Week 3 impacts of tourism 2

School of Hospitality Management

Impacts of Tourism

Part 2


Sociology and Culture• Sociology is the study of society and is concerned

with people in groups, their interaction, their attitudes and their behavior

• Culture is about how people interact as observed through social interaction, social relations, and material artifacts

• Culture consists of behavioral patterns, knowledge and values which have been acquired and transmitted through generations

• Culture is the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society


Cultural attractions

• Handicrafts• Language• Traditions• Gastronomy• Art and music• History of the

area/including visual reminders

• Types of work engaged in by residents

• Architecture• Religion (including

visible manifestations)

• Education systems• Dress• Leisure activities


Socio-cultural Impacts (Positive)• Creation of

employment• Revitalization of poor

or non-industrialized regions

• Rebirth of local arts and crafts and traditional cultural activities

• Revival of social and cultural life of the local population

• Renewal of local architectural traditions

• Promotion of the need to conserve areas of outstanding beauty which have aesthetic and cultural value


Socio-cultural Impacts (Negative)

• Overcrowding• Stress for both

tourists and residents

• Traditional activities (e.g. Farming) may decline

• Regions can become over-dependent on tourism

• Residents may find it difficult to co-exist with tourists who have different values and who are involved in leisure activities, while the residents are involved in working.


Demonstration Effect

• Theorizes that by simply observing tourists will lead to behavioral changes in the resident population

• Local people will note the superior material possession of the visitors and aspire for them.



• Positive: may encourage residents to adopt more productive patterns of behavior

• Negative: locals may become resentful because they are unable to obtain the goods and lifestyle demonstrated by the visitors



• Young people are more susceptible.• Most likely occur where the contacts

between residents and visitors are relatively superficial and short-lived.


Acculturation Theory• Occurs when contact is for a longer period

and is deeper• States that when two cultures come into

contact for any length of time, an exchange of ideas and products will take place, that through time, produce varying levels of convergence between the cultures: that is they become similar


Acculturation Theory

• No balance- since one culture is stronger than the other (e.g. US influence is known as ‘MacDonaldization’ or ‘Coca-colaization’


Pseudo-events

• Caused by commoditization • They are planned rather than spontaneous• They are designed to be performed to

order, at times that are convenient for tourists

• They hold at best an ambiguous relationship to real elements on which they are based

• They eventually become the authentic events and replace the original events or practice


Doxey’s Irritation Index


Doxey’s Irritation IndexEuphoria (exploration & involvement) Visitors are welcome and there is little

planning

Apathy (Development) Visitors are taken for granted and contact becomes more formal

Annoyance/ Irritation (Consolidation) Saturation is approached and the local people have misgivings. Planners who attempt to control through increasing infrastructure rather than limiting growth

Antagonism (stagnation etc.) Open expression of irritation and planning is remedial yet promotion is increased to offset thedeteriorating reputation of the resort



• AKA: Irridex• The resident population or hosts in a

tourist area would modify their attitudes to visitors over time



• When tourists first visit they will be greeted with euphoria

• Stages progress to apathy, annoyance and then to outright aggression towards visitors


Getz Study

• The attitudes of residents do not appear to change greatly over time

• Attitudes to tourism by the host population were closely linked to economic fluctuations


IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Impacts of Tourism


Environmental Impacts

• Environment is made up of both natural and human features

• Tourism-environment relationship is symbiotic

• Ecology is the study of the relationships between animals and plants

• Ecosystems are individual components and links between plants and animals


Five (5) Aspects of the environment (Swarbrooke)

• Natural environment• Wildlife• Farmed environment• Built environment• Natural resources


Factors important to environmental impacts

• The ‘where’ factor. Some environments are more susceptible to tourism impacts than others

• The type of tourism activitiy• The nature of any tourist

infrastructure• When the activity occurs, particulalry

any seasonal variation


Positive Impacts• Tourism may stimulate measures to

protect the environment and/or landscape and/or wildlife

• Tourism can help to promote the establishment of National Parks and/or Wildlife Reserves

• Tourism can promote the preservation of buildings/monuments (e.g. UNESCO World Heritage Sites)

• Tourism may provide the money (e.g. via entrace charges) to maintain historic buildings, heritage sites and wildlife habitats


Negative Impacts• Tourists are likely to drop litter• Tourism can contribute to congestion in terms of

overcrowding of people as well as traffic congestion

• Tourism can contribute to the pollution of water courses and beaches

• Tourism may result in footpath erosion• Tourism can lead to the creation of unsightly

human structures such as buildings (e.g. hotels) that do not fit in with vernacular architecture

• Tourism may lead to damage and/or disturbance to wildlife habitats


Carrying capacity

• A threshold measure, beyond which damage and possible irreversible change may occur

• e.g. Plant or animal species threated by the damage cause by visitors, and any increase will lead to more damage

• Can be viewed scientifically and perceptionally


Three (3) forms of carrying capacity

• Environmental (physical ) carrying capacity – usually refers to physical space and the number of people (or the number of cars) in a particular place

• Ecological carrying capacity – is a threshold measure, which if exceeded will lead to actual damage of plants/animals habitat

• Perceptual carrying capacity is the level of crowding that a tourist is willing to tolerate before he/she decides a particular location is too full and then goes elsewhere


Other analytical tools

• Limits of acceptable change (LAC) technique – involves establishing an agreed set of criteria before the development and the prescription of desired conditions and levels of change after development

• Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

Week 3 impacts of tourism 2

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