negative effects of domestic tourism

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What's the problem with overtourism?

With visitor numbers around the world increasing towards pre-pandemic levels, the issue of overtourism is once again rearing its head.

When locals in the charming Austrian lakeside village of Hallstatt staged a blockade of the main access tunnel, brandishing placards asking visitors to ‘think of the children’, it highlighted what can happen when places start to feel overrun by tourists. Hallstatt has just 800 residents but has opened its doors to around 10,000 visitors a day — a population increase of over 1,000%. And it’s just one of a growing number of places where residents are up in arms at the influx of travellers.

The term ‘overtourism’ is relatively new, having been coined over a decade ago to highlight the spiralling numbers of visitors taking a toll on cities, landmarks and landscapes. As tourist numbers worldwide return towards pre-pandemic levels, the debate around what constitutes ‘too many’ visitors continues. While many destinations, reliant on the income that tourism brings, are still keen for arrivals, a handful of major cities and sites are now imposing bans, fines, taxes and time-slot systems, and, in some cases, even launching campaigns of discouragement in a bid to curb tourist numbers.

What is overtourism?

In essence, overtourism is too many people in one place at any given time. While there isn’t a definitive figure stipulating the number of visitors allowed, an accumulation of economic, social and environmental factors determine if and how numbers are creeping up.

There are the wide-reaching effects, such as climate change. Coral reefs, like the Great Barrier Reef and Maya Bay, Thailand, made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach , are being degraded from visitors snorkelling, diving and touching the corals, as well as tour boats anchoring in the waters. And 2030 transport-related carbon emissions from tourism are expected to grow 25% from 2016 levels, representing an increase from 5% to 5.3% of all man-made emissions, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). More localised issues are affecting locals, too. Renters are being evicted by landlords in favour of turning properties into holiday lets, and house prices are escalating as a result. As visitors and rental properties outnumber local residents, communities are being lost. And, skyrocketing prices, excessive queues, crowded beaches, exorbitant noise levels, damage at historical sites and the ramifications to nature as people overwhelm or stray from official paths are also reasons the positives of tourism can have a negative impact.

Conversely, ‘undertourism’ is a term applied to less-frequented destinations, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic. The economic, social and environmental benefits of tourism aren't always passed on to those with plenty of capacity and, while tourist boards are always keen for visitors to visit their lesser-known attractions, it’s a more sustainable and rewarding experience for both residents and visitors.

What’s the main problem with it?

Overcrowding is an issue for both locals and tourists. It can ruin the experience of sightseeing for those trapped in long queues, unable to visit museums, galleries and sites without advance booking, incurring escalating costs for basics like food, drink and hotels, and faced with the inability to experience the wonder of a place in relative solitude. The absence of any real regulations has seen places take it upon themselves to try and establish some form of crowd control, meaning no cohesion and no real solution.

Justin Francis, co-founder and CEO of Responsible Travel, a tour operator that focuses on more sustainable travel, says “Social media has concentrated tourism in hotspots and exacerbated the problem, and tourist numbers globally are increasing while destinations have a finite capacity. Until local people are properly consulted about what they want and don’t want from tourism, we’ll see more protests.”

A French start up, Murmuration, which monitors the environmental impact of tourism by using satellite data, states that 80% of travellers visit just 10% of the world's tourism destinations, meaning bigger crowds in fewer spots. And, the UNWTO predicts that by 2030, the number of worldwide tourists, which peaked at 1.5 billion in 2019, will reach 1.8 billion,   likely leading to greater pressure on already popular spots and more objection from locals.

Who has been protesting?

Of the 800 residents in the UNESCO-listed village of Hallstatt, around 100 turned out in August to show their displeasure and to push for a cap on daily visitors and a curfew on tour coach arrivals.

Elsewhere, residents in Venice fought long and hard for a ban on cruise ships, with protest flags often draped from windows. In 2021, large cruise ships over 25,000 tonnes were banned from using the main Giudecca Canal, leaving only smaller passenger ferries and freight vessels able to dock.

In France, the Marseille Provence Cruise Club introduced a flow management system for cruise line passengers in 2020, easing congestion around the popular Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Basilica. A Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) spokesperson said, “Coaches are limited to four per ship during the morning or afternoon at the Basilica to ensure a good visitor experience and safety for residents and local businesses. This is a voluntary arrangement respected by cruise lines.”

While in Orkney, Scotland, residents have been up in arms at the number of cruise ships docking on its shores. At the beginning of 2023, the local council confirmed that 214 cruise ship calls were scheduled for the year, bringing around £15 million in revenue to the islands. Following backlash from locals, the council has since proposed a plan to restrict the number of ships on any day.

What steps are being taken?  

City taxes have become increasingly popular, with Barcelona increasing its nightly levy in April 2023 — which was originally introduced in 2012 and varies depending on the type of accommodation — and Venice expects to charge day-trippers a €5 fee from 2024.

In Amsterdam this summer, the city council voted to ban cruise ships, while the mayor, Femke Halsema, commissioned a campaign of discouragement, asking young British men who planned to have a 'vacation from morals’ to stay away. In Rome, sitting at popular sites, such as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, has been restricted by the authorities.

And in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, meanwhile, the Narok County governor has introduced on-the-spot fines for off-roading. He also plans to double nightly park fees in peak season.

What are the forecasts for global tourism?  

During the Covid pandemic, tourism was one of the hardest-hit industries — according to UNWTO, international tourist arrivals dropped 72% in 2020. However, traveller numbers have since been rapidly increasing, with double the number of people venturing abroad in the first three months of 2023 than in the same period in 2022. And, according to the World Travel Tourism Council, the tourism sector is expected to reach £7.5 trillion this year, 95% of its pre-pandemic levels.

While the tourism industry is forecast to represent 11.6% of the global economy by 2033, it’s also predicted that an increasing number of people will show more interest in travelling more sustainably. In a 2022 survey by Booking.com, 64% of the people asked said they would be prepared to stay away from busy tourist sites to avoid adding to congestion.

Are there any solutions?  

There are ways to better manage tourism by promoting more off-season travel, limiting numbers where possible and having greater regulation within the industry. Encouraging more sustainable travel and finding solutions to reduce friction between residents and tourists could also have positive impacts. Promoting alternative, less-visited spots to redirect travellers may also offer some benefits.

Harold Goodwin, emeritus professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, says, “Overtourism is a function of visitor volumes, but also of conflicting behaviours, crowding in inappropriate places and privacy. Social anthropologists talk about frontstage and backstage spaces. Tourists are rarely welcome in backstage spaces. To manage crowds, it’s first necessary to analyse and determine the causes of them.

Francis adds: “However, we must be careful not to just recreate the same problems elsewhere. The most important thing is to form a clear strategy, in consultation with local people about what a place wants or needs from tourism.”

As it stands, overtourism is a seasonal issue for a small number of destinations. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, a range of measures are clearly an option depending on the scale of the problem. For the majority of the world, tourism remains a force for good with many benefits beyond simple economic growth.

Related Topics

• OVERTOURISM
• SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

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What is overtourism and how can we overcome it? 

The issue of overtourism has become a major concern due to the surge in travel following the pandemic. Image:  Reuters/Manuel Silvestri (ITALY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

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Marina novelli.

