Tourism: Passport to development? Perspectives on the social and cultural effects of tourism in developing countries

Abstract

In the 1960s, spurred by jumbo jets, charter tours, and the growing affluence of the middle classes in Western industrial nations, tourism erupted on a grand scale. This was seen as offering a new opportunity for developing countries to secure foreign exchange and stimulate economic growth. Their sunny climates, sandy beaches, and exotic cultures attracted a stream of vacationers, and resorts multiplied to meet the demand. With the oil crisis and the recession of 1974-75, there was a pause in the growth of tourism. The end of the boom gave new urgency to existing concerns about whether tourism produced sufficient gains for developing countries to justify the investments required. In addition to doubts about whether tourism yielded economic returns commensurate with its economic costs, there was a general questioning of some of the basic assumptions about the relationship between development and economic growth. In the case of tourism, these doubts were reinforced by the belief that it brings larger adverse social and cultural effects than does development of other sectors. In December 1976 the World Bank and Unesco sponsored a seminar to discuss the social and cultural impacts of tourism on developing countries and to suggest ways to take account of these concerns in decision making. This report is a summary of those proceedings with written accounts of those seminars presented.