people have to find other sources of income when employment in the tourism industry is temporarily unavailable. Increase in summer visits in European Union is due to the warm weather which allows swimming on the beach or hiking.
- Underuse of facilities e.g. facilities built specifically for certain events may be underused when the event is over. The facilities can be costly to maintain and may become neglected when there are few tourists. E.g. venues built for 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing China had to be renovated to become more profitable e.g. Beijing National Aquatics Centre renovated into a water park.
- Shortage of services eg.
Water supplies or power is required by tourist infrastructure and could
lead to a shortage of service in non-tourist areas.
Socio-cultural
impacts
Advantages
- Preservation
of culture and local customs. Historical and cultural sites are
preserved and restored to make the place more attractive to tourists. This
benefits the local population by enhancing
their sense of history and by building a sense of belong to their community.
Revenues generated from tourism can also fund the preservation and restoration
of cultural heritage. Entry fees to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
or the Angkor Wat complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia can be used directly to
help fund conservation efforts.
Disadvantages
- Dilution of local customs and heritage- Commercial activities that cater mainly to tourists such as food outlets, travel agencies, souvenir shops and hotels, can become the major commercial activities of an area. This can force the locals to relocate their original activities to other places. As a result, the identity of a place may be lost. To meet the demands and expectations of tourists, local cultural festivals and religious rituals are sometimes modified. For example rituals may be shortened to fit into the itinerary of the tourists. So the authenticity and significance of these cultural events may be reduced when they become commercialized.
- Increased
crime – high crime levels may occur at popular tourist
sites. Some tourists carry valuable goods as watches, cameras and clothes
and may be vulnerable to muggings.
In addition, tourists are prone to being cheated or scammed in tourist areas where goods or services
are sold at greatly inflated prices.
Advantages
- Conservation – revenue from entrance fees to national parks and diving sites, or even levies on nearby accommodations can be used to fund conservation of coral reefs, rainforests and mountainous areas. For example the Sepilok Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, Malaysia help to rehabilitate orang-utans that have been orphaned or injured by using the visitor entry fees to partly pay its staff. In Kenya, the money raised from wildlife tourism becomes a way to continue to preserve the animals and their habitats.
Disadvantages
- Increased congestion - large number of tourists can cause overcrowding in areas close to popular attractions. Tourist shops and accommodations cluster nearby making it even more congested. This results in vehicular and pedestrian traffic to become congested. The huge inflow of cars and buses can contribute to air pollution.
- Vandalism – cultural, historical or natural sites may be vandalized by individuals or developers, e.g the stones and bricks of the Great Wall of China are covered with graffiti.
- Pollution and littering – the waste left behind by tourists can lead to environmental degradation e.g. Harbours, marinas and oceans are polluted by tourists throwing plastic bottles, food packaging and old batteries overboard from cruise ships.
- Increased carbon footprint – greenhouse gas emissions by activities that involve the use of fossil fuels such as when tourists travel by planes, tour buses and electricity consumption by hotels.
8. How
are the impacts of tourism managed?
Conservation and sustainable
tourism
- Conservation is the careful
management and use of resources such that these resources would not be
destroyed. Fragile environments which are environments that
are easily affected by change include mangroves and coral reefs.
- Sustainable tourism is a form of
tourism organized in a way that allows it to continue without causing
damage to the environment or without leaving negative impacts on the
surrounding society
and culture.
- Sustainable
tourism also involves minimizing
leakages from tourist revenues using the following strategies:
- Training locals to perform
skilled tourism jobs, such as management and marketing
- Developing homestay
accommodation where visitors can pay local people
directly for their accommodation
- Promoting local food and drink
in restaurants to provide a market for local food
producers and distributors.
- United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
provides funding to threatened sites to conserve them – e.g. Angkor Wat,
Borobudur Temple
Tensions in managing the impacts
of tourism
- Between tourists and locals
- Tourists
who wear skimpy clothing may cause locals in a conservative country to
feel uncomfortable
- Congestions
at tourist sites makes it difficult for locals to conduct their daily
business
- Large
number of hotels, resorts, convention centres and other facilities
potentially deprive locals of their water supply.