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• Overtourism has once again become a concern, particularly after the rebound of international travel post-pandemic.
• Communities in popular destinations worldwide have expressed concerns over excess tourism on their doorstep.
• Here we outline the complexities of overtourism and the possible measures that can be taken to address the problem.

The term ‘overtourism’ has re-emerged as tourism recovery has surged around the globe. But already in 2019, angst over excessive tourism growth was so high that the UN World Tourism Organization called for “such growth to be managed responsibly so as to best seize the opportunities tourism can generate for communities around the world”.

This was especially evident in cities like Barcelona, where anti-tourism sentiment built up in response to pent-up frustration about rapid and unyielding tourism growth. Similar local frustration emerged in other famous cities, including Amsterdam , Venice , London , Kyoto and Dubrovnik .

While the pandemic was expected to usher in a new normal where responsible and sustainable travel would emerge, this shift was evidently short-lived, as demand surged in 2022 and 2023 after travel restrictions eased.

Have you read?

Ten principles for sustainable destinations: charting a new path forward for travel and tourism.

This has been witnessed over the recent Northern Hemisphere summer season, during which popular destinations heaved under the pressure of pent-up post-pandemic demand , with grassroots communities articulating over-tourism concerns.

Concerns over excess tourism have not only been seen in popular cities but also on the islands of Hawaii and Greece , beaches in Spain , national parks in the United States and Africa , and places off the beaten track like Japan ’s less explored regions.

What is overtourism?

The term overtourism was employed by Freya Petersen in 2001, who lamented the excesses of tourism development and governance deficits in the city of Pompei. Her sentiments are increasingly familiar among tourists in other top tourism destinations more than 20 years later.

Overtourism is more than a journalistic device to arouse host community anxiety or demonize tourists through anti-tourism activism. It is also more than simply being a question of management – although poor or lax governance most definitely accentuates the problem.

Governments at all levels must be decisive and firm about policy responses that control the nature of tourist demand and not merely give in to profits that flow from tourist expenditure and investment.

Overtourism is often oversimplified as being a problem of too many tourists. While that may well be an underlying symptom of excess, it fails to acknowledge the myriad factors at play.

In its simplest iteration, overtourism results from tourist demand exceeding the carrying capacity of host communities in a destination. Too often, the tourism supply chain stimulates demand, giving little thought to the capacity of destinations and the ripple effects on the well-being of local communities.

Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon too. In China and India, two of the most populated countries where space is a premium, crowded places are socially accepted and overtourism concerns are rarely articulated, if at all. This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.

We also tend not to associate ‘overtourism’ with Africa . But uncontrolled growth in tourist numbers is unsustainable anywhere, whether in an ancient European city or the savannah of a sub-Saharan context.

Overtourism must also have cultural drivers that are intensified when tourists' culture is at odds with that of host communities – this might manifest as breaching of public norms, irritating habits, unacceptable behaviours , place-based displacement and inconsiderate occupation of space.

The issue also comes about when the economic drivers of tourism mean that those who stand to benefit from growth are instead those who pay the price of it, particularly where gentrification and capital accumulation driven from outside results in local resident displacement and marginalization.

Overcoming overtourism excesses

Radical policy measures that break the overtourism cycle are becoming more common. For example, Amsterdam has moved to ban cruise ships by closing the city’s cruise terminal.

Tourism degrowth has long been posited as a remedy to overtourism. While simply cutting back on tourist numbers seems like a logical response, whether the economic trade-offs of fewer tourists will be tolerated is another thing altogether.

The Spanish island of Lanzarote moved to desaturate the island by calling the industry to focus on quality tourism rather than quantity. This shift to quality, or higher yielding, tourists has been mirrored in many other destinations, like Bali , for example.

Dispersing tourists outside hotspots is commonly seen as a means of dealing with too much tourism. However, whether sufficient interest to go off the beaten track can be stimulated might be an immoveable constraint, or simply result in problem shifting .

Demarketing destinations has been applied with varying degrees of success. However, whether it can address the underlying factors in the long run is questioned, particularly as social media influencers and travel writers continue to give attention to touristic hotspots. In France, asking visitors to avoid Mont Saint-Michelle and instead recommending they go elsewhere is evidence of this.

Introducing entry fees and gates to over-tourist places like Venice is another deterrent. This assumes visitors won’t object to paying and that revenues generated are spent on finding solutions rather than getting lost in authorities’ consolidated revenue.

Advocacy and awareness campaigns against overtourism have also been prominent, but whether appeals to tourists asking them to curb irresponsible behaviours have had any impact remains questionable as incidents continue —for example, the Palau Pledge and New Zealand’s Tiaki Promise appeal for more responsible behaviours.

Curtailing the use of the word overtourism is also posited – in the interest of avoiding the rise of moral panics and the swell of anti-tourism social movements, but pretending the phenomenon does not exist, or dwelling on semantics won’t solve the problem .

Solutions to address overtourism

The solutions to dealing adequately with the effects of overtourism are likely to be many and varied and must be tailored to the unique, relevant destination .

The tourism supply chain must also bear its fair share of responsibility. While popular destinations are understandably an easier sell, redirecting tourism beyond popular honeypots like urban heritage sites or overcrowded beaches needs greater impetus to avoid shifting the problem elsewhere.

Local authorities must exercise policy measures that establish capacity limits, then ensure they are upheld, and if not, be held responsible for their inaction .

Meanwhile, tourists themselves should take responsibility for their behaviour and decisions while travelling, as this can make a big difference to the impact on local residents .

Those investing in tourism should support initiatives that elevate local priorities and needs, and not simply exercise a model of maximum extraction for shareholders in the supply chain.

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National tourist offices and destination management organizations must support development that is nuanced and in tune with the local backdrop rather than simply mimicking mass-produced products and experiences.

The way tourist experiences are developed and shaped must be transformed to move away from outright consumerist fantasies to responsible consumption .

The overtourism problem will be solved through a clear-headed, collaborative and case-specific assessment of the many drivers in action. Finally, ignoring historical precedents that have led to the current predicament of overtourism and pinning this on oversimplified prescriptions abandons any chance of more sustainable and equitable tourism futures .

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Home > Books > Tourism

Contribution of Domestic Tourism to Sustainable Tourism Development

Submitted: 16 June 2020 Reviewed: 19 August 2020 Published: 01 December 2020

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.93646

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Tourism literature is awash with evidence of the value of domestic tourism to the tourism industry in general. However; there is limited knowledge of how domestic tourism is contributing towards sustainable tourism development especially in developing countries. This study explored the contribution of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development in Zimbabwe, one developing country in Southern Africa. Using qualitative methodologies, data were collected and thematically analysed. The study revealed that domestic tourism has both positive and negative contributions to sustainable tourism development in unique ways. In conclusion, it was noted that without domestic tourism, Zimbabwe as a tourism destination would be struggling to grow its tourism product offering and expand its market share on the global tourism market.

• tourism marketing
• tourism value
• destination management

Author Information

Forbes kabote *.

• Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

This chapter explores the contribution of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development. In depth, interviews with 25 domestic tourists and 20 tourism suppliers from Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and Kariba revealed positive and negative contributions of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development. Positive contributions of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development were in the form of destination exposition, destination appreciation and economic development. Notable negative contributions were on destination degradation and low economic value.

2. Positive contributions of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development

Positive contributions are those facets that seem to be adding value to the long-term sustenance of the destination and the tourism industry. A number of positive contributions portray domestic tourism as a vital dimension upon which to attain sustainable tourism development. These include destination exposition, destination appreciation and economic development.

