Tourism Management Essay

This essay examines the positive and negative impacts of tourism in the United Kingdom, analyzing its effects on social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political aspects. It highlights the benefits of tourism, such as job creation and cultural exchange, while also discussing its drawbacks, including environmental degradation and cultural homogenization. The essay concludes with recommendations for sustainable tourism practices and policy interventions to mitigate the negative impacts and maximize the positive contributions of tourism to the UK.

Tourism
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1.Positive Impacts of tourism, from social and cultural perspective and their consequences 1
2.Negative Impacts of tourism, from social and cultural perspective and their consequences4
3. Recommendation................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Tourism is one of the most essential sector of hospitality industry. It is considered to be
an important part of economy which helps in generation of large scale revenue and profits for the
country. This industry has gained a lot of significance over years due to the large number of
persons being involved in this sector as employees, clients, business associates, customers etc.
which provides a strategic edge to tourism business (Birdir and et. al., 2013). Tourism business
has stretched from small villages to metropolitan cities and from seaside to hilly areas and gained
a massive proportion of overall marketplace. This report is based upon positive and negative
impacts of tourism from four perspectives, namely, social and cultural, political, economic and
environmental with respect to United Kingdom. Also, this report provides an in-depth insight
into the recommendations and solutions that can be considered by businesses operating within
tourism sector to enhance the positive aspects as well as to overcome the negative sides of this
business.
MAIN BODY
1.Positive Impacts of tourism, from social and cultural perspective and their consequences
Tourism refers to actions of people who travel and stay in places except their own
residents for meetings, leisure or any other purpose for not more than a year. This sector is a
large source of revenue generation for various businesses that are operating in same or associated
field. Also, tourism generates employment opportunities for a large number of people across the
world. In relation to this, the various positive impacts of tourism from social and cultural
perspective are discussed below :-
Social : This factor basically revolves around the lifestyles, latest trends and technologies
persisting in country and industry. Also, this factor deals with beliefs, values, norms and
practices related to a specific country. Tourism helps in bringing various individuals and groups
belonging to various geographical locations together by way of their tour or holiday packages
(Camisón and Monfort-Mir, 2012). Positive impact can be seen through, an example where tour
operators are focusing on the experiential travel trend, providing more authentic and immersive
experiences for their guests. Open spaces and national parks in countries around the world are
good for replenishing both body and soul. United Kingdom's tourism sector have kept its focus
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on performing their events on different open spaces which directly helps its consumers to get
connected with the nature. Investment
Cultural : This reflects that travel and tourism sector largely assists business in removing
the cultural barriers among the human resources working within a tourism organisation as well as
this business sector. It enables cultural exchange among the tourists. Also, at a global level,
tourism helps businesses in overcoming national barriers and difference of opinions, views,
thoughts and practices so as to integrate the same for overall effective functioning of this
industry. UK's tour and travel industry also has a significant contribution towards promotion of
regional and cultural practices of people and helps in arising interest of individuals and groups
towards art festivals and tour fairs. Besides this, it encourages the organisation of events and
exhibitions in relation to domestic and international tourism. United Kingdom's tourism sector
have kept its focus on cultural exchange approach which is leading them to develop events on the
basis of different cultures. Apart from this, United Kingdom's travel and tourism sector have also
kept their focus on preserving the local heritage buildings like Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood
Palace, and so on. Through this, it has impacted positively on society because they are preserving
history of nation as well.
Economic: United Kingdom's tourism sector has a major impact on economy of a
country. This business sector works towards the upliftment of local community. This takes place
by way of creation of job opportunities for people within the country which assists in raising
their standard of living and giving them satisfactory salaries so as to keep them happy. Also,
tourism creates revenue for government so that they can provide better facilities for people
(Coghlan, 2012). It gives an overall economic boost to United Kingdom by giving significant
contribution towards creation and development of infrastructure as well as superstructure by way
of construction of new roads, restaurants, hospitals, canals, bridges and places of attraction for
tourists through the revenue generated from tourism sector of UK. Also, it is seen that tourism
creates a positive relationship between tour and travel sectors and other products and service
providing businesses. This sector of economy creates opportunities for other business sectors like
heritage preservation entities, hotels, fun & adventure sports and also areas like shopping,
recreation and positive attitudes of people towards tourism. Away with this, travel and tourism
sector has improved education as well because government of United Kingdom have also given
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opportunity to people of United Kingdom to do diploma in this sector so that they may get
employment in the same sector.