- Locals
expect tourists to respect local customs and values, which tourists
sometimes fail to do so e.g. tourists display affection in public
- Between tourists and the
environments
- Tourist
inflow may contribute to the damage of the attraction
- Erosion
of the Inca trail as well as littering along the trail by tourists
- Use
of helicopters disturbs the area’s indigenous animal and plant species.
- Damage
of land and artefacts at Machu Picchu historical site.
- Measures for managing the
tension
- Limiting the number of visitors at
a site to minimize congestion and degradation.
- With-hold tourism-related
projects that could harm the environment, including
landscape and the flora and fauna
- Employ staff to maintain and
repair a site and prevent tourists from tampering
with it.
- Hold discussions with locals
regarding their needs and concerns
- Restrict tourists from some
areas which only locals can enter.
Responsibilities of various
groups in conserving and protecting tourist areas
- Local communities can
help to conserve and protect tourist areas as well as benefit
economically from tourism.
- Community-based tourism
e.g. Candirejo Village near
Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia. With support from the
government, the villagers set up a cooperative in 2003 to manage and
implement the community’s tourism-related programmes. These include
homestay accommodations, developing organics farms, organizing local
transport, training of villagers to produce handicrafts, to provide
catering and to work as tour guides.
- Strengths– Involve locals in decision making
with regards to tourism management strategies to be carried out and increase
in tourism related employment and business for the local e.g. for
Candirejo the village had 22 homestays, 22 andongs (horse-drawn carts)
and six local restaurants by 2004 and this created 63 new jobs, five new
businesses and 12.5% increase in average income per villager from 2001
to 2003.
- Limitations – difficulty in obtaining external funding in setting up business or investing in vehicles to facilitate tourism in their area. There may not have enough skilled labour such as managers or consultants.
- Visitors
need to respect the environment and local population of the place they
are visiting.
- Tourists
selecting holiday destinations based on the conservation efforts of the
place. They want to minimize their carbon footprint by considering the
amount of water used and the amount of waste recycled at these
destination
- Strengths –
visitors’ spending can provide funds to help conserve environment,
preserve culture or maintain a tourist attractions. Their spending can
also provide locals with income from employment and business. They can
also raise awareness about the destination at home by sharing their
experience.
- Limitations – visitors may damage a tourist attraction e.g. by vandalism and littering. They might also cause local culture and customs to be diluted.
- Tour operators may
belong to associations that are concerned with conserving and protecting
environments visited by tourists. For example Phuket Alternative Tours (PAT) commits its member tour operators
to operate in an environmentally sustainable way to enhance the natural
environment and to create awareness about environmental conservation for
visitors to Phuket.
- Strength –
valuable feedback from tour guides used by local communities and
planning authorities to plan tourism management strategies as well as
help to regulate tourist behavior.
- Limitation –
the need to generate profits can sometimes led to tour operators into
conflict with other stakeholders and may also override concerns to
preserve the environment when the concerns would reduce their profits.
- Non-governmental organizations
such as the International Eco-tourism Society developed guidelines,
conducted training courses, provided technical assistance and published
research papers related to tourism and the environment.
- Strengths – facilitate communication between
various stakeholders such as between local communities and tour
operators or between tour operators and planning authorities. NGOs also encourage local
communities to actively participate in the managing the impact of
tourism. They also support the various stakeholders in the form of
additional manpower, expertise or marketing campaigns.
- Limitation –
as NGO are non-profit organisations which rely on donation, they may
have difficulty in obtaining external funding.
- Planning authorities can influence the future quality of environments by determining how many visitors a site can cope with and allocating space for infrastructure such as roads and hotels e.g. Singapore Tourism Board enhance the cultural zones of Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India so that visitors and locals will have a greater appreciation of Singapore’s rich heritage.
- Strengths –
able to successfully develop, approve, fund and maintain infrastructure
that help manage the impact of tourism in an area. Planning authorities
can also draft laws and policies that improve the quality of a tourist
site as well as work with other government agencies and utilize a range
of government resources
- Limitations –
difficult to plan for unseen factors such as extreme weather, natural
disasters or lack of interest from the public. Stakeholders may oppose
management strategies of planning authorities as it might affect their
livelihood or change their way of life or when they think a different
approach is needed to solve the problem. Tourism management strategies
have limited impact without cooperation from stakeholders.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Case Study – Tourism
in Chinatown, Singapore
What is the nature of
the tourist activity?
