Geography (UACE 250/2) paper 2 Tourism in the world

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes.

Tourism in selected countries

CALIFORNIA

Tourist centres Include: Los Angel, San Francisco, Stockton etc.

Tourist attractions include:  Coastal land scape, drainage features, wildlife, desert climate and vegetation, Beaches, Mountains e.g. Sirra Nevada, Canals and rivers, Film industry, Irrigation schemes etc.

SOUTH Africa

Tourist centres include: Cape Town. Johannesburg, south coast at Durban, East London etc.

Tourist resources/attractions include: mountains such as the Drakensburg or Karoos, coastal landscape, drainage features, wildlife, desert climate and vegetation etc.

Switzerland

• The Swiss tourist industry is very well developed and it’s a major foreign exchange earner for the country
• The major tourist attractions include Relief i.e. the Alpine region with snow caped mountains and glacial features such as the pyramidal peaks, the swish plateau.
• Drainage features such as lakes like Geneva, Constance and Rivers such as the great Rhine River, R Rhone, Aar etc.
• Vegetation, composing of Alpine vegetation
• Varied climate i.e. Mediterranean, Montane etc.
• Diverse culture e.g. English, Germany, French, Italian

Kenya

Kenya has one of the most developed tourism sector in East Africa

It receives over one million visitors every year and it’s the highest foreign exchange earner.

The major tourist attractions include:

• Well-stocked game parks such as Tsavo, Masai-Mara, Ambosali., Nakuru, Aberdane with a Variety of wild animals such as lions., giraffe, baboons, cheetahs, leopards, wildebeest that offer opportunities for fihring, game watching, wild dishes (Carnivore), hunting that have led to development of tourism
• Historical sites such Fort Jesus, Gedi, Mombasa a historical route of slave trade, Orlongesaille and relics of slave trade, Portuguese and Arab influence at the coast is all attractive destinations.
• Opportunities for ornithology including bird watching at Lake Nakuru, Bogoria (flamingos) has attracted many tourists with intensions of bird watching.
• Beautiful relief features such as the eastern rift valley, active volcanoes such as Doinyo-Lengai, Turkana’s Volcanic Islands, rock desert of lava near L. Turkana, Mt Kenya
• Drainage features such as the Indian ocean and associated features like Mombasa coral reefs, beautiful white sand beach such as Diani, Lamu & Mombasa beach offers research & recreation opportunities like game fishing.
• Varied unique Africa vegetation such as mangrove forest at the coast of Mombasa, Montane vegetation along Mt. Kenya & the equatorial forests along the Victoria basin near Kisii, Kericho, Kisumu & open grass land(savanna of the Masai-Mara, and Tsavo national park.
• Tropical climate of sun-shine throughout the year that promotes sun-bathing throughout Mombasa, Nairobi particularly to tourists originating from temperate cold countries like Sweden, Switzerland.
• Diversity of languages such as English, French. Swahili, German, and Arabic have made Kenya a tourist destination because many tourists can easily communicate with the local population and tour different areas such as down town markets, game parks, shopping malls etc.

The major tourist centres include Mombasa, Nakulu, Nairobi Eldoret, etc.

Tourism in Tanzania

Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa with Indian Ocean as one of its borders.

Tourist attractions include historical cultural sites, wild life, relief features such as mountains, lakes and rivers, Vegetation etc.

Major tourist centers include Dar es salaam, Arusha, Dodoma, Tanga, Kilimanjaro etc.

Factors that favor development of tourism

• Presence of well publicized historical resources or antiquities such as museum, forts, castles, rock paintings, scientific works, automotive in town
• Presence of flourishing unique industry/project e.g. film industry at Holly Wood, irrigation schemes, inland water transport attracts tourist.
• Presence of well-developed and efficient transport facilities such as airport, cables, roads and railways with the fastest trains that transport tourists.
• Presence of high accommodation and eating centres
• High level of hospitality favors tourism
• Availability of capital to invest in tourist industries such as in construction of hotels and recreation centres etc.
• High levels of advertisement or publicity of tourist attraction resource.
• Favorable government policies such as preserving/protection of tourist resource, investing in security etc.
• Rich and unique culture such people with different cultures and color attracts tourists.
• Efficient banking system promotes easy transactions in tourist industry in different forms of currencies.
• Availability of many international languages spoken such as French, Spanish, English etc.
• Presence of affluent class of people that can pay for tourism services.
• Presence of multiple recreation centres for sport and entertainment in cinema, discotheques, international music performance etc.
• Organization of favorable tour packages from different countries including visa applications, hotel booking etc.
• Political stability that allows long term investment in tourism
• Modern technology that enable online hotel booking, fly overs, recreation centres such as amusement parks, gambling centres etc.
• Existence of skilled labour in the tourist industry such as transporters, guides, managers etc.
• Favorable climate such as winter and summer.
• Presence of variety of relief features such as mountains, rivers, lakes, and plateaus etc. that attract tourists.
• Valid vegetation including forests, desert vegetation etc.
• Presence of rich wild life including animals, birds, insects etc.
• Strategic location e.g. access to seaport, airport etc.

