Understanding Current Issues Related To Tourism Development Planning And Impacts Of Tourism In Developing Countries And Emerging Destinations

Evaluation of methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure the future wellbeing of a developing tourism destination such as Okavango Delta Botswana

1. Understanding current issues related to tourism development planning.
2. Understanding the socio-cultural, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in developing countries and emerging destinations.

Evaluation of methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure the future wellbeing of a developing tourism destination such as Okavango Delta Botswana

The article, Enclave tourism and its socio-economic impacts in the Okavango Delta, Botswana by Joseph E. Mbaiwa portrays the conflict of interest between the local resident of  Okavango Delta, Botswana and the hotel companies that have developed in the place to promote enclave tourism (Mbaiwa 2005). Due to its vivid flora and fauna, Okavango Delta, Botswana has been able to attracts foreign tourists but the conditions of the local residents have not become any better. The hotels have been benefitted due to the advent of the foreign tourists but the clash of interest occurs when it comes to the betterment of the loves of the local people.

The tourism policy that was implemented in the year, 1990 one such method that has helped in the social development of the place. The foreign tourists are charged hefty amounts if they had to use the local amenities as quoted by the policy (Mbaiwa 2011). Thus, the local people gained from the revenues that the foreign tourists had to pay while visiting the place. Eventually, it decreased the number of tourists as only those tourists can come to the place who can spend more. The charges that the tourists had to pay to use the amenities made the conditions of the local people better than before.

Analysis of the implications of balancing supply and demand with reference to the Okavango Delta Botswana case study

According to the articles, a disparity is been seen between the demand and supply in Okavango Delta, Botswana (Mbaiwa 2005). The rich vegetation and the wildlife are the main reasons behind the high demand of the place among the tourists. Especially, after the advent of the enclave toursim, the demand from the foreign tourists has increased a great deal. On the contrary, the supply is being made through a different source. The local people are deprived if making any supply to the foreign investment and hence, there is minimal upliftment as far as the local population is concerned. The local population is mainly engaged in jobs like maids, drivers, porters and kitchen staffs. To serve the foreign tourists, foreign workers are being hired to serve the managerial posts and other higher-level posts (Mbaiwa 2011). In spite of being a place of high demand among the foreign tourists, the local population can contribute a very less amount of their resources and avail less amount of monetary gains from the foreign investments.

Analysis of the implications of balancing supply and demand with reference to the Okavango Delta Botswana case study

Evaluation of the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism in the Okavango Delta Botswana case study

The moral issue that comes into light is the low level of upliftment for the local populations. The local people are the main driving force of the place. Due to the enclave tourism, the foreign companies invest on a particular area. The area is a part of the land owned by the local people, yet they get the minimal support from the companies. They just get a small amount of money is exchange of the land. The local people are given employment in those posts which require low-skilled workers (Mbaiwa 2005).

Taxation is another issue that has arisen due to enclave tourisms. Even if some of the companies work in Okavango Delta, Botswana, yet they are registered outside the place. As a result, those companies do not pay any tax to the government in Okavango Delta Botswana. It has been seen that only 11percent of the tourist companies pay the local tax in Okavango Delta Botswana. Due to the disparity is paying the taxes; the place is not able to get the required social and economic development that it should receive.

A place where the local population is mainly dependent on the agriculture and livestock, they suffer a loss due to the advent of the foreign companies. The hotel buildings have taken a huge portion of their land, which were earlier used by the farmers. In addition this, the farmers are not getting enough return from the companies. It is ethically wrong to make use of lands that are the sole way of income for the people living in that place.

The waste products that is released from the hotels, affect the nature of Okavango Delta, Botswana. The government is taking no serious measure the than the Tourism Policy 1990. The companies are least interested in preserving the nature, which in turn harms the people, the wildlife and the natural vegetation of the place.