2.1 Destination exposition

Destination exposition is when a community plays a part in ensuring that the destination becomes popular within and outside the local community. Well-travelled local people expose destinations visited to other tourism stakeholders such as inbound tourists, potential investors and government departments. According to Bessière [ 1 ], knowledgeable local people have a habit of taking new people who visit an area to local attractions they are familiar with. For example, David Livingstone was shown Mosi-oa-Tunya by knowledgeable local people [ 2 ]. He later wrote about it and renamed it to Victoria Falls. Today Victoria Falls is among a number of attractions that were exposed to foreigners by well-informed local people. Destinations like Victoria Falls and the wildlife sanctuaries around it became key attractions and destinations to regional and international tourists to Zimbabwe [ 2 ].

In order to expose tourism destinations to the outside world, domestic tourists assume various positions and functions within the tourism industry such as being information bureaus, ambassadors, role models and tour guides to attractions and destinations within their communities.

2.1.1 Domestic tourists as information bureaus

Domestic tourists act as information rich, well-researched and travelled unofficial information bureaus to potential tourists both domestic and international (see [ 3 , 4 ]). They provide informal information through word of mouth and personal experiences that is not regulated, not packaged, free, available anywhere and anytime to both active and potential tourists. Domestic tourists as information bureaus are not place and time restricted providing inbound tourists with alternative sources of information.

Inbound tourists rely on unprocessed information gained through word of mouth when making travel decisions as they believe it to be the truth as compared to neatly packaged information from official information bureaus (see [ 5 ]). Tourists become more informed on the prevailing environment at the destinations keeping them up to date with changes that might affect their tourism experience. In so doing they become informed travellers which is critical for tourism development.

2.1.2 Domestic tourists as tourism ambassadors

Local people who travel outside their country become default tourism ambassadors when called upon to talk about tourism in their country to people they meet outside their usual area of residence [ 6 ]. Local people leave the country temporarily or permanently.

As temporary travellers, local people need to know their country better to allow them to answer any question foreigners may ask. This way they would be able to sell their country by giving factual information based on the personal experience. Such information on destinations and attractions generates curiosity among the foreigners who would want to visit the country in future widening the tourism base for the destination country.

Local people have also migrated to other countries in search of wealth and found value in foreign lands. In the case of Zimbabwe, these are the bulk that visits Zimbabwean destinations during their own holidays as international tourists. This implies that when they left the country they did not have sufficient resources which could be used for tourism purposes but now can afford to travel for tourism purposes. This is better understood through Reed’s [ 7 ] insights derived from African Americans born of slave trade parents who see tourism to Africa as an opportunity to connect with their past. Diasporeans visit local attractions along with friends and relatives to whom they explain their own experiences in foreign lands and how foreigners travel in their own country and abroad. This would inspire local people to also want to travel creating a strong foundation for future tourism from both domestic and international tourists.

Diasporians usually visit renowned destinations that their foreign friends hear, talk, enquire about and probably have visited in the past. This allows them to familiarise themselves with these destinations in order to convince their foreign friends that they too know their own country. However, fairly unknown destinations are also popular with domestic tourists.

Some tour operators believe that if well advertised to domestic tourists, small destinations have potential to have large volumes of tourists both domestic and internationals through referrals. This draws a comparison between efforts being employed by authorities in advertising small and big destinations in the country. There is too much attention on big destinations that are frequented by international tourists at the expense of small destinations common with domestic tourists. This deliberate neglect of small destination development is counter sustainable tourism development as domestic tourists are known as more influential in building future tourists to any destination through referrals (see [ 8 ]). The others would feel being left out and also visit these places to experience them for themselves expressing the egoistic tendencies inherent among human beings (see [ 9 ]).

2.1.3 Domestic tourists as role models

Domestic tourists also assume the position of role models and ones to set the pace for inbound tourists by first visiting local attractions and destinations. This creates curiosity among potential tourists from other areas who would also want to visit these attractions and destinations. The trend of inbound tourists following domestic tourists supports Hudson and Ritchie’s [ 8 ] argument that domestic tourism provides the bedrock for sustainable tourism development in any destination as more tourists are inspired to visit the local destination in future.

2.1.4 Domestic tourists as tour guides

Through domestic tourism local people assume tour guiding roles. Knowledgeable local people lead inbound tourists around showing them local attractions every time they receive visitors not familiar with the local attractions. The provision of tour guiding services by local people reinforces information sharing through social exchange (see [ 10 ]). This gives a positive image of the conduct of local people which inbound tourists would take back home, share with friends and relatives widening the base for future tourism to the destination.

2.2 Destination appreciation

Attraction and destination attractiveness is built by the people who see value in the attraction and destination, retain the value and sell it so that others would also appreciate them (see [ 11 , 12 ]). Host communities seem to share similar views in that Zimbabweans have developed a higher level of appreciating beauty in objects they used to take for granted. The various views seem to agree on a number of ways in which destinations are appreciated by the stakeholders. Destination appreciation is exhibited through local people being active participants in tourism, their degree of tolerance, conduct of stakeholders at destinations, sense of ownership, management style and the development of tourists.

2.2.1 Active participation

Well-travelled local people help form a stakeholder inclusive tourism industry that guarantees customer satisfaction preparing ground for future tourists to the destination in tandem with the stakeholder theory [ 13 ]. Informed local people have become more welcoming to the tourists as they appreciate them more through active participation in tourism as tourees or tourists. Local people see more value in hosting tourists in their communities. They see value in sharing information, ideas and experiences. They know what kind of stories to share with tourists and where to take them. They even have an appreciation of the different tourists’ expectations hence they are better prepared to handle them.

Unlike in the past where travelling was restricted and associated with foreigners especially those from the west, these days there is a notable paradigm shift where an increasing number of local people are participating in tourism. Over the years, local people have come to realise the economic and social value of tourism for their communities and themselves through interaction with foreigners, observing them going on holidays and their psychological needs and desire to understand the environment in which people live in and how they came to be what they are.

This implies that travelling for leisure is contagious (see [ 14 ]). When people talk about their experiences or excitedly show off pictures and souvenirs obtained during their holidays, they inspire others to also want to travel. In the process, everyone will become part of the wave as people seek to be seen as moving along with times and being modernised. Modernisation theory which argues that everyone seeks to leave behind old obsolete ways of life to modern inspiring ways of life (see [ 15 ]) better explains this thrust.

2.2.2 Tolerance

During domestic tourism, people go to new places they are not familiar with where they interact with people whose way of life they do not know. They make friends with some even getting married. The development of long-term relationships during the interaction from being pure strangers to general friends into marriage partners reinforces the arguments of the uncertainty reduction theory as applied in tourism (see [ 16 , 17 ]). This cements a once sceptical relationship with unfamiliar people, customs and values into a common ground or contact upon which future travellers to these places make use of. This increases the tourists’ confidence to engage with the hosts fully aware that they have some common ground upon which to build better relationships.

However, it is not easy to build such relationships especially in a multilingual countries, for example in Zimbabwe there 16 official languages [ 18 ]. Language ignorance and counter accusations between different ethnicities aggravate animosity between domestic tourists and host communities especially when one visits areas that do not speak the same language as that of the tourist (see [ 19 ]). However, with more combined efforts, such diversity can be turned around into an advantage where the ethnic groups would visit each other as domestic tourists. This would help ethnic groups to better appreciate each other and hence lead to societal integration, peace and nation building. A situation that is ideal for tourism development in any country as tourists do not want to visit volatile destinations that they perceive as risky (see [ 20 ]).