Environmental: This includes the consideration of businesses in relation to conservation
of environment and sustainable development. Effective management of tourism sector of United
Kingdom's policies in relation to environment helps in raising the benefits of travel and tour
towards enhancement of quality of life. For this, United Kingdom's tour and travel agencies
make use of sound and carefully planned systems of functioning so as to ensure least negative
impacts upon nature. Also, tourism work towards effective utilisation of natural resources
(Deery, Jago and Fredline, 2012). Besides this, there are various types of tourism like wildlife,
nature, fun, adventure and ecotourism that helps in promoting various forms of environments
including rain forests, wilderness, mountains, rivers, oceans, lakes, coastlines etc. UK's tourism
sector substantially helps in creating awareness about environmental stewardship. On the other
hand, United Kingdom's travel and tourism is also promoting more widely distributed culture
and which is directly impacting positively on employment of UK as well.
Tour and travel operators substantially promote proper waste disposal, reduction in usage
of plastic bags, use of energy efficient and non polluting means of transportation. Tourism sector
also enhances the quality and conservation of flora and fauna by preservation of national heritage
and development of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Effective waste minimisation tools
and techniques along with pollution preventive measures are thus considered to be some of the
major ways in which UK's tourism functions for the preservation of environment.
Political development: UK's Tourism and politics has a huge connection between them.
Many tourists visits to selected countries by completing neglecting others. If two countries have
great political relations among them then doing travel between those countries would be
convenient and easy which will also encourage tourists to travel to countries. Tourism industry
should be explained on their online websites so that tourists are aware of that countries rules and
policies. This will make their trip easy (Gössling and et. al., 2012). Whereas politicians takes
various decision which helps in increasing productivity and profits of tourism sector of United
Kingdom. If UK's government will reduce taxes of countries than tourists can visit easily and it
will also an ease to them to make use of different services of tourism.
Resources: United Kingdom's Tourism has a dependency on physical environment of a
place. Mostly tourism has also effected natural resources like air and water. Many tourism
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industries have used electronic cars instead of petroleum cars which has reduced air pollution.
Moreover government of United Kingdom has put restrictions on usage of natural resources and
companies which are following to that rules and regulations, government are providing them
extra benefits. More natural resources of a country attract tourist as they make their trip luxurious
and enjoyable. United Kingdom's destinations like London Eye, Roman Bath and Glasgow has
been built with different resources that attracts tourists to visit the place. Away with this, water
resources are prime attraction for any visitor within United Kingdom. Also it helps in balancing
conservation of natural resources by making use of different policies in tourism sectors.
2.Negative Impacts of tourism, from social and cultural perspective and their consequences
Although there are various positive impacts of tourism sector upon various areas of a
country, yet it also has some adverse effects. Both the forms of environment, natural as well as
man-made are essential to be maintained by tourism. But the relationship between tourism
industry and environment along with natural resources has over years not been favourable. Tour
and travel operators engage in many such practices that can have detrimental impacts upon
environment (Lee and et. al., 2013). Such activities are associated to various aspects like
infrastructure, political and economic conditions and environmental concerns. Many tour
agencies of United Kingdom make use of such vehicles, equipments, practices or activities
which cause a lot of pollution and pose threats to human health. It is essential that local heritage
is preserved by tourism which is contradictory to the the real situation of this sector.
Social : United Kingdom's tourism industry can even have a number of negative impacts
upon society and people that are a significant part of it. It can be said that when a large number
people visit a place then it will be difficult for existing infrastructure like railways, roads and
health care department to cope up with stress which has been created. This basically enhanced
heavy pollution in a specific areas like London Eye got affected badly and this was the point
where government of United Kingdom had to invest huge money on fixing the affects that has
been done by population where increased overcrowding along with the poor sanitation. Basic
reason behind this was over visits of tourists.Cultural: Also, tradition can be affected as local
people may tend to copy lifestyle of tourists by observing and analysing them which can lead to
loss in customs of city for which they are being known (Lee, 2013). Crime rates are also
probable to get increased as a result of tourism when tourists visit such cities that have increased
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number of crime including theft cases. As a result of United Kingdom's tourism, communication
problems also occur, at times, between host community and tourist due to barriers of language,
culture, nation and traditions. Besides this, local goods can be replaced by exported goods even
when they are not authentic but seems appealing to people which will result in decline in
traditional industries. Local culture can be transformed into commodities as festivals and
traditional ethnic rights, religious rituals are sanitised to meet expectations of tourist which can
lead to reconstructed ethnicity. Sacred places like Ribchester in Lancashire, Vortigern's Castle,
St Ninian's Cave and sites will not be treated as sacred and will not be respected as they are
referred to as trade off goods. Furthermore, nowadays, demands of tourists are rapidly changing
with time so countries try to modify their designs with respect to art and cultural manifestations
which can lead to change in existing natural heritage monuments and places.