- Chinatown, a place with rich culture and heritage. The heritage centre is a museum with wax figures and replicas of items that are found in the shop houses in the 1950s.Tourists can shop along the Chinatown Street market and souvenir shops, feast at the food street on Smith Street or patronize the pubs and restaurants in the area.
- Integrated resorts such as Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa offers a mix of MICE facilities, entertainment and performance venues, hotels, dining outlets, spas, shops and casinos. RWS even operates a maritime museum, a water park as well as Universal Studios Singapore.
What is the impact of
the development of tourism on the area where they are located as well as the
whole country?
Preservation
of cultural heritage and historical buildings in Chinatown. Income
from business such as the food street and other commercial activities helps
fund efforts to preserve the cultural heritage and also increase awareness of
the area. Many national conservation buildings have been preserved as historical
icons including the signature shop houses with their five-foot wide covered
passageways.
Erosion of the original heritage of Chinatown as many of the activities are focused on tourist souvenirs and accommodation. However, there are also some businesses that promote the heritage of the areas such as restaurants that claim to serve authentic Chinese dishes.
The
development of the Integrated Resorts had positive
economic benefits by increasing Singapore’s income through tourism and creating
many employment opportunities in the hotels, restaurants, theme parks and
casinos. By Feb 2012, the IRs have created 60,000 jobs and generated tourism
receipts of US$18.5 billion.
Promoted
Singapore as a vibrant city with a wide range of activities for
tourists.
However, there are also negative social impact such as rising gambling addictions which requires more counselling and environmental impacts such as the disturbance of Sentosa’s land and maritime ecosystems and habitats. During the constructions of RWS, the coral reefs at the northern part of the island were in danger of being destroyed if they are not relocated.
How is the impact
managed?
To retain Chinatown’s cultural heritage, 33 heritage markers were installed by the STB throughout Chinatown as part of the Chinatown Experience Guide plan with the help of the National Heritage Board. The plan also resulted in the creation of the Chinatown Heritage Centre.
An entrance fee of S$100 for Singaporeans and PRs are imposed to manage the negative social impact of casinos on locals.
Is tourism a way for
the area or country to develop?
Tourism helps to boost a country’s economy as it generates employment and business opportunities for the people. It also provides incentives for the country to improve their infrastructure which can also be used by the locals other than the tourists.
Tourism also helps to increase foreign exchange and generate tax revenue. Other than economic benefits, countries can also use tourism to promote their local cultures and customs.
International tourism receipts increased 3% from 2011 to 2012, reaching US19.5 billion in 2012. It contributed to more than 4% of Singapore’s economy in 2011. The tourism receipts came from shopping, accommodation, sightseeing, food and even health care.
9% increase in international tourist arrivals
from 2011 to 14.4 million in 2012. This increase in Singapore hotel revenue
which grew 28% in 2011.
Increased tourism can bring about negative impacts such as seasonal unemployment, increased congestion, pollution, littering as well as a shortage of services.
Tourism is a key industry that has helped to drive Singapore’s economy. However, its capacity to grow is restricted by the country’s limited land and resources.
Therefore, the government has placed more emphasis
on quality tourism that focus on
greater tourism receipts than greater tourist arrivals.
Really useful! Thank you!
Really useful! Thank you!
This has been really useful thank you!! But what syllables are the notes based on? Are they from the old textbook?
A good source of tourism info.Quite useful. Thanks
V effective and useful webpage for quick info...Thank you
Very useful. Thanks!
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Yuk Banyuwangi
this is so wonderful and easily understandable, mrs lily lee!! i hope you are able to read this message despite these notes being posted a long time ago. you are a very caring and determined teacher and i aspire to be like you
this is so wonderful and easily understandable, mrs lily lee!! i hope you are able to read this message despite these notes being posted a long time ago. you are a very caring and determined teacher and i aspire to be like you
how to know what to write for geography ? not sure if we should write every single point from textbook . anyone knows please reply