2.2.3 Tourists conduct

Host communities were able to distinguish the attractions that appeals to international tourists compared to those that appeals to domestic tourists through their conduct. Foreigners are believed to have more respect and place more value on local attractions because they have more curiosity as compared to domestic tourists. The attraction is bound to be new and a spectacle to a foreigner; hence, it generates a lot of interest, the need to understand the phenomena and how the local people live with such spectacular attractions.

On the other hand, domestic tourists seem to be excited when exposed to new attractions they are not familiar with in their everyday life. Some families in big cities grew only exposed to urban settings without any exposure to the life outside towns hence they have greater desire to explore the countryside. To them, all the flora and fauna make an exciting encounter, hence the increase in photo safaris. With increasing value in the attractions from both domestic and international tourists, the need to conserve them increases aiding in attaining sustainable tourism development.

2.2.4 Ownership of attractions and destinations

Local people feel they are part of the local cultures on display. As such they develop greater respect for historical and cultural attractions as compared to foreign tourists (see [ 21 ]). This helps maintaining the curiosity of the inbound tourist. The differences in approach and understanding of local values and rituals have had effects on tourists and tourism. For example, in Zimbabwe, there are both domestic and international tourists that disappeared in Mount Nyangani making the mountain a dark tourism site.

To date, there is no agreed explanation as to how these people disappeared. According to Mupira [ 22 ], the scientific explanation points to quicksands believed to be burying people though it has not been proven so. On the contrary, local people attributed the disappearing of people to angry spirits (see [ 22 ]).

It seems though that both the tourists and local people believe the local people’s theories as exhibited by their actions. For example, before climbing Mount Nyangani, tourists consult local traditional leadership. The traditional leadership is perceived as the owners and custodians of local culture and values. The myths around the disappearance of people in Mount Nyangani present local communities with an opportunity to interact with inbound tourists. They use their knowledge of local systems as part of the broader national systems to share safety practices required by tourists for one to have a successful hike in the mountain. Knowledge exchange is based on indigenous knowledge systems [ 23 ] where local values need to be respected. Strict adherence to dos and do nots while at sacred places are agreed to as the best way of touring sacred places. Employment is created where local people act as tour guides for climbers where their knowledge of the area increases the success of such hikes. This would influence more climbers to visit this place in future knowing that it has become safer through engaging knowledgeable local people.

Dark tourism sites have gained international attention. People visit to experience the dark encounters and remember their loved ones who disappeared in these places. Some tourists will be trying to understand spirituality and ritualism practiced by local people believed to have power over what is happening at the sites (see [ 24 ]). Anthropologists will also seek explanations to the mysteries around the disappearance of people at these places. The continued polarisation of the two perceptions would keep the myth ongoing and the destination attracting more tourists.

In other incidences, through domestic tourism, local people have come to realise the value of resources available in their communities. This is a manifestation of the realisation that each area is unique in its offerings to the tourism industry and the need to have responsible local people. Host communities should take care of resources available within their communities by practicing sustainable resource utilisation, for example when fishing.

Domestic tourists felt that tourism was part of their heritage. This portrayed tourism as an inherent phenomenon that was practiced since time immemorial, visiting and enjoying the God-given attractions. However, the difference could be that unlike foreigners who travel and spend some days in some foreign land, domestic tourists do not cross international borders to be tourists. Instead, domestic tourists travel to get their mind together and in the process will be admiring nature and being healed by nature as tourists for the duration of their experience. Domestic tourists benefit personally from tourism just like their international counterparts. A situation which is better understood through the tourist gaze concept which argues that one does not necessarily need to spend at least a day away from home to be a tourist, but rather it is the engagement in touristic activities that makes one a tourist (see [ 25 , 26 ]).

2.2.5 Destination management

To continue gaining tourism benefits, authorities that manage destinations especially dark tourism sites like Nyanga are investing more in scientific ways of ensuring the safety of tourists to these destinations. For example, to increase the safety of tourists to Mount Nyangani, the following may be adopted. Tourists to fully charge their cellular phones have torches with new batteries and spare batteries, be accompanied by a trained tour guide and encouraged to stick to walkways cleared by the authorities, avail and ensure all tourists wear reflective jackets, carry whistles and bells to aid in rescue mission in the event of someone disappearing.

Adherence to the rules is expected to maximise chances of successful trips and enjoyable experiences opening the destination to more risky averse tourists who are not comfortable visiting under the current conditions. These would visit in future as it becomes clearer through testimonies of how others have experienced dark tourism attraction site.

2.2.6 Development of tourists

Building on Urry and Larsen [ 26 ] tourist gaze concept, one can argue that domestic tourism is made up of various building blocks as local people appreciate the value of tourism and its healing power. This gives the impression that at first local people just walk around within their communities unaware that they are actually being tourists in the process, later they explore further afield before travelling internationally as ‘tourists’. Figure 1 shows the development stages and degree of tourism formalisation matrix.

Tourist development and formalisation matrix.

Tourists undergo four stages of development that build on each other without clear cut off point but rather a gradual change. This is better appreciated through the lenses of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory [ 27 ] that argues that a satisfied need is no longer a motivator hence desire to go for another higher order unsatisfied need. Equally tourists start by exploring their local communities before going further afield. Through exposure they are motivated to explore more and further away from their local community and there is need for the right political and economic environment to prevail before that can happen.

The four stages identified in tourist development are when one is a backyard domestic tourist, micro domestic tourist, macro domestic tourist and international tourist.

2.2.7 Backyard domestic tourists

Backyard domestic tourists are local people who go out of their homes for some moments for leisure. They forget their everyday challenges without spending anything in tandem with the tourist gaze concept (see [ 26 ]). Everything being done at this stage is informal with people going out for different social reasons like managing domestic disputes as given by respondent 17 who said ‘When you have a problem even at home with Madam (wife) you go for a breath of fresh air’. This portrayed backyard domestic tourists as mainly individuals seeking to rest and in need of time to recollect themselves and strategise on challenges they are facing.

In backyard domestic tourism are also young couples hiding from communal eyes especially during courtship. Young people would wonder off the beaten path in search of privacy and seclusion. It is during these moments that attractions are discovered as people wonder off from home. These new attractions become the bedrock of future tourism as tourists graduate from backyard purely informal domestic tourists towards formal international tourists going beyond their own country’s borders.

2.2.8 Micro domestic tourists

Micro domestic tourists are local people who would be fully aware of attractions within their locality. They would take time to visit them. They would take along friends and relatives who would have visited them but not familiar with local attractions. Local people would explain to the visitors the various stories associated with the attractions. Some would even take their families for a day visit at these attractions for picnics [ 25 ].

At this stage local people would also visit official tourism sites located within their communities where they will have to pay to access the attraction. Thus, as one goes up from being a backyard domestic tourist towards being an international tourist, they become more formal. However, at this stage, local people would be spending the day out and come back the same day. Distance covered is subject to the exact location of the attraction though distance is not the key variable but the activities one does during that time when they are tourists. Typically they are recognised in tourism as excursionists though Urry and Larsen [ 26 ] and Cohen and Cohen [ 28 ] describe them as informal domestic tourists whilst Canavan [ 25 ] refers to them as micro domestic tourists.