 

Contributions of tourism

Positive contributions

• Source of government revenue used to develop the country through taxation of tourism operators like hotels, restaurants, game parks, tour and travel companies etc. Such revenue is used to construct roads, railways, power stations, pay civil servants like the police, teachers, the army Salaries thus leading to development.
• Source of foreign exchange through custom entry fees, tourist expenditures on food, clothing, transport, entry fee to national parks and tourists resorts etc. such currency is spent to develop the country by constructing roads, railways used for transportation of people and merchandise, to set up hospitals which give health care services so as to improve the peoples standard of living.
• Creates employment to a variety of people e.g. Linguists tour guides, game rangers, waiters, tour and travel companies and their workers etc. These earn income to improve their standard of living by acquiring their social needs like better accommodation, health care, education for their children, feeding, clothing etc.
• Increases market for local products e.g. crafts, electronics, food stuffs etc. thereby stimulating the growth of the local economy through growth of industries which manufacture products and agriculture which produces agricultural food stuffs like dairy products, rice, potatoes, vegetables etc.
• Encourage conservation of tourist assets/ environment e.g. wild animals through gazetting of game reserves, game parks like Ras Muhammad, Zaranik national parks in Egypt This is important for the continuity of biodiversity for future use.
• Promotes economic diversification and diverts reliance on a few economic activities like mining, agriculture whose net output in terms of receipt may fluctuate. This provision of an alternative source of income is important for stabilization of the economy
• Tourism makes use of unproductive land such as the western desert of Egypt thus bringing an income to marginal regions.
• Leads to urbanization due to development of tourist hotels, restaurants, financial institution, night dubs and these provide better accommodation to people, improved social services like education, health care, security, clean water for domestic use, electricity leading to improvement of people’s standard of living. Such towns include Alexandria in Egypt
• Result into acquisition of managerial and social skills such as administration, language, catering services to the workers and enabled them to start their own jobs like tour and travel companies, catering services leading to development of the country.
• Promotes international cooperation e.g. between Egypt and USA, France, Canada, China. This attracts different forms of foreign aid ranging from health care facilities such as the GAVI FUNDS to control AIDS in Africa and development of transport facilities.
• Encourages infrastructural development e.g. Port Alexandria, port Said in Egypt, roads, railways which have been established to facilitate movement of tourists, merchandise as well as people in the country.
• It promotes development of the filming industry owing to the unique landscape scenery, drainage as well as the conserved wildlife. Much of such films belong to the National Geographic and discovery international television channels/network.

Negative importance

• Promotes undesirable habits e.g. child sex, prostitution, lesbian and homosexuality, drug abuse which affect social and moral fundamentals of society.
• Encourages poaching to get pets such as monkeys, chimps, parrots and the valuable elephant ivory, leopard skin, lion teeth and skin for voodoo practices, controlled hunting where some animals like leopards and lions are legally killed after payment of some fees thus leading to killing and loss of wild animals which affects the Eco- system.
• May discourage or undermine development of other sectors like mining , agriculture for growing of cotton along the Nile basin in Egypt.
• Large purpose built resorts with sprawling apartments or complexes have disfigured landscape in Alexandria, Cairo, Port Said etc.
• Tourists are suspected of spreading some diseases like AIDS, syphilis and other forms of STDs. among people and perhaps transmit some diseases to animals in zoos and game parks. This has led to poor standard of living in some cases.
• An influx of tourists put pressure on Local resources like water; electricity, food stuffs, transport facilities leading to insufficient service delivery to the local population hence compromising their standard of living.
• The flow of tourists is seasonal and this affects the tourism industry and associated service sectors like hotels, tour and travel agencies because they have to maintain the available idle resources like hotels, gardens, camping stations and pay the labour. This has led to over spending and limited receipts.
• Lead to development of cities such as Cairo, Alexandria and their associated evils such as congestion, pollution or poor hygiene, development of slums with their associated problems.
• Some tourists are a National threat because some are spies who cause political havoc in the country, some are terrorists who kill people in large numbers and destroy properties like hotels for example the bombing of the USA embassies in Egypt was done by tourists.
• Displacement of people and reducing land for other economic activities.
• There is destruction of natural landscape through construction of sprawling hotels/ apartments etc.