Comparing the current issues associated with tourism development in a developing country and an emerging destination where the impacts of tourism are different 

Thailand is one of the developing countries, where the development of tourism has been seen to a great deal. The main growth of the Thailand tourism took place in the year, 1987 with the advent of the Visit Thailand Year (Hall and Page 2012). Since then the growth has been constant even after the Gulf War that took place in the year, 1991. Economically, Thailand tourism has grown drastically. The growth is called the golden decade of Thai tourisms (Ishii 2012). It has been seen that not only the international tourists but also the local tourists have also contributed to the growth of the tourism (Ghimire 2013). Eventually, the economic standard of the people has risen for the better. The main issue that Thailand has faced due to the advent of tourism is the transfer of funds outside the country (Coren and Gray 2012). As the people are becoming economically strong, they are going for vacations outside the country. As a result, the revenue that the country used to get from the local travelers is gradually decreasing (Connell 2013).

Evaluation of the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism in the Okavango Delta Botswana case study

Another emerging destination in the world, which has come into limelight due to the advent of tourism, is Brazil. For being the host of the upcoming football world cup, Brazil, has caught a lot of tourist attractions. It is the second international destination in South America and has the third most importance in Latin America. A huge percentage of tourists come from South America, especially from Argentina. Thirty-five percent of the footfall of the tourist is from Europe and the 15 percent of the footfall is from the United States (Terrero 2014). The most popular places of interest in Brazil are Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Salvador de Bahia.

However, even if Brazil is gaining importance in the tourism sector, the impact of tourism is creating in the country. One of the major issues is the division between the rich and the poor (Haddad, Porsse and Rabahy 2013). Brazil, which is famous for its art forms is gradually losing its originality. The designs are being changed as per the demand of the tourist and the original form of art is gradually being vanished from the place (Morrison 2013). The indigenous communities are also getting affected due to the impact of tourism. The hotel companies are taking up the land of the indigenous communities to build the hotels and resorts (Graci 2013). As a result, there is a very little amount of land left for the community members (Pablo-Romero and Molina 2013). Hence, it can be seen that when on one hand, Brazil is being positively influenced by the tourism industry, on the other hand, the original art and the same are negatively influencing people of Brazil.

Evaluation, with recommendations, the future development of tourism in these chosen destinations

Economic growth is good but in case of Thailand, it is harming the country in an opposite manner. To decrease the amount of money that is going outside the country, the government can increase the amount of tax payable by the tourists who are going for foreign trips. In this way, only those tourists who can afford to p[ay a huge amount of money will go for foreign trips, while other tourists will go for trips within Thailand. In this ways, the Thailand tourism will have lesser amount of funds going out of the country.

As far as Brazil is concerned, the government need to take steps to protect the indigenous communities and look after the people who are the original residents of the place. The art form need to be preserved by the government or else, brazil will lose its original art forms and culture. Before giving permission to any of the company that wants to extend their business in Brazil, the government should first see their area of business. In addition to this, the government should also evaluate, whether the business is harming nay of the indigenous communities. In addition to this, social measures should be taken to see that the advent of the hotel companies is not having any negative environmental impacts in the place.

References

Connell, J., 2013. Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, culture and commodification. Tourism Management, 34, pp.1-13.

Coren, N. and Gray, T., 2012. Commodification of volunteer tourism: A comparative study of volunteer tourists in Vietnam and in Thailand.International Journal of Tourism Research, 14(3), pp.222-234.

Ghimire, K.B., 2013. The native tourist: Mass tourism within developing countries. Routledge.

Graci, S., 2013. Collaboration and partnership development for sustainable tourism. Tourism Geographies, 15(1), pp.25-42.

Haddad, E.A., Porsse, A.A. and Rabahy, W., 2013. Domestic tourism and regional inequality in Brazil. Tourism Economics, 19(1), pp.173-186.

Hall, C.M. and Page, S., 2012. Tourism in south and southeast Asia. Routledge.

Ishii, K., 2012. The impact of ethnic tourism on hill tribes in Thailand. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(1), pp.290-310.

Mbaiwa, J.E., 2005. Enclave tourism and its socio-economic impacts in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Tourism Management, 26(2), pp.157-172.

Mbaiwa, J.E., 2011. Hotel companies, poverty and sustainable tourism in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 7(1), pp.47-58.

Morrison, A.M., 2013. Marketing and managing tourism destinations. Routledge.

Pablo-Romero, M.D.P. and Molina, J.A., 2013. Tourism and economic growth: A review of empirical literature. Tourism Management Perspectives,8, pp.28-41.

Terrero, L. (2014). Social Impacts of tourism in Brazil. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://qualitycoast.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Dossier-Brazil-Social-impacts.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2016].