2.2.9 Macro domestic tourists

On the third level are the macro domestic tourists who take their time to visit attractions within their country but beyond their locality. They spend some time travelling to and from the destination and within the destination [ 25 ].

Apart from the attraction, these tourists also need such facilities like guest houses, lodges, hotels and restaurants. They spend at least a day at the destination to enjoy. They pay for almost everything they need to use and enjoy at the destination contributing to the formal tourism industry. At this stage, all they do is formal qualifying them to be called domestic tourists as they are restricted within the boundaries of the country.

2.2.10 International tourists

The fourth and last stage is when tourists are now travelling beyond the boundaries of their country making them international tourists. At this stage, everything is formal and demands for proper planning and coordination as the people would need to cross borders, deal with foreigners, use foreign language and face unfamiliar economic, political and social environment.

The four stages of tourist development give insights into how domestic tourism can be nurtured according to the resource base of the various tourists. Those with minimal income being encouraged to stick to recreation at local attractions like community recreation areas. Whilst those with more money are encouraged to explore their country further before going international.

When local people evolve from backyard domestic tourists to international tourists they tend to have a better understanding of tourism and tourism resources. As a result they register behaviour change where they become active participants in tourism resource conservation aiding in environmental sustainable tourism development of the destination. Local people would come together and work with other interested parties to conserve nature for their own good and the good of others, present and future generations inclusive ensuring that tourism will thrive into the future satisfying the intergeneration sustainability of the tourism industry. Figure 2 explains how local people and other organisations are working together in conservation.

Example of mutual effort in conservation.

This gives a community based resource management approach that all stakeholders are part of. With all conservation resources being donated by others, local people will also see value in the same resources as they also seek to understand why someone from as far as Australia would be interested in saving their God given natural resources. Tourism resources are protected from potential threats like poachers ensuring their continued existence into the future. At the same time allowing for coordinated harvesting of such resources in a manner that benefits all stakeholders through such facilities like CAMPFIRE ( Figure 3 ).

CAMPFIRE activities on resource management in Zimbabwe.

Communities have benefitted from resources within their vicinity through infrastructural developments and employment creation [ 29 ]. This has motivated communities to conserve the resources that will benefit future stakeholders.

Accessibility concerns which can take the form of roads, rail, air, information, technology are real and of concern especially in remote destinations. With rural areas offering the bulk of tourist attractions Government is under pressure to make them accessible as a way of improving tourism (see [ 30 ]). Local people have structures designed to address their concerns. These include local councils, members of parliament and relevant ministries. Addressing accessibility concerns will benefit both present and future domestic and international tourists to the destination as the infrastructure developed to support them will last for some time and have long term effects to the communities and the tourism industry.

Domestic tourism allows local people to understand the different cultures among the indigenous people of a country. Tourists now understand that one has to enjoy the differences than destroy the other people and their culture. They should also help to conserve the other culture for everyone to enjoy from such cultures in future.

2.3 Attraction authenticity

Attraction authenticity is when an attraction remains consistent over time offering same benefits in the same manner as originally presented. On its own, Zimbabwe is believed to be a sustainable tourism destination as it still has its attractions intact. Zimbabwe still has its culture, flora, fauna, food, mountains and rivers unadulterated through modernisation. For example, animals are still available in the natural wilderness not zoos.

The continued practices of traditional cultures provide cultural tourists with essential attractions to enjoy. In the process allowing them to time travel back into the days when the same cultures were experienced by their forefathers through re-enactment of the experiences and listening to stories about the cultures (see [ 7 ]). Serving organic foods creates demand from healthy conscious tourists and food tourists. Making Zimbabwe a dream destination to visit that will satisfy their needs.

There are many other natural attractions available in the country that domestic tourists have helped to develop and maintain for the benefit of both current and future stakeholders. Even after the historic fast track land reform programme, there are new farmers who are investing in wildlife conservation as Zimbabweans realise that wild animals have more value from the tourism industry than just having meat. One such investor said:

I wanted to venture into game parking industry so I wanted to learn more about animals which can survive in this climate in Zimbabwe so I could adopt knowledge. I have a small area where the former white farmer used to have a game reserve that I want to revive (Domestic Tourist 7).

These actions are indicative of a people that have realised their mistakes. Mistakes of destroying once vibrant game reserves and now have to revive them. This is indicative of the weaknesses of the fast track land reform programme. The programme that was adopted without due diligence on the possible short-, medium- and long term implications on communities and other stakeholders like the flora and fauna in the former white owned farms [ 31 ] which has bearing on environmental and economic sustainability of sustainable tourism development in the country.

In addition domestic tourists are helping in the discovery of new attractions with tourism value potential for the industry when they give feedback as to how visitor facilities and experiences may be improved, provide information that links different tourism sites in different parts of the country to give a complete story on available attractions.

By alerting authorities to the existence of local attractions with potential value to the tourism industry, domestic tourists are perceived as helpful in the development of tourism resource base enriching the tourism basket. Stories of how places are connected and developed establishing trails that help explain movements of earlier inhabitants of the country. For example through carbon dating, archaeological studies and fork tales educationists have been able to link Great Zimbabwe ruins in Zimbabwe with Mapungubwe Ruins in South Africa and many other ruins in Zimbabwe. As having been built by people of same origin that shared same ancestry. From cultural trails, authorities will be able to develop tourism trails through the related facilities providing a complete tour package to tourists interested in such related attractions and generating more economic benefits and enriching the social fabric of the local people hence aiding in the economic and social sustainability of the destination.

2.4 Economic development

Domestic tourism is a key driver of local economic development in destination regions [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. The economic benefits of domestic tourism are felt everywhere where people visit and congregate for some time. Economic benefits cuts across informal and formal domestic tourism with some being direct whilst others are indirect.

Local economy is sustained by combined investment and expenditure of local and incoming visitors. Domestic tourists use money to buy tourism goods and services like artefacts to take back home from vendors, sleep in hotels, eat in restaurants and undertake activities. Profits generated are expected to benefit the local community through Corporate Social Responsibility by having tourism organisations donating to the local communities. Once happy with income from tourism the local communities would embrace tourism in their community making tourists feel welcome in these areas and reduce animosity and hostility towards the tourism industry. This situation is better understood through Doxey’s Irridex Model (1975) where host communities and tourists interaction is normally antagonistic at first but improves as trust between the parties improves through continued interaction and flow of mutual benefits.

Profits generated in a destination are also expected to be used to develop the destination. Unfortunately it seems there is mismatch between what people believe they are paying for and what they are seeing on the ground. Interestingly local authorities were observed taking action such as repaired all the roads, filling pot holes and sometimes resurfacing a whole stretch. Street lights that last worked years ago were repaired. New bins were bought and placed at strategic places all over town. Grass was cut, rubbish picked from lawns and streets and regular refuse collection was done leaving the town clean.

These activities clearly show that the authorities have the ability to make the situation better in destinations but have little regard for the ordinary citizen and or tourist. Despite that they need the support of both local people and tourists to survive. This call for a massive paradigm shift in the way local authorities manage councils and provide services to both local people and tourists.

