Social Impact in the Tourism Industry

Social Impact in the Tourism Industry

Tourism is an industry that contributes a large percentage to the economy. Hundreds of millions are involved in tourism and domestic travel every day. Of the three main types of impacts, the social and cultural consequences of tourism are the least obvious and hardest to measure. Of the three main types of influences, the social and cultural effects of tourism are the least obvious and hardest to measure (Nugraha & Suprihanto, 2016). The positive impacts on the communities include; a better understanding between cultures, the revival of culture; that is, tourist demand for local traditions can increase the cultural pride of the community. More so, tourist development requires infrastructural improvements that will enhance the community’s standards of living.

The negative impacts on the communities include; conflict of interest pressure on limited resources, such as transportation, and waste collection, resentment, loss of cultural pride, staged authenticity, displacement; that is, the development of tourists forces locals to move away from their homes, and crime. Consequently, opportunities can divert children form education by encouragement to sell souvenirs, street entertainment, or begging.

The action of improving sustainability in tourism has been implemented, but the action is not solving all problems related to the industry. Ensuring that there is sustainable tourism, the action should meet the customer’s expectations and host different communities as well as protecting their needs. Therefore, when addressing the issue of sustainability in tourism, environmental sustainability is inclusive. However, sustainability is impossible in tourism unless if you can try and improve it (Nugraha & Suprihanto, 2016). It is unsustainable because there is a lot of environmental pollution that results from an increase in resource consumption, which also leads to an increase in waste. For example, more trips mean that there will be a lot of fuel consumption and gas will be emitted hence causing air pollution.

The effect that the hospitality industry causes to the economy directly results from entertainment, transportation, attraction, and accommodation. Besides, transportation is the major problem since tourist has to be carried from one location to another. Therefore, the tourism industry cannot be active without transportation. For example, the Mega-events like Olympic Games tend to impact the host negatively, leading to community displacement, crime, crowding, and also distracting the normal activities in the city. Furthermore, Mega-events tend to take place once in a while (Liang, Wang, Tsaur, Yen & Tu, 2016). These events have to be funded with significant figures and causing long-term effects on the city hosting the event.

These problems can be avoided by implementing different strategies in the tourism industry. The top management can come up with principles that can measure and monitor sustainability in tourism. These principles will enable them to monitor the set indicator every time, and in case there are any changes, they can identify and respond to it positively (Lone, 2017). Tracking every field in tourism will lead to excellent services and attracting many visitors.

To ensure that the hospitality industry is growing, I would develop a program whereby this program can offer services on safety to its visitors. They can achieve this by conducting an audit on visitors at the site and provide solutions to the issues raised by their customers. Such auditing programs can make a visitor feel more secure when he or she visits the place. More so, it is a sign to show that the industry values their customer and also is a way of attracting more visitors because of the excellent services you are delivering.

Additionally, to ensure that the tourism industry becomes effective, these problems have to be solved. They can be solved by evaluating the quality of products and services that are offered and developing a tool that would lead to better services for the visitors. However, to control the Mega-events, I propose a policy on radical change. The hospitality industry can ensure that these Mega-events are not conducted in urban areas to avoid different risks that occur. The event hosts should also negotiate with other bodies governing the events for better conditions (Liang, Wang, Tsaur, Yen & Tu, 2016). Consequently, the tourism industry should also seek advice on the cost they want to incur during the event to avoid making losses.

Sustainability is vital to every organization. For the case of the tourism industry, I would implement different strategies that would improve sustainability in the industry. I would support every visit by communicating and providing tourist information. We will make sure our tourist guide information reaches every person and be committed to the scheduled programs (Lone, 2017). We can use different social media platforms to communicate to our visitors about our scheduled date for the special offers. Finally, we can give out copies of brochures to families that have children.

References

Nugraha, B. S., & Suprihanto, J. (2016). SOCIAL IMPACT OF TOURISM SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Case of Baron Beach, Gunung Kidul, DIY. International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Study, 1(1).

Liang, Y. W., Wang, C. H., Tsaur, S. H., Yen, C. H., & Tu, J. H. (2016). Mega-event and urban sustainable development. International Journal of Event and Festival Management.

Lone, R. A. (2017). Socio-Cultural Impact‟ s of Tourism on Kashmir Valley with Special Reference to its Problems and Prospectus.