Economic: Tourism can even have adverse effects on economy on country. For instance:
natural disasters which are unforeseeable and unexpected like weather conditions (earthquakes,
landslides), political upheaval will obviously have a negative impact as tourist will avoid visiting
such places which eventually will have a adverse impact on economy. Also, to attract tourists,
infrastructure is created which results local taxpayers and local government to spend lot of
money. And when more money is invested on infrastructure then investment on critical sections
of society like health and education, sanitisation can not be done effectively. Furthermore,
tourism often leads to reduction in traditional employment, leakage of money along with
seasonal unemployment (Mason and Paggiaro, 2012). In relation to tourism industry, leakage
generally takes place in case of loss of money from any geographical location. Also, tourism
often leads to increased cost of living as travelling to various locations become quite expensive
and lucrative for tourists. Tourism sector results in loss of traditional jobs in case when people
shift from industrial sectors to service industry. As a result of tourism, local community
sometimes have to spend huge amount on transport, foods, drinks, entertainment, events etc.
Since crime rate in United Kingdom is increasing and on daily basis, news comes across that
tourist got raped or eve teasing and so on has also affected number of tourist and these reason
also impacted on values as well of the society.
Environmental: Tourism is a highly growing sector in today's world. Growing rate of
tourism sector often leads to increase in amount of pollution as well as wastage. Unfortunately,
not every country and every government works towards dealing with this issue. Travel and
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tourism industry is one of largest industries. It clearly surpasses oil exports, food products and
auto mobiles sector as well. There are numerous activities happening nowadays that adversely
affect the growing tourism industry (Munar and Jacobsen, 2014). Examples of such negative
activities include terrorism, political changes or upheaval, impactful weather conditions etc.
These factors can largely affect a region and its tourism sector. Also, it will create a havoc in
lives and mindsets of people for quite a long time. If a region is entirely dependant on tourism
sector there are higher chances of negative impacts to stay for a longer period of time and
recovery will be very slow.
Sometimes, too many tourists at a place at the same time also affects quality of life. This
phenomena is known as over tourism and creates a burden in lives of common people there.
Destinations or regions facing this issue involve rural Patagonia, Chile and urban Barcelona and
Spain. In U.S., where top 10 natural parks were highly visited in 2016, managers of national park
service are searching for alternate ways in which they can protect and reserve their natural parks
for their future generations. Number of visitors has been growing from year to year and many a
times even exceeds its local population.
Political development: Politics and political development of United Kingdom is a major
concern which greatly affects environment and its relative conditions. An effective government
helps in improving quality of environment and controls its depletion in numerous ways. Various
reasons for environmental depletion have been mentioned and studied by economists. It has been
argued that non democratic regimes are more in state to under provide public goods such as
environmental quality when compared to democratic ones. One major reason behind this is that
politically stable powerful and elite people have majority share of United Kingdom's income and
resources. It simply implies that they have an uneven and disproportionate share of amount that
is been given for environmental maintenance and regulations. Also, they are entitled to a
proportionate share in benefits of pollution control. Since, political parties did not kept their
focus on building up policies related to building up the environment, this led loss of native
customs and traditions. This negatively affected belief of society and reduced number of visitors
as well.
It has been commonly analysed and found in a survey that politically elite people are
worst in forming policies and implementing them when it comes to environmental policy levels
as well as public provisions and their implementation. Political development is entirely
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dependent on people favouring or supporting them. Certain parties and leaders favour
development of themselves while some are in favour of ecological development and
environmental maintenance (Raj and Griffin, 2015). Government of different regions favours
different industries by using tariffs, subsidies and other rules and regulations. These industries
many a times pollute environment to a great extent as compared to others while certain help in
reduction of pollution. To prevent this, governments many times set standards that help in
environmental safety and protection.
Resources: Natural resources are adversely impact by tourism industry. As tourism allow
diversification it also damage landscape and vandalise livestock. It erodes and disturb various
resources of nature. Tourism allow traffic congestion which increase level of pollution. It
degrades land and minerals. It also effect fossil fuels and reduce fertility of soil. It creates
negative impact on forest which creates forests degradations. It badly affects environmental
resources which includes wildlife sanctuaries of UK like The Monkey Sanctuary, The Isle of
Wight Donkey Sanctuary and minerals. Also, it leads to huge amount of pollution which poses
threat to lives of human and affect their medical condition adversely. In present context, have
been one of the reason which overburdened on tourism industry and this led United Kingdom to
face ample number of issues and it affected natural resources as well
of the nation.