On the other hand, having MICE tourism whether domestic or international graced by the President helps in improving service delivery at destinations. The facilities presumably put to impress the President will remain well after the President has left to benefit the local people and the tourists. The image of the destinations will positively change in the minds of the future tourist who find the destination in an improved condition after the President’s visit [ 35 ]. Taking with them positive perceptions of the destination to be shared back home.

Domestic tourists were also observed as keen lovers of traditional food items. As such, hotels and restaurants that offer such food items have to get them from local producers. Tourism financial resources will be spread to these communities expanding the reach of tourism income ripple effects in the destination region. Thus, almost everyone will feel and enjoy the value of tourism through indirect and direct benefits. This persuades them to continue supporting the tourism industry to ensure its sustainable growth.

3. Negative contributions of domestic tourism

Negative contributions are the negative impacts to sustainability of the tourism industry attributed to domestic travel. Zimbabweans who travel to various destinations have been blamed for a number of negative impacts they had on local attractions and destinations with potential to affect the long-term sustainability of the destinations. These were attraction destruction and minimal expenditure.

3.1 Attraction destruction

Conflicts have arisen in destinations as domestic tourists were seen destroying attractions. Domestic tourists have been to attractions that have been declared heritage sites and hence protected to undertake some cultural activities for example at Ngomakurira for rainmaking ceremonies. The exercises involve entering caves and clearing routes to sacred places. In so doing they got too close to the actual attraction exposing it to the natural destruction through such geological processes like weathering, rock falls, landslides and mudflows.

Other attractions that are used for cultural purposes such as Great Zimbabwe have also been threatened by local people. For example local people walk on stones at Great Zimbabwe hence loosening the whole structure exposing the site to destruction. Local people were hosts as in residents around the Great Zimbabwe who would herd their domestic animals within the heritage site. The people would walk on the stones whilst the animals would also loosen some stones exposing the site. Unlike the incoming tourists who see the magnificent work of man in the structure, local people are used to such features and hence do not value it much. This disposition is better understood through the Shona proverb that says ‘chikomo chiremera chevarikure varipedyo vanotamba nacho’ meaning (a hill is revered by those far away, those nearby play with it).

In different tourism organisations, there are regulations that govern the behaviour of stakeholders in an effort to make the destination sustainable. Unfortunately, domestic tourists were singled out as having little respect for regulations. Domestic tourists disregard for rules and regulations is better understood through Nozick’s Entitlement Theory [ 36 ], which argues that goods distribution is just when the goods were acquired and transferred legitimately. In this case, the domestic tourists are demanding what they believe is theirs yet is being controlled by authorities. Unless and until both parties come to appreciate the need to have the authorities manage the resources and the local people together with foreigners having to pay for upkeep of such resources, domestic tourists will remain a threat to sustainable tourism development.

The arguments fronted by the domestic tourists for not wanting to pay can also be understood through the ethnicity theory [ 37 ]. The theory postulates that ethnic minorities has unique cultural value systems that influence their behaviour. Thus equally in tourism, the theory would attribute tourism behaviour differences between people (domestic and international) to value differences based on sub-cultural norms unique to each tourist grouping. How much do they value such facilities compared to what they are being asked to pay to enjoy them.

Domestic tourists also have emotional attachments with attractions given their history as such they sometimes act in very different ways. Whilst some exhibit possessive characteristics and fight to gain control of tourism resources they believe are theirs, others would want to destroy the resources. For example, domestic tourists who visited Matopos in Zimbabwe wanted to deface what is written on the grave of Cecil John Rhodes whilst others wanted to urinate on it.

Various reasons may be proffered for wanting to destroy certain attractions. These include differences in political inclination where opposing opinions may lead to physical destruction of relics associated with the enemy or rival group. After which establish own systems as a manifestation of power over your subjects (see [ 38 ]).

The hatred for Rhodes can be attributed to his association with the history of Zimbabwe. Maylam [ 39 ] argues that Rhodes is seen as a symbol of colonialism and all the injustices experienced during the colonial era, death and suffering during the liberation war where some domestic tourists lost their loved ones. Thus, in a bid to revenge their suffering under Rhodesian systems, domestic tourists would want to deface and urinate on his grave, maybe as a way of belittling him even in death.

However, despite the emotions, Rhodes remains part of Zimbabwe’s history. The history can be harvested through tourism to generate money for the country as a destination. Thus, continued emotional involvement by domestic tourists may damage the Rhodes relics such as his carts and furniture at Rhodes museum in Nyanga, Rhodes Nyanga Hotel on his once estate now a National Park and his grave at Matopos. This would remove some tourism attractions from the Zimbabwean tourism basket and is not good for sustainable tourism development in the country.

3.2 Minimal expenditure

Whilst domestic tourists are accepted as the bedrock of tourism in any country, their expenditure patterns have been low. Domestic tourists are presented as economically sensitive to distance and expenditure supporting earlier work by McKercher [ 40 ]. McKercher’s [ 40 ] distance decay theory argues that when comparable offers are available between short distant and long distant destinations, domestic tourists tend to choose short distant destinations to save on time and money. However, instead of using their income to support local tourism businesses, domestic tourists do not support tourism businesses whose services they can do without. These include accommodation providers and restaurants. In so doing domestic tourism is not supportive of the broader tourism industry with only a few selected suppliers whose services are unavoidable doing business with domestic tourists. As such the quality and quantity of facilities on offer on the market is compromised as service provider struggle to maintain standards as their income dwindles through minimal support from domestic tourists. This will have ripple effects on the tourism industry as international tourists will also shun Zimbabwe as a destination citing poor services that are not competitive.

4. Conclusion

In this chapter that explored the contribution of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development, domestic tourism is seen as helping in exposing once unknown attractions and destinations to the outside world, having well-informed local people assuming various roles such as being quasi-information bureaus, de facto tourism ambassadors and role models and tour guides. Domestic tourism also increases destination value to the local people where they engaged in active participation as domestic tourists, develop high tolerance of incoming tourists and their conduct; exhibition of pride in attraction and destination ownership; increased investment in destination development and management and influence the growth of tourists from micro informal tourists to macro formal tourists. Positives were also noted in retaining attraction authenticity and economic development of destinations.

On the negative side, domestic tourism is blamed for attraction destruction as local people wrestled with authorities for ownership, management style, decisions on what to conserve, charges to accessing tourism resources and distribution of income generated from tourism. Domestic tourism was also blamed for the poor economic performance of some destinations since they were generally low spenders.

Evidence on the contribution of domestic tourism to sustainable tourism development suggest that without domestic tourism, Zimbabwe as a tourism destination would be struggling to grow its tourism product offering and expand its market share on the global tourism market.

5. Research limitations and future studies

This study was carried out in Zimbabwe, a developing country that was grappling with political and economic challenges. These challenges could have had an impact on how the research participants perceive the whole relationship between domestic tourism and sustainable tourism development. This might make generalisation of the results to other countries difficult limiting the study to Zimbabwe and other developing countries going through similar political and economic challenges.

Thus, recommended that similar studies be done in other developing countries that do not share similar economic and political challenges with Zimbabwe. It would also be interesting if similar studies are done in developed countries to see if the results will be comparable.

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10 Economic impacts of tourism + explanations + examples

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

There are many economic impacts of tourism, and it is important that we understand what they are and how we can maximise the positive economic impacts of tourism and minimise the negative economic impacts of tourism.

Many argue that the tourism industry is the largest industry in the world. While its actual value is difficult to accurately determine, the economic potential of the tourism industry is indisputable. In fact, it is because of the positive economic impacts that most destinations embark on their tourism journey.