Problems facing tourist industry in developing countries

• Poaching to get animal hides (Leopard), ivory (elephants), wild game (Gazelles, Ostrich) has led to reduction of the major wild animals like lions, elephants thus affecting the industry
• Seasonal nature of the tourist industry. Tourists from temperate countries like U.S A, Germany often visit Tropical countries during the winter on in the areas of origin. During summer, they go back rendering hotels, restaurants and other tourism services unemployed yet there are high costs of maintenance.
• There is limited tour and travel agencies with organized tour packages with branches in the countries of origin of tourists. This has affected the flow of tourists in the country thus affecting the development of the tourism industry.
• Language barrier since there are few international languages spoken in Kenya is a problem. For example Chinese, Spanish languages are hardly spoken in Kenya and so have limited the flow of tourists coming from those Asian countries yet they have the highest population of the world.
• Less supportive government policy for example failure to control or stop poaching, bureaucracies in attaining entry visas, reluctance w develop transport route that link to tourist attractions in form of modem roads, airports has limited the flow of the affluent tourists who want to use the fastest means of transport and spend fewer days in Kenya.
• Poor management skills and limited skilled labour in form of international chefs, leisure and hospitality specialists in hotels, National parts have affected the development of tourism.
• Pests and diseases that destroy plant, wild animals and tourists
• Encroachment on National Parks due to population pressure for example along the Masa.i-Mara national park in Kenya has led to killing of some dangerous animals like lions and leopard while the few hide in the thick bushes and so threatening the survival of the tourism industry.
• Of recent pollution on water bodies such as L. Nakuru in Kenya that endangers flamingos and other aquatic life is a problem.
• Under-developed tourist attraction sites such as historical sites, forests without accommodation facilities, catering services have limited the number of tourist coming to Kenya.
• Drought in many parts of Kenya has destroyed vegetation which is the habitat for wild animal thus leading to their reduction in numbers. Besides destruction of vegetation which in itself is a tourist attraction has undermined the development of tourism.
• Political instability/ violence in most African countries like Kenya limit the number of tourists coming in the country due to fear of losing their lives and money.
• Internal/local poverty amongst the people bas limited local tourists and they see tourism as wastage of potential agricultural land and conservation of potential meals in form of wild game offered by some animals like Buffaloes, ostrich, Zebras etc.
• Competition for tourists with developed countries like France, Italy, Mexico, Spain limits the number of tourists in Kenya.
• Inadequate funding/ embezzlement of funds by tourist managers is still a problem in Kenya.
• Poor transport/ inaccessibility to tourist attractions are still a problem.
• Deforestation for agricultural use destroys the habitat for wildlife. Similarly development of energy sites along water falls have led to destruction of national beauty (water falls).
• Profit repatriation by investors
• Low levels of technological advancement

Problems facing the tourism industry in developed countries

• Global warming causing melting of ice sheets and avalanches, reducing the areas of tourist attractions.
• Diseases affecting the wild animals
• Terrorist attacks /threats
• Competition with other countries
• High transport costs especially in the Alps region because of the rugged terrain
• Global economic recession
• Seasonality of the tourism activity
• Severe winters affecting the movement of tourists
• Congestion on tourist sites especially in peak season
• Congestion at tourist attractions e.g. tourist resorts.
• Threat of terrorists who may pretend to be tourists causing destruction of property and loss of lives.
• Competition with other countries e.g. France, Germany, etc. limits the total number of tourists coming in the country.
• Over-use of resources like electricity, water compromising provision of social services.
• Spread of diseases e.g. Aids to the people of Switzerland.
• Limited wildlife animals than those of African countries.
• Pollution from industries
• Accidents due slippery road, and congestion.

 

Thank you

Dr. Bbosa Science