3. Recommendation
From the above report, it has been recommended that there is a huge need for
government, local communities and other public and private institutions to preserve the practice
and business of tourism. Also, there can be steps taken by tour and travel operators to indulge in
such practices that pose least harm to environment along with national heritage. Businesses
functioning within this sector of hospitality industry should make use of latest trends and
technology while carrying out its operations so as to ensure that this sector does not engage in
any such practice that is against public interest or leads to harmful effects like pollution (Waligo,
Clarke and Hawkins, 2013). Also, by doing so, organisations can ensure that they stay ahead of
its competitors by gaining widespread acceptability from public.
Government should provide strategic direction and overview of tourism by establishing a
proper institutional structure. They should also imposed rules and regulations which would
increase profits and productivity of Tourism sector. By retaining current system of tariffs will
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also help people to spend less on travelling trip and can plan a trip easily. Moreover government
should also made rules for children that Tourists below five years must not be taken charges for
travelling. Another thing which could be suggested to government for doing development and
promotion one must establish a development bank for tourism which allows exchange of
currency in a lower and affordable rates. Moreover, arbitration can be used to resolve disputes or
negligence between customer and service provide. This can also be act as a proof in case of
fraud or if rights of tourists are being violated. Such methods will also help in resolving conflicts
without going to courts (Wearing and McGehee, 2013). Other recommendations which can be
given are tax incentives, development of infrastructure and management of waste within
countries in which tourists are travelling. These will not only benefit government in generating
revenues but will also help tourism sector to increase its productivity and profits.
Sustainable tourism is a practice which involves a concept of visiting a place as a tourist
and also try making or creating a positive impact on environment and its practices. It also
impacts society as well as economy as a whole. Tourism generally involves primary
transportation to general locations, accommodation facilities providing proper channels of
entertainment and recreation and so on. Tourism industry can never be sustainable in every
sector completely as every sector of economy has some positive as well as negative impacts.
Hence, tourism sector should always aim towards achieving higher level of efficiency and
becoming more sustainable. By continuous development of many regions and countries and
growth of their tourism sector, it provides significant impact over natural resources, consumption
patterns, pollution as well as social systems. Sustainable development is needed for responsibly
planning and managing of resources for tourism sector which helps it in its survival in long term.
This is an ongoing process and requires wide participation as well as building consensus (Page,
2014). This process involves constant monitoring of impacts and introducing necessary and
corrective measures as and when required. It should focus on attracting high level of satisfaction
for tourists.
It is also recommended that measures should be taken by tour and travel agencies to
ensure that there is no exploitation of tourists during the tour. Also, steps can be taken at local
levels to preserve this sector of business and ensure that there is no harm is caused to cultural
values, beliefs, norms and practices of host country.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Birdir, S., and et. al., 2013. Willingness to pay as an economic instrument for coastal tourism
management: Cases from Mersin, Turkey. Tourism Management. 36. pp.279-283.
Camisón, C. and Monfort-Mir, V. M., 2012. Measuring innovation in tourism from the
Schumpeterian and the dynamic-capabilities perspectives. Tourism management. 33(4).
pp.776-789.
Coghlan, A., 2012. Facilitating reef tourism management through an innovative importance-
performance analysis method. Tourism Management. 33(4). pp.767-775.
Deery, M., Jago, L. and Fredline, L., 2012. Rethinking social impacts of tourism research: A new
research agenda. Tourism Management. 33(1). pp.64-73.
Gössling, S., and et. al., 2012. Tourism and water use: Supply, demand, and security. An
international review. Tourism management. 33(1). pp.1-15.
Lee, S. H., and et. al., 2013. Evaluating spatial centrality for integrated tourism management in
rural areas using GIS and network analysis. Tourism Management. 34. pp.14-24.
Lee, T. H., 2013. Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism
development. Tourism management. 34. pp.37-46.
Mason, M. C. and Paggiaro, A., 2012. Investigating the role of festivalscape in culinary tourism:
The case of food and wine events. Tourism management. 33(6). pp.1329-1336.
Munar, A. M. and Jacobsen, J. K. S., 2014. Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through
social media. Tourism management. 43. pp.46-54.
Page, S. J., 2014. Tourism management. Routledge.
Raj, R. and Griffin, K. A. Eds., 2015. Religious tourism and pilgrimage management: An
international perspective. Cabi.
Waligo, V. M., Clarke, J. and Hawkins, R., 2013. Implementing sustainable tourism: A multi-
stakeholder involvement management framework. Tourism management. 36. pp.342-353.
Wearing, S. and McGehee, N. G., 2013. Volunteer tourism: A review. Tourism Management. 38.
pp.120-130.
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