There is, however, more than meets the eye in most cases. The positive economic impacts of tourism are often not as significant as anticipated. Furthermore, tourism activity tends to bring with it unwanted and often unexpected negative economic impacts of tourism.

In this article I will discuss the importance of understanding the economic impacts of tourism and what the economic impacts of tourism might be. A range of positive and negative impacts are discussed and case studies are provided.

At the end of the post I have provided some additional reading on the economic impacts of tourism for tourism stakeholders , students and those who are interested in learning more.

 Foreign exchange earnings

Contribution to government revenues, employment generation, contribution to local economies, development of the private sector, infrastructure cost, increase in prices, economic dependence of the local community on tourism, foreign ownership and management, economic impacts of tourism: conclusion, further reading on the economic impacts of tourism, the economic impacts of tourism: why governments invest.

Tourism brings with it huge economic potential for a destination that wishes to develop their tourism industry. Employment, currency exchange, imports and taxes are just a few of the ways that tourism can bring money into a destination.

In recent years, tourism numbers have increased globally at exponential rates, as shown in the World Tourism Organisation data below.

There are a number of reasons for this growth including improvements in technology, increases in disposable income, the growth of budget airlines and consumer desires to travel further, to new destinations and more often.

Here are a few facts about the economic importance of the tourism industry globally:

• The tourism economy represents 5 percent of world GDP
• Tourism contributes to 6-7 percent of total employment
• International tourism ranks fourth (after fuels, chemicals and automotive products) in global exports
• The tourism industry is valued at US$1trillion a year
• Tourism accounts for 30 percent of the world’s exports of commercial services
• Tourism accounts for 6 percent of total exports
• 1.4billion international tourists were recorded in 2018 (UNWTO)
• In over 150 countries, tourism is one of five top export earners
• Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange for one-third of developing countries and one-half of less economically developed countries (LEDCs)

There is a wealth of data about the economic value of tourism worldwide, with lots of handy graphs and charts in the United Nations Economic Impact Report .

In short, tourism is an example of an economic policy pursued by governments because:

•      it brings in foreign exchange
•      it generates employment
•      it creates economic activity

Building and developing a tourism industry, however, involves a lot of initial and ongoing expenditure. The airport may need expanding. The beaches need to be regularly cleaned. New roads may need to be built. All of this takes money, which is usually a financial outlay required by the Government.

For governments, decisions have to be made regarding their expenditure. They must ask questions such as:

How much money should be spent on the provision of social services such as health, education, housing?

How much should be spent on building new tourism facilities or maintaining existing ones?

If financial investment and resources are provided for tourism, the issue of opportunity costs arises.

By opportunity costs, I mean that by spending money on tourism, money will not be spent somewhere else. Think of it like this- we all have a specified amount of money and when it runs out, it runs out. If we decide to buy the new shoes instead of going out for dinner than we might look great, but have nowhere to go…!

In tourism, this means that the money and resources that are used for one purpose may not then be available to be used for other purposes. Some destinations have been known to spend more money on tourism than on providing education or healthcare for the people who live there, for example.

This can be said for other stakeholders of the tourism industry too.

There are a number of independent, franchised or multinational investors who play an important role in the industry. They may own hotels, roads or land amongst other aspects that are important players in the overall success of the tourism industry. Many businesses and individuals will take out loans to help fund their initial ventures.

So investing in tourism is big business, that much is clear. What what are the positive and negative impacts of this?

Positive economic impacts of tourism

So what are the positive economic impacts of tourism? As I explained, most destinations choose to invest their time and money into tourism because of the positive economic impacts that they hope to achieve. There are a range of possible positive economic impacts. I will explain the most common economic benefits of tourism below.

One of the biggest benefits of tourism is the ability to make money through foreign exchange earnings.

Tourism expenditures generate income to the host economy. The money that the country makes from tourism can then be reinvested in the economy. How a destination manages their finances differs around the world; some destinations may spend this money on growing their tourism industry further, some may spend this money on public services such as education or healthcare and some destinations suffer extreme corruption so nobody really knows where the money ends up!

Some currencies are worth more than others and so some countries will target tourists from particular areas. I remember when I visited Goa and somebody helped to carry my luggage at the airport. I wanted to give them a small tip and handed them some Rupees only to be told that the young man would prefer a British Pound!

Currencies that are strong are generally the most desirable currencies. This typically includes the British Pound, American, Australian and Singapore Dollar and the Euro .

Tourism is one of the top five export categories for as many as 83% of countries and is a main source of foreign exchange earnings for at least 38% of countries.

Tourism can help to raise money that it then invested elsewhere by the Government. There are two main ways that this money is accumulated.

Direct contributions are generated by taxes on incomes from tourism employment and tourism businesses and things such as departure taxes.

Taxes differ considerably between destinations. I will never forget the first time that I was asked to pay a departure tax (I had never heard of it before then), because I was on my way home from a six month backpacking trip and I was almost out of money!

Japan is known for its high departure taxes. Here is a video by a travel blogger explaining how it works.

According to the World Tourism Organisation, the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2018 was $2,750.7billion (3.2% of GDP). This is forecast to rise by 3.6% to $2,849.2billion in 2019.

Indirect contributions come from goods and services supplied to tourists which are not directly related to the tourism industry.

Take food, for example. A tourist may buy food at a local supermarket. The supermarket is not directly associated with tourism, but if it wasn’t for tourism its revenues wouldn’t be as high because the tourists would not shop there.

There is also the income that is generated through induced contributions . This accounts for money spent by the people who are employed in the tourism industry. This might include costs for housing, food, clothing and leisure Activities amongst others. This will all contribute to an increase in economic activity in the area where tourism is being developed.

The rapid expansion of international tourism has led to significant employment creation. From hotel managers to theme park operatives to cleaners, tourism creates many employment opportunities. Tourism supports some 7% of the world’s workers.

There are two types of employment in the tourism industry: direct and indirect.

Direct employment includes jobs that are immediately associated with the tourism industry. This might include hotel staff, restaurant staff or taxi drivers, to name a few.

Indirect employment includes jobs which are not technically based in the tourism industry, but are related to the tourism industry. Take a fisherman, for example. He does not have any contact of dealings with tourists. BUT he does sell his fish to the hotel which serves tourists. So he is indirectly employed by the tourism industry, because without the tourists he would not be supplying the fish to the hotel.

It is because of these indirect relationships, that it is very difficult to accurately measure the economic value of tourism.

It is also difficult to say how many people are employed, directly and indirectly, within the tourism industry.

Furthermore, many informal employments may not be officially accounted for. Think tut tut driver in Cambodia or street seller in The Gambia – these people are not likely to be registered by the state and therefore their earnings are not declared.

It is for this reason that some suggest that the actual economic benefits of tourism may be as high as double that of the recorded figures!

All of the money raised, whether through formal or informal means, has the potential to contribute to the local economy.

If sustainable tourism is demonstrated, money will be directed to areas that will benefit the local community most.

There may be pro-poor tourism initiatives (tourism which is intended to help the poor) or volunteer tourism projects.

The government may reinvest money towards public services and money earned by tourism employees will be spent in the local community. This is known as the multiplier effect.

The multiplier effect relates to spending in one place creating economic benefits elsewhere. Tourism can do wonders for a destination in areas that may seem to be completely unrelated to tourism, but which are actually connected somewhere in the economic system.

