Tourism Impact: Australia and Malaysia

This assignment examines the multifaceted effects of tourism on both Australia and Malaysia. Students are tasked with evaluating the industry's contributions to economic growth, employment opportunities, and cultural exchange while also acknowledging its potential downsides in terms of environmental degradation, social tensions, and cultural commodification.

Running head: TOURISM IN PACIFIC ASIA
Tourism in Pacific Asia
Name of the university
Name of the student
Author note

1TOURISM IN PACIFIC ASIA
Tourism is an expanding industry for any country, at present. This sector contributes
its income to a country’s gross domestic income (GDP). Moreover, it has a great influence on
a country’s economic, environmental and socio-cultural activities. Economic impacts include
various factors, for example, employment generation, economical stability and higher cost of
living. Socio cultural impacts indicate cross cultural interactions and cultural background
(Carneiro, Eusébio & Caldeira 2017). On the other hand, environmental impacts talk about
pollution, wildlife, and capacity of the area (Holden 2016). Tourism affects those factors
positively and negatively. In this essay, Malaysia and Australia are chosen to discuss those
impacts. According to the number of tourist arrival, Malaysia ranks 25th among 141 countries,
worldwide. In this country, both natural and manufactured places attract tourists
(Tourism.gov.my, 2018). Australia also enriches itself with natural beauty. People from
different places come to this country to spend their holiday. There will be various numerical
data to support each argument of economical, socio-cultural and environmental impact for
these two countries. The essay will also analyse that those impacts have any positive impact
on these two countries or not. Moreover, this essay will draw a conclusion based on all
discussions.
Tourism industry is the second largest industry of Malaysia. Hence, it has some
positive impacts on the country’s economy. It helps the country to earn higher amount of
foreign currency. Due to the increasing amount of foreign currency, the country can further
invest that capital into their production system and generates new employment opportunities.
In 2010, this tourism industry contributed around 5.1% of the country’s total GDP. Moreover,
it also created almost 5970000-employment opportunity in the same year (Tang & Tan 2015).
This expanding tourism industry further helps to develop transport and telecommunication
facilities for their tourists. This increasing number of tourists influences many foreign
investors to invest on different sectors of the country. Hence, other industries are also

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increasing rapidly. Hotel and restaurant industries are developing day by day. This also helps
the country to increase its GDP.
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Revenue (RM)
Revenue (RM)
Figure 1: Tourism industry revenue of Malaysia (Malaysia Ringgit)
Source: (Tourism.gov.my 2018)
In figure 1, the amount of revenue from tourism industry of Malaysia has shown since
2010. The country has faced an increasing amount of revenue in this industry. This increasing
amount of revenue is economically helpful for the country as well (Tourism.gov.my 2018).
However, this industry also affects the country’s economy negatively. During global
crisis period, this sector also faced negative situations (Solarin 2016). People did not travel
more. There are some other industries, which are depended on this chief industry. Those
industries are hotel and restaurant sectors and travel agencies. During this crisis period, those
sectors also suffered a lot. Therefore, they cut down their employment capacity. This further
generated huge amount of unemployment.

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Tourism industry also helps to boost up the socio-cultural activities of Malaysia.
People from different cultures and communities come in this country. This further helps the
country to gather knowledge of different cultures. At the same time, people of Malaysia try to
preserve their culture and heritage. Due to huge number of foreign visitors, the country can
also exchange their cultural and educational knowledge (Khoshkam, Marzuki & Al-Mulali
2016). Moreover, this tourism industry helps the country to improve their national identity,
all over the world. Hence, this tourism industry helps to develop the condition of socio-
culture condition of Malaysia. It also helps to encourage the level of tolerance among people
due to cultural diversification.
This industry does not always positively affect the country’s socio-cultural conditions.
It also adversely affects Malaysia’s socio-culture. Due to huge amount of cultural diversity, a
misunderstanding among citizens of Malaysia has occurred. People of other countries use
ethnic cultures of this country as product and overseas them to other countries. This further
decreases the cultural value of this country. Tourism industry also increases human
trafficking and prostitution in this country (Moghavvemi, Woosnam, Paramanathan, Musa &
Hamzah 2017). At present, this human trafficking is a serious socio-cultural issue of
Malaysia. On the other side, due to huge expansion of tourism industry, migration occurs.
People of rural areas and other countries move to well-known places of Malaysia for getting
job. This also adversely affects the country’s national income and development.

