International Tourism Management

Introduction

Tourism studies and tourism management are concepts that have been developing over the past four decades. International tourism management comprises several facets. It is very wide, diverse and entails different aspects of environmental studies, sociology, physical planning, marketing, politics, accounting and economics. The discussed fields are not only numerous but will also vary based on the form of tourism management that is used (Wang, 2014, p. 119). According to scholars, the primary principles of international tourism management is concerned with how to impact the visitors’ access, choice of location, product provision and timing. Also, it emphasizes on facilitating local understanding and knowledge of the best balance that can be obtained in demand and supply. The implication is that international tourism management entails seasonality, infrastructure, marketing, educational efforts and accessibility.

The study will focus on the daily activities of tourist managers and cover a broader view of the implications of tourism as well as the grand tourism management principals from the international perspective. According to research, the tourism effects are categorized into several facets which include environmental, economic and socio-cultural. Therefore, it has to be understood that the objectives of tourism management are meant to minimize the associated costs and enhance maximization of tourism benefits in the economic, socio-cultural and environmental fields.

Negative Impacts of International Tourism

Countries and private companies have implemented aggressive marketing strategies to aid in attracting more international tourists and the effect is that there are many problems due to over-exploitation of tourism.

• Environmental Effects

When tourism events take place, the environment is unavoidably changed for tourism.  Many countries will not assess the damages they can get in their situations and so they provide their products to international tourists without any caution. In many countries, international tourism has been violent to the environment in cases such as misuse of water resources, water pollution, urbanization of natural fields, air pollution, modification of landscape to suit leisure activities, water treatment issues among others (Wang, 2014, p. 124). Such matters are most evident in the Southern nations that have not imposed environmental regulations and so they focus on developing the tourism industry. For instance, the coast of Quintana Roo in Mexico is experiencing ecological crisis due to the large-scale development of resorts.

• Ethical Issues

There are a lot of ethical problems that will affect international tourism which will start from the type of tourism provided. The underdeveloped countries will give unmanageable tourism with the country circumstance. For example in Bali, the golf courses and pools are well taken care of with water while the local farms are left dry and the local people will drink water from wells. In India, women will have to trek for long distance in search of water because the groundwater is channeled for hotel usage (Baum, 2016, p.99). Farmers in Indonesia will face imprisonment as they try to claim their lost land which is assigned to tourism development. International tourism has affected the local population as evidenced in Burma. For many years, the Burmese government has forced many of its citizens to work in tourism projects while others were taken to carry out the development of infrastructure. The human rights are being abused due to the urgency by many nations to facilitate international tourism.

• Socio-Cultural Issues

Many of the tourism researchers globally have termed the debate of how tourism has affected the cultural and social lives of communities as the most critical issue. The effects of socio-cultural on tourism are perceived to present more damages for extended periods which is most evident in the developing countries (Baum, 2016, p.103). These countries have strong traditions and identities and they are now emerging because of the tourist visits in their history. Unfortunately, similar considerations for such devastating effects are rarely discussed concretely by managers of the tourist industries.

It has to be understood that socio-cultural issues will emerge due to international tourism. A massive influx of tourists in a specific region will have a negative influence on the native language. The traditional industries can be lost as many of the workers can be attracted to work in tourism jobs (Wang, 2014, p. 139). Religious conflicts can emerge between the tourists and local people a many of the visitors are not aware of the religious codes of the destinations they visit. Therefore, the international tourism has to be managed to curb such problems in the society.

Tourism Planning and Development

Sustainable tourism has emerged to be a significant theme concerning tourism and development. According to a scholar, development is regarded to be viable when it observes all the requirements of the present without conceding the capability of future generations to realize their necessities. Another study claimed that sustainable tourism development is referred to as the process of facilitating resource management in a form that meets the social, aesthetic and economic needs while upholding biological diversity, significant ecological processes, life support systems and cultural integrity (Sharpley, 2014, p. 86). Based on the idea of sustainable tourism, the development of international tourism is tied to three goals which are:

• Boosting economic value of tourism
• Improving the quality of life of people
• Responsible use as well as protection of natural resources

For tourism managers, their methods of planning and development will entail principals like:

• Clarifying the government role
• Formulating the policy in tourism
• Creating a balance in the economic, social and cultural domain

1. Merging of the private and public sector
2. Adoption of a regional process in tourism planning
3. Cluster tourism activities

• Progressive marketing efforts and planning
• Slow-paced local tourism

1. Training, education and multi-disciplinary research
2. Sustainable planning of cultural and natural resources

The listed methods and principals act as guidelines for tourist managers to facilitate the sustainable development and running of international tourism. Nevertheless, there will be significant differences in every situation but the approaches and principals have to observe the trends of sustainability.

Economic Tourism Management Principals and Methods

The primary reason for developing tourism in any nation is the economic benefits that are expected. However, the question is that if the economic gains can be higher than the expenditure of tourism and this is dependent on the principals and methods used for tourism management. There are the overhead costs, utilities and staffing expenses. In the process of tourism management, the methods used should have the capacity to lessen the costs incurred to minimal (Baum, 2016, p.139). This can be facilitated through using better staffing programmes, water saving and electricity measures. Though, these actions are focused on single entities of tourism like a hotel.

Tourism can have many economic aspects that are positive like the multiplier effect, reliable access to foreign exchange, employment opportunity, government revenue, a better balance of payments, GDP and GNP contribution. Nevertheless, the adverse impacts are also noticeable and include the cost involved in developing infrastructure, low-skilled work, opportunity costs, high dependence on tourists’ destinations, leakages as well as instabilities in the intake (Witt et..al, 2013, p. 83). As stated before, the tourism management principals and methods should be focused on minimizing expenses and leakages that are tied to tourism. Leakages come about due to the urgency to support tourism in forms such as foods and drinks importation, technology, capital expenditure during the repatriation of employees, government investments to aid tourism among others.

