Tourism’s potential to benefit the poor

2015

The study examines the distributional effects of tourism expansion applying a Social Accounting Matrix model to the case of Ecuador. Specifically the study examines what share of tourism expansion benefits poor people. The study finds that tourism has large multiplier effects on the Ecuadorian economy and has the potential for substantial benefits to the poor. The study also found that distributional effects of tourism development are spread across all household incomes in both urban and rural areas benefiting the lowest and low households the most. Tourism has the potential of reducing inequality and is pro-poor in the case of Ecuador. Benefits to the poor seem to hinge on how and where tourists spend their money

Tourism and Travel Research Institute …, 2004

Abstract This paper examines the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tourism on an economy as a whole and on particular sectors within it. A framework for analyzing the channels through which tourism affects different households is developed, and a computable general equilibrium model of the Brazilian economy is used to examine the economic impact and distributional effects of tourism in Brazil. It is shown that the effects on all income groups are positive. The lowest income households benefit from tourism but by less than some higher income groups. Policies that could redistribute greater shares of the revenue to the poor are considered.

ii Abstract With poverty and inequality continuing to persist around the world, eradicating both has become one of the greatest challenges for humanity. Yet, tourism has been considered as a panacea for achieving development, overcoming poverty and reducing inequality. Nonetheless, it remains unclear as to whether tourism contributes to reducing poverty and inequality or, in fact, increases both. This study explores the relationship between tourism, poverty and inequality from a political economy perspective. A multidimensional view on poverty is adopted and inequality is considered in the distribution of impacts, which is underpinned by Sen's capability approach. The political economy context of this study is analysed by using Frank's dependency theory and by drawing on Giddens' understanding of power in his structuration theory. The study is conducted in a coastal tourist destination in the Northeast of Brazil and applies a mixed-methodological approach that combines quantitative value chain analysis (VCA) and qualitative photo-elicitation and interviews. The results show that tourism has a significant impact on reducing incomepoverty through providing job opportunities as micro-entrepreneurs and in un-/ and semi-skilled positions to locals from a non-white background. In contrast, tourism business owners and those in higher managerial positions are people from a white background who have moved to the Northeast. This disparity found mirrors classic development patterns in developing countries and seems to be characteristic of the coastline in Brazil's Northeast. An analysis of the value of tourism-related income through consumption patterns emphasises the importance of tourism for local people to sustain their well-being, whilst business owners and managers do not seem to depend on tourism since they are able to draw on other financial sources. Individual opportunities and wider societal benefits provided by tourism are highly valued by locals, particularly, the opportunity of having access to and contact with the rest of the world through engagement with international tourists. In contrast, tourism business owners and managers place value on living in a natural environment and having a relaxed lifestyle. Despite the value of tourism for both groups, challenges and costs of tourism development are also identified. A key constraint is found to exist in racial disparities, in that the white-skinned elite is perceived to prevent non-white locals from generating income and sustaining their livelihoods. Wider structural constraints for tourism development lie in the dependency of the destination on the municipality and a neighbouring city; nonetheless, despite existing structural constraints, agency becomes evident, suggesting that people exert some degree of power over tourism development and their livelihoods. This study provides deeper understanding of multidimensional poverty, and particularly, in connection to inequality. Furthermore, it adds to existing knowledge on power relations within and between different spatial scales and power as interplay between structure and agency.

2014

Most scientifi c literature have begun to argue that while tourism growth can infl uence the economic and sociocultural development of society, the impacts of tourism do not always lead to increased economic development, especially in less developed countries. However, in spite of these limitations, some international organizations defend that tourism has become an economic activity that many poor countries are considering or implementing as part of their eff orts to alleviate poverty. In this context, the aim of this research has been to determine whether the economic growth experienced in the poor countries over the last decade infl uences an increase in their level of economic development. Th e results prove that, in poor countries, tourism growth does not infl uence the level of economic development, which supports the claims of some of the most recent scientifi c literature, and contradicts the position of many international organizations that make an indiscriminate use of tour...

2004

Annals of Tourism Research, 2011

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 2014

Purpose -This paper aims to critically review the contributions made by the articles in this theme issue with reference to the literature and by examining the link between tourism and poverty and the conditions that shape this link in Latin America. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reviews the most important contributions through critical content analysis of the papers contained in the theme issue. Findings -Tourism matters to the poor, but its relevance is defined by a number of factors including economic development, inequality, and destination life cycle. Alternative tourism, while promising, may be too limited in scope and scale to affect poverty alleviation that is broad and fast enough to benefit Latin America. Research limitations/implications -More research is needed to understand the link between tourism and poverty reduction, and the conditions that determine the strength of the link in Latin America. Originality/value -The theme issue explores the tourism poverty link from different perspectives with inputs from multiple stakeholders with experience and expertise in poverty alleviation in Latin America. This approach offers the reader a unique opportunity to explore different facets of the tourism development conundrum in the region.

Abstract The extent to which tourism growth can be used as an instrument to alleviate poverty has received considerable attention in developing countries, particularly amongst practitioners who see tourism as a way of bringing foreign earnings into remote areas where levels of poverty are high. Policymakers and researchers have examined issues of sustainable development, on assessments of how particular tourism developments affect poverty and on how they could be improved to have a greater poverty reduction effect. However, less attention has been paid to the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tourism on an economy as a whole and on particular sectors within it. Poverty issues can be examined through large scale datasets containing information on earnings across many households in an economy. While this allows analysis of employment within each industry, it does not allow the analysis of the poverty effects of a demand-side activity such as tourism that is characterised by impacts in many industries. This paper combines microsimulation analysis using a large scale household dataset with input-output and CGE analysis of tourism, tracing the economic effects of expenditures through to impacts in different industries and then to the poverty impacts. The effects that tourism spending have on poor households can then be assessed for the first time. Results show that even when offsetting effects of tourism in non-tourism sectors are taken into account through a CGE model, tourism spending has a positive effect on the incomes of households below the poverty line. These impacts are lower than for other export sectors, however, and show that for policy makers concerned with the impacts of policies on the poor, either more of tourism’s benefits need to be shared with the poor or tourism will be a second-best option to expansion of non-tourism exports.

IJSES, 2024

Tourism is a crucial industry for many developing countries, serving as a catalyst for socioeconomic development. It has the potential to generate positive externalities that enhance the efficiency and productivity of the host nation. In this paper, we inspect the effect of tourism at the Human Development Index and profits inequality withinside the MENA region. By analyzing panel data from 21 countries in the MENA region spanning the period from 1995 to 2015, we explore the relationship between tourism development, poverty reduction, and inequality. Our empirical findings highlight the significance of the tourism sector in raising the living standards of the local population, albeit with the downside of increasing income inequality

Tourism Economics, 2014

This paper assesses how tourism affects absolute poverty beyond its effects on growth in two developing countries. In particular, the author explores whether tourism spending leads to a decline in the proportion of people below the poverty line. An error correction model is applied to estimate the relationship between poverty and tourism spending. The results reveal that tourism does matter for the poor, but that it does not appear to have systematic effects, and that tourism development matters most for the poor at the lower levels of economic development. The findings from the two developing country case studies show differing impacts of tourism development, and thus the policy implications differ for each case.