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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
23
23.5
24
24.5
25
25.5
26
26.5
27
27.5
28
number of tourists arrivals ( Million)
number of tourists arrivals
( Million)
Figure 2: number of tourist arrival in Malaysia
Source: (Tourism.gov.my 2018)
In figure 2, the graph is representing total number of tourist arrival in Malaysia. In
2014, the country faced maximum number of visitors. In 2015, the number declined.
However, again the number increased in 2016.
Environmental impact from tourism is not good. Due to huge amount of population
every year, environment has affected inversely. Firstly, hotel, restaurant and other retail
companies are acquiring more lands to expand their business. Hence, the amount of land in
Malaysia is decreasing. Secondly, those hotels and restaurants are creating huge amount of
waste products. Moreover, tourists also generate wastages in different tourists’ spots.
Thirdly, due to huge amount of building constructions, the number of trees is decreasing. As
a result, ecosystem of Malaysia is damaging. This further adversely affects coral reef
ecosystem, soil and rainforest degradation of the country (Gani, Awang & Mohamad 2017).
Fourthly, pollution is another vital factor that is increasing for tourism. Hence, the

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government of Malaysia is giving efforts to preserve their environment. They are trying to
spread environmental awareness through school level.
In Australia, tourism industry creates a positive impact for the country. Tourism
industry has directly contributed AUD 42.8 billion t the country’s GDP in 2014. In the same
year, this industry has generated 504500 jobs, that is, 4.4% of the country’s total
employment. Hence, the country ranked 11 out f 184 in 2014 based on total contribution to
the country’s GDP. Hence, the sector has positive impact on the country’s growth. The
country has set the Tourism 2020 strategy to fulfil some targets. In 2017, almost 8.7 million
tourists from all over the world have arrived in Australia. They have spent above $ 41.2
billion in the same year (Australia.gov.au. 2018). Moreover, the country has received direct
benefit from foreign airlines. The Australian government has earned revenue by landing and
refuelling charges, maintenance and repairs and so on. Moreover, tourism influences
Australia to develop their infrastructural facility. Large number of hotels and restaurants also
earn revenue and contribute to the country’s GDP. Moreover, the country can gather excess
amount of foreign currency. For Australia, Indigenous tourism is an important issue
(Ruhanen, Whitford & McLennan 2015). This tourism can support those indigenous people
by giving them economic independence. Most of the tourists buy food and other important
commodities from the local people of Australia. This further helps those people to earn
money.

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Figure 3: Percentage of employment of travel and tourism in Australia
Source: (Australia.gov.au. 2018)
In figure 3, the percentage of employment related to Australia’s travel and tourism
industry has shown. The percentage has remained almost same, since 2005.
However, tourism industry has some negative impacts to the country’s economic
condition. To operate a tourism industry, a country has to bear some hidden costs. Those
hidden costs are unwanted (Higgins-Desbiolles 2018). For developed parts of the country, the
amount of those hidden costs is very low. However, for some underdeveloped portion, the
amount of this cost is very high.
Tourism helps a country to improve its cross-cultural activities. People can indentify
its unique cultural practices and educational pattern. Moreover, this sector helps the country
to support its regional development. Indigenous parts of the country are developing for the
last few years. International visitors visit those indigenous parts and spend their money. This
helps the country to omit regional imbalances. In Australia, many people come to visit the
unique beauty of the nature. However, some tourists also come to Australia to meet with its
culture. Indigenous parts of the country bear those cultural heritages (Carr, Ruhanen &
Whitford 2016). Hence, those parts become the chief attraction of many visitors. Indigenous
tourism of the country gives importance on Aboriginal rituals. Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural

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Park is one of the best tourist destinations of Australia (Clark 2016). It is a good example of
tourism on the country’s socio-culture.
Tourism also brings some negative impacts on the country’s socio-culture. As many
tourists are showing their interests on the indigenous parts of the country, people of those
parts are losing their privacy. Moreover, standard of life those local people are decreasing for
those international tourists.
Australia has a unique vision of nature. There are many trees, animals and birds,
which cannot see in the other parts of the world. Hence, those natural beauties are the pride of
Australia. Tourists, from different parts of the world, visit this country to enjoy those unique
natural scenarios. However, tourism inversely affects the country’s environment. There are
chiefly two seasons in Australia that attracts tourists (Amelung & Nicholls, 2014). In
summer, people come here for camping, fishing, sightseeing and horse riding and so on. On
the other side, people come in winter for snowboarding and skiing. Those recreational
activities of tourists in both summer and winter negatively affect the country’s environment.
Those activities destroy agricultural productions of the country. Moreover, excess amount of
hotels create environmental wastage and pollutions.
In today’s world, every country tries to expand their tourism industry. It helps to
increase a country’s national income. Hence, both developed and developing countries are
trying to expand this business and attract more visitors. Tourism of Malaysia affects the
country’s economy and socio-culture both positively and negatively. As the number of
tourists is increasing every year, GDP of that country is increasing as well. However, during
the period of global economical crisis, tourism sector adversely affected the country’s
economic conditions. On the other hand, cross-cultural activity also helps the country to
enhance their culture. Though, human trafficking, prostitutions are some serious issues that

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affect the country’s socio culture negatively. On the other side, tourism also benefited
Australia’s GDP. The sector has generated many employment opportunities. Moreover,
tourism has helped to develop the indigenous parts of the country. However, tourism
negatively affects the environmental conditions of both countries. Hence, at the end, it can
said that, tourism industry helps both countries positively to expand their economic
conditions. On the other side, socio-culture has both positive and negative impacts. On the
other side, the industry negatively affects the environmental condition of both countries.
However, for tourism industry, positive impact is more than negative impact.

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Australia. Tourism Management, vol. 41, pp.228-244.
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