By reducing the number of multinational enterprises in all tourist destination globally will aid in reducing the leakages by minimizing the capital expenditure and expulsion of employees (Sharpley, 2014, p. 100). Nevertheless, it will boost the multiplier effect by making tourist to increase their spending within the local economy. It will also be appropriate for tourist managers to increase the number of local staff, provide decent salaries and offer training to staff to improve their chances for promotion. By this, the deportation of staff will be reduced as well as raise the possibility of obtaining a higher earning to the local employee (De Vita, 2014, p. 74). The result is that the multiplier effect will grow and it will boost the socio-culture of the international destinations. Economics is based on the way individuals will make choices and they have to be influenced and guided correctly. The marketing strategies should be employed in a manner that it increases; the number of tourists, their length of stay, the daily budget and also eradicate seasonality.

Environmental Tourism Management Principals and Methods

According to various scholars, tourism development is perceived to be the primary cause of environmental degradation in nations that practice tourism. The damages are attributed to pollutions of air, water and noise while there garbage in the environment, traffic congestion, losses of biodiversity, deterioration of wildlife among others (De Vita, 2014, p. 98). The encountered hazards may be irreversible and in other cases, it causes global pollution through affecting the tourism industry and its destination. The cultural and physical environments are known to be the primary features of attraction for tourist, it is imperative for tourism managers to employ tactics to reduce damages to the environment to give room for future business.

The tourism manager has several methods that can be utilized to aid in minimizing environmental hazards. Among the possible approaches is the energy saving in light bulbs, saving water tabs and flushes. It also involves using cleaning detergents that are environmentally friendly, restricting the visas to control tourist numbers and promoting awareness programmes for the local people and visitors. The idea is that tourism managers should incorporate critical principals that provide any possibility that lessen the impacts presented by the environment to tourism. Such means will maximize the profits by reducing the expenses such as utilities (Witt et..al, 2013, p. 88). Nevertheless, if the gains are reduced due to the limit of the number of visitors for entry, it offers the chance for future benefits by tourism by not terminating the natural resources that act as a tourist attraction. The involvement of the government to assist in the better performance of the environmental policies is one of the vital principals that have to be considered. The government has the role of implementing laws on the use of land and ensure tourist centers are not overpopulated or over-built. It is also the responsibility of the government to provide the adequate infrastructure that will serve the large capacity of tourist and to offer protection to some of the unique natural heritage in the world such as Coral Reefs.

Socio-Cultural Tourism Management Methods and Principals

The influence from socio-cultural can be evaluated on data of crime rates, the ratio of tourist to local people, living standards for locals, the rise in prostitution and the gap between the poor locals and the wealthy tourists. According to studies, the Doxey’s Irridex Model is known as a management method that facilitates the determination of the level of socio-cultural effects of tourism (De Vita, 2014, p. 137). The tourism managers have to make efforts and ensure they do not attain the last phases of the Irridex Model while they strive to lessen the negative impacts presented to tourism on the socio-culture of the tourist centers. To eradicate the adverse effects of socio-cultural, aspects such as cultural events, religious buildings, and cultural heritage have to be maintained and kept original rather than staging. Nevertheless, this is said to be only for a small portion. Tourism can cause a catastrophe in socio-cultural terms and some scholars have gone to the extent to claim that tourism is like a type of imperialism as the rich countries will flock into tourism countries and consider them their subservient.

Still, tourism presents a positive side and it has the opportunity to boost the living standards for the local people as well as ensure the preservation of traditional and cultural heritage. Socio-culture has some methods of tourism management that can increase reputation and reduce the adverse effects of tourism (Sharpley, 2014, p. 106). Among the ways include:

1. Limitation of tourist numbers
2. Maintenance of authenticity

• Preservation of local architecture

1. Market to tourists who are culturally sensitive
2. Accessibility to cultural facilities by local people
3. Tourism education

• Promotion of cross-cultural exchange
• Ensure tourists codes of conduct

Tourism Carrying Capacity

This can be used as a method of tourism management to facilitate the control and implementation of sustainable tourism in all aspects. Various forms can be used to apply tourism carrying capacity. For instance, it can estimate the boundary of tourism development in a place or the required number of visitors. The tourism carrying capacity is used to ensure the stability of the economic goals to those of physical and facility carrying capacity of the tourist center (De Vita, 2014, p. 76). It offers steadiness to the social goals with its carrying capacity of the endpoint and the environmental objectives with the destination of ecological carrying capacity to ensure that the development of sustainable tourism can become a reality.

Nevertheless, studies indicate that management carrying capacity has been restricted in its success of utilization, which is due to unrealistic estimations, lack of legal support services, insufficient judgment value and unsustainable assumptions (Witt et..al, 2013, p. 68). Additionally, there are other principles of tourism management like the resource management, tourist experience, tourist impact management, limits of acceptable change and assessment of environmental impacts. It has to be understood that not all of the listed elements will offer an all panacea to the management but they have the opportunity to provide support to the administration during the establishment of sustainable tourism.

Conclusion

International tourism management comprises several facets. It is very wide, diverse and entails different aspects of environmental studies, sociology, physical planning, marketing, politics, accounting and economics. Development is regarded to be sustainable when it observes all the requirements of the present without conceding the capability of future generations to realize their necessities. Based on the idea of sustainable tourism, the development of international tourism is tied to three goals which are boosting economic value of tourism, improving the quality of life of people and responsible use as well as protection of natural resources. The tourism carrying capacity is used to ensure the stability of the economic goals to those of physical and facility carrying capacity of the tourist center.