Exploring Contemporary Issues in Modern Tourism Growth

This presentation delves into the contemporary issues that significantly influence the growth trajectory of modern tourism. It highlights the transformative impact of technological advancements, which have streamlined travel bookings and reduced costs, and addresses the critical role of safety and security in tourist destination choices, including the effects of travel advisories and health crises like the SARS outbreak. Furthermore, the presentation explores the rise of eco-tourism and the increasing environmental awareness among modern travelers, emphasizing their desire to positively contribute to the destinations they visit. The content is based on recent industry and academic research, providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of the tourism and hotel industries.

Contemporary issues influencing the
growth trajectory of the modern-day
tourism and their profound impact

Introduction
• The tourism sector has undergone a steady metamorphosis over the years and,
that revolution is still in play, today. Large scale changes have rocked the
conventional tourism sector to its very core.
• These advances have altogether redefined tourism-related industries such as, the
hotel industry and the travel and tours businesses. The radical changes have been
primarily prompted by two factors: technology and societal changes
(Novelli,2016).

Tourism
• An issue in one country often ends up having adverse reverberation effects on the tourist
numbers in another part of the world. Take for example, the fuel price wars castigated by
the US interference in Iranian affairs.
• The political turmoil that ensue when the U.S is at loggerheads with this great oil
producing country will inevitably rock the global tourism sector.

Technological Advances
• A few decades past, prospective tourists had a tough time trying to book hotels and
flights to their travel destinations. Today, making a reservation to any destination in the
globe has become a straightforward and quick process. There are countless trusted and
reliable websites that are solely dedicated to linking prospective travelers with the
amenities they require.

Technological advances
• You only need to do your research properly to find out the experiences of the people
who’ve used that agency before and in the present.
• The huge number of registered online travel and tours franchises have come as pure
blessing for the budget travelers. These entities are engaged in a stiff competition with
each other for clients and, to your delight, the travel costs have come down tumbling,
drastically.

Safety and Security
• Tourists only travel and head to safe and secure destinations. Governments are always
issuing travel advisories to their citizens against visiting certain volatile nations. Countries
that have experienced terror-related incidents suffer the most from such travel bans and
advisories as tourists shun these destinations. These tourists opt to frequent politically
stable nations and that has a huge impact on the development of the tourism sectors in
those places.

Security and safety
• It came as no surprise that the number of Arab tourists to the US
tanked since 2011. In response to the criticisms on security screening,
the US authorities have refused to bulge on their hard lining stance on
the basis that the security of their citizens is their number one
priority. The fact that there has been no serious or as severe an attack
as 9-11 only serves to justify the intense screenings by US custom
officials( Uriely,2015).

Safety and security
• The US custom officials, in their defense, argue that these stringent
moves have indeed worked wonders in deterring would-be hijackers
and terrorists from attempting to board the U.S bound planes.

Safety and security
• The security influence on tourism extends to health matters as well. In the late
2000’s, the SARS outbreak caused a sharp decline in the number of tourists
visiting the ever-popular South East Asia regions. No one dared make any travel
arrangements to frequent not only the affected areas, but the adjacent regions
during the SARS outbreak.

Eco-Tourism
• In recent decades, a new form of tourism has popped up. This tourism involves
travelers heading to destinations for the sake of environmental awareness
campaigns. Eco-tourism seeks to shed light on the plight of the environment in
the select destinations.

Eco-Tourism
• The modern day travelers are overly concerned with the carbon imprints they
leave behind. In a bid to give back to the societies they frequent, these travelers
contribute both, time and other skilled resources to ensure that they leave a
positive impact on their destinations.

Reference
• Higham, J. (2018). Sport tourism destinations: Issues, opportunities and analysis.
In Sport Tourism Destinations (pp. 17-30). Routledge.
• Holden, A. (2016). Tourism studies and the social sciences. Routledge.
• Novelli, M. (Ed.). (2016). Niche tourism: contemporary issues, trends and cases.
Routledge.
• Tisdell, C. A., & Roy, K. C. (Eds.). (2017). Tourism and development: economic,
social, political and environmental issues. Nova Science Publishers.
• Uriely, N. (2015). The tourist experience: Conceptual developments. Annals of
Tourism research, 32(1), 199-216.
• Waterton, E., & Watson, S. (Eds.). (2015). Culture, heritage and representation:
Perspectives on visuality and the past. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.