Introduction

Abstract

The value of tourism to worldwide economies, both developing and developed, would appear to be a now long-established fact, accepted widely and gratefully, despite the various impacts and inequalities often cited as having compromised local communities, environments and cultures. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), for example, suggests that despite recent economic downturns and market instabilities tourism has continued to grow and, in addition, is not only a key driver of economic recovery, but is also closely linked to wider sociocultural and environmental outcomes. Today, they argue, ‘the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, food products or automobiles.’ More importantly, they not only see tourism as continuing to develop, but expanding at a faster pace than any other industry. It ‘has become one of the major players in international commerce’, and represents ‘one of the main income sources for many developing countries’; they add that such ‘growth goes hand in hand with an increasing diversification and competition among destinations’.¹ There are now 234 million people working across the tourism and hospitality sectors worldwide and 2016 is forecast to be the sixth consecutive year of above-average growth. The UNWTO’s Tourism 2020 Vision document predicts that ‘international arrivals are expected to reach nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Of these worldwide arrivals in 2020, 1.2 billion will be intraregional and 378 million will be long-haul travellers’.² Such economic growth and development, not to mention the insatiable global appetite for all things travel-related, suggests that the expansion of the tourist industry shows no signs of abating any time soon, despite region-specific challenges, criticisms over the pace and direction of development, and ongoing environmental concerns. It is true that in recent years greater emphasis has had to be placed on the need for more sustainable projects and solutions. For example, waste management, as well as water and energy usage—right across the tourism and related sectors—requires better regulation, with improved staff training a key part of any new initiatives. More also needs to be done to protect already threatened landscapes, urban and rural both, while transport networks and the development of further transport facilities require better integration. But despite economic downturns, the challenges of seasonality, and increasing (though geographically disparate) terror alerts, global tourism is developing an ever more diverse profile, and for many economies continues to promise jobs, security and wealth.