Impacts of the Growth of Global Tourism (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

Revision Note

Author

Expertise

Geography Content Creator

Over the last 50 years mass tourism has expanded into a major global industry, which is still growing
An estimated 900 million people become international tourists every year (pre pandemic)
The main reasons for the rise in tourism is due to:
- Improved pay and leave allowances - most workers now work less than 40 hours a week and have paid annual leave
- Improved disposable incomes - normally both partners work, and this increases incoming money to the household
- It is easier than ever to cross borders with agreements between countries
- Transport is faster and cheaper than in the past
- Communication - internet, social media etc. bring awareness of foreign destinations, booking of last-minute holidays etc.
Mass tourism has both positive and negative impacts on people, the economy and the environment

Impacts of Global Tourism on People

Positive Impacts	Negative Impacts
Can help revive local skills and handicrafts	Loss of locally owned land
Cultural tourism values people's heritage	Tourist's behaviour can offend local people (drinking etc.)
Brings people together from all over the world	Tourist centres encourage crime, prostitution etc.
Can spread the range of social facilities for local people	Displacement of people
Major international events (Olympics) can have a positive effect locally and nationally - improved infrastructure etc.	Abuse of human rights
Develops foreign language skills	Can erode local language and traditional values
Ancient sites are brought to global attention helping to appreciate historical legacies	Loss of access to local sites - beaches, forests etc
Might encourage migration to major tourist-generating countries	Visitor congestion at key locations

Tourism has a large economic impact on a country - multiplier effect
Tourism is a service industry which indirectly impacts all other industries
- Primary - agriculture and providing food or mining of materials to build hotels
- Secondary - for manufacturing of goods - chairs, beds, towels, gifts etc.
- Quaternary - research and development to improve facilities for tourists or management etc.
- Tertiary - staff for hotels, planes, buses, restaurants, lifeguards etc.

Positive and Negative Economic Impacts of Global Tourism

Positive	Negative
Brings money into the country's economy	Money often goes to big businesses and not locally
Creates jobs for local people	Often low-paid, menial, seasonal work
Brings new infrastructure to the region	Mass tourism causes congestion, pollution affects local businesses
Provides tax revenues	Economic leakages are high
Provides employment to poorer rural areas	Money borrowed to invest in tourism can increase national debt
Can create openings for small businesses and support jobs in the informal sector	Large holiday resorts encourage tourists to spend most of their money in the hotel complexes, excluding the wider community

Impacts of Tourism on the Environment

Positive	Negative
Can increase awareness of nature conservation areas	The local environment can be bulldozed and concreted over
Money from tourism can be used to protect and repair the environment - better water supplies	Tourism creates local pollution issues - waste, littering
Tourism may help preserve key areas or species - prevention of illegal trade and exploitation of nature	Tourist activity can disturb or damage habitats and wildlife- water skiing damaging coral reefs, ivory poaching
Tourism helps fund conservation activities, therefore improving sustainable practices and environmental legislation - national parks	Increased greenhouse gas emissions from flying

Make sure you don't just focus on the negative aspects of tourism, particularly on the environmental or cultural aspects
You need to balance your discussion or you won't gain full marks

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?