Mass Tourism: The Tourist's Dream or The Host's Nightmare? Part Two

Part 2 – The Social and Environmental Side of Mass Tourism

 

Firstly a footnote to the Portion 1 of these articles.....The average invest by tourists to Greece contains those tourists travelling independently, mass tourists of course invest considerably less as they have already paid their accommodation expenses in their country of origin, all-inclusive tourists tend to spend absolutely nothing at all since they have paid for all their food and drinks in their nation of origin.

Continuing the discussion we commence with

The Social (and Political) Implications of Mass Tourism

No one has the right to avoid an emerging nation, or creating nation from enhancing its status in the World, any additional than everyone has the correct to deny residents of colder nations their annual two weeks in the sun!

In a large number of nations these days there has been a move from the country locations to cities as men and women go in search of a ‘better life'. Tourism unquestionably offers an additional implies of earning foreign earnings for the nation concerned, but as we have noticed in part one, if it takes place to be a foreign mass tourism nation that is calling the shots, the monetary outcome may possibly not be all that it could be. The hospitality industry is notoriously badly paid in several countries with long hours and low pay, and as fashions adjust it could nicely be that a nation can suddenly get itself with out tourists, or with no sufficient earnings from tourism to support its infrastructure.

Tourism can as a result, take individuals away from ‘traditional pursuits', leaving a country without the expertise in the future to return or create those pursuits and standard industries.

In Greece for example quite a few young people today go to university to study ‘Tourism', (cynics would say that it is the tourists who will need to have a degree in tourism), but latest globe events have trigger a downturn in tourism in Greece and elsewhere, and even the so-called ‘crisis' in Greece has affected the business badly, whereas, Crete, Greece, for instance, has a thriving agricultural industry which is terribly under-utilised, and even though agriculture could possibly not be that ‘exciting', it could offer a continuous source of revenue as many people still need to eat even if they do not go on holidays. In reality back in the 1970's Crete had a thriving cut flower market promoting carnations to Holland, but the lure of painless income in the tourist sector led to this market becoming ignored!

As it occurs out of all these tourism graduates, none seems to have realised that the Greek tourist market is not in the state it could be, and that reliance on classic markets need to be changed, and that there is a prepared industry for independent and specialist tourism.

And none seems sufficiently imaginative to even recommend that the seasonal tourism that is prevalent in Greece is not the greatest way to go. The seasonality of the product signifies that for six months of the year, tourism workers (about 600,000 of them), are basically unemployed, so that throughout the off season they draw on the social security payments that have been created to the government throughout the summer, income that with a year round business would stay in government coffers to relieve the current tension in the economic climate.

Even though on the topic of employment figures in Greece, it is worth noting that many who work in the market are not Greek and are not even residents of Greece. Lots of of the non-residents, by agreement with employers, function with out social security payments getting paid. This prepared pool of more affordable labour indicates that Greeks, and Greek residents, are normally unable to locate work as they want to have the social payments created!

On a political note, politically oppressive governments can of course take advantage of the mass tourism program by diverting foreign money into their own pockets rather than those of the government. Conversely a foreign mass tourism firm can equally well hold a government to ransom to force social modify, but as they are far more interested in producing a profit, they are much more most likely to be trying to force prices down or gain a financial advantage.

For numerous tourists, cultural exchange is the most important objective of tourism, to check out unique countries, to sample foreign cuisines and cultures, unfortunately with quite a few mass tourism destinations now going all out for the all-inclusive holiday, this seldom occurs to the extent it ought to, as a lot of all-inclusive guests, seldom leave their hotel complicated and any cultural exchange is generally sanitised to suit their country of origin.