Let me give you an example.

A tourist buys an omelet and a glass of orange juice for their breakfast in the restaurant of their hotel. This simple transaction actually has a significant multiplier effect. Below I have listed just a few of the effects of the tourist buying this breakfast.

The waiter is paid a salary- he spends his salary on schooling for his kids- the school has more money to spend on equipment- the standard of education at the school increases- the kids graduate with better qualifications- as adults, they secure better paying jobs- they can then spend more money in the local community…

The restaurant purchases eggs from a local farmer- the farmer uses that money to buy some more chickens- the chicken breeder uses that money to improve the standards of their cages, meaning that the chickens are healthier, live longer and lay more eggs- they can now sell the chickens for a higher price- the increased money made means that they can hire an extra employee- the employee spends his income in the local community…

The restaurant purchase the oranges from a local supplier- the supplier uses this money to pay the lorry driver who transports the oranges- the lorry driver pays road tax- the Government uses said road tax income to fix pot holes in the road- the improved roads make journeys quicker for the local community…

So as you can see, that breakfast that the tourist probably gave not another thought to after taking his last mouthful of egg, actually had the potential to have a significant economic impact on the local community!

The private sector has continuously developed within the tourism industry and owning a business within the private sector can be extremely profitable; making this a positive economic impact of tourism.

Whilst many businesses that you will come across are multinational, internationally-owned organisations (which contribute towards economic leakage ).

Many are also owned by the local community. This is the case even more so in recent years due to the rise in the popularity of the sharing economy and the likes of Airbnb and Uber, which encourage the growth of businesses within the local community.

Every destination is different with regards to how they manage the development of the private sector in tourism.

Some destinations do not allow multinational organisations for fear that they will steal business and thus profits away from local people. I have seen this myself in Italy when I was in search of a Starbucks mug for my collection , only to find that Italy has not allowed the company to open up any shops in their country because they are very proud of their individually-owned coffee shops.

Negative economic impacts of tourism

Unfortunately, the tourism industry doesn’t always smell of roses and there are also several negative economic impacts of tourism.

There are many hidden costs to tourism, which can have unfavourable economic effects on the host community.

Whilst such negative impacts are well documented in the tourism literature, many tourists are unaware of the negative effects that their actions may cause. Likewise, many destinations who are inexperienced or uneducated in tourism and economics may not be aware of the problems that can occur if tourism is not management properly.

Below, I will outline the most prominent negative economic impacts of tourism.

Economic leakage in tourism is one of the major negative economic impacts of tourism. This is when money spent does not remain in the country but ends up elsewhere; therefore limiting the economic benefits of tourism to the host destination.

The biggest culprits of economic leakage are multinational and internationally-owned corporations, all-inclusive holidays and enclave tourism.

I have written a detailed post on the concept of economic leakage in tourism, you can take a look here- Economic leakage in tourism explained .

Another one of the negative economic impacts of tourism is the cost of infrastructure. Tourism development can cost the local government and local taxpayers a great deal of money.

Tourism may require the government to improve the airport, roads and other infrastructure, which are costly. The development of the third runway at London Heathrow, for example, is estimated to cost £18.6billion!

Money spent in these areas may reduce government money needed in other critical areas such as education and health, as I outlined previously in my discussion on opportunity costs.

One of the most obvious economic impacts of tourism is that the very presence of tourism increases prices in the local area.

Have you ever tried to buy a can of Coke in the supermarket in your hotel? Or the bar on the beachfront? Walk five minutes down the road and try buying that same can in a local shop- I promise you, in the majority of cases you will see a BIG difference In cost! (For more travel hacks like this subscribe to my newsletter – I send out lots of tips, tricks and coupons!)

Increasing demand for basic services and goods from tourists will often cause price hikes that negatively impact local residents whose income does not increase proportionately.

Tourism development and the related rise in real estate demand may dramatically increase building costs and land values. This often means that local people will be forced to move away from the area that tourism is located, known as gentrification.

Taking measures to ensure that tourism is managed sustainably can help to mitigate this negative economic impact of tourism. Techniques such as employing only local people, limiting the number of all-inclusive hotels and encouraging the purchasing of local products and services can all help.

Another one of the major economic impacts of tourism is dependency. Many countries run the risk of becoming too dependant on tourism. The country sees $ signs and places all of its efforts in tourism. Whilst this can work out well, it is also risky business!

If for some reason tourism begins to lack in a destination, then it is important that the destination has alternative methods of making money. If they don’t, then they run the risk of being in severe financial difficulty if there is a decline in their tourism industry.

In The Gambia, for instance, 30% of the workforce depends directly or indirectly on tourism. In small island developing states, percentages can range from 83% in the Maldives to 21% in the Seychelles and 34% in Jamaica.

There are a number of reasons that tourism could decline in a destination.

The Gambia has experienced this just recently when they had a double hit on their tourism industry. The first hit was due to political instability in the country, which has put many tourists off visiting, and the second was when airline Monarch went bust, as they had a large market share in flights to The Gambia.

Other issues that could result in a decline in tourism includes economic recession, natural disasters and changing tourism patterns. Over-reliance on tourism carries risks to tourism-dependent economies, which can have devastating consequences.

The last of the negative economic impacts of tourism that I will discuss is that of foreign ownership and management.

As enterprise in the developed world becomes increasingly expensive, many businesses choose to go abroad. Whilst this may save the business money, it is usually not so beneficial for the economy of the host destination.

Foreign companies often bring with them their own staff, thus limiting the economic impact of increased employment. They will usually also export a large proportion of their income to the country where they are based. You can read more on this in my post on economic leakage in tourism .

As I have demonstrated in this post, tourism is a significant economic driver the world over. However, not all economic impacts of tourism are positive. In order to ensure that the economic impacts of tourism are maximised, careful management of the tourism industry is required.

If you enjoyed this article on the economic impacts of tourism I am sure that you will love these too-

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Tourism’s Importance for Growth Highlighted in World Economic Outlook Report

• All Regions
• 10 Nov 2023

Tourism has again been identified as a key driver of economic recovery and growth in a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With UNWTO data pointing to a return to 95% of pre-pandemic tourist numbers by the end of the year in the best case scenario, the IMF report outlines the positive impact the sector’s rapid recovery will have on certain economies worldwide.

According to the World Economic Outlook (WEO) Report , the global economy will grow an estimated 3.0% in 2023 and 2.9% in 2024. While this is higher than previous forecasts, it is nevertheless below the 3.5% rate of growth recorded in 2022, pointing to the continued impacts of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and from the cost-of-living crisis.

Tourism key sector for growth

The WEO report analyses economic growth in every global region, connecting performance with key sectors, including tourism. Notably, those economies with "large travel and tourism sectors" show strong economic resilience and robust levels of economic activity. More specifically, countries where tourism represents a high percentage of GDP   have recorded faster recovery from the impacts of the pandemic in comparison to economies where tourism is not a significant sector.

As the report Foreword notes: "Strong demand for services has supported service-oriented economies—including important tourism destinations such as France and Spain".

Looking Ahead

The latest outlook from the IMF comes on the back of UNWTO's most recent analysis of the prospects for tourism, at the global and regional levels. Pending the release of the November 2023 World Tourism Barometer , international tourism is on track to reach 80% to 95% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Prospects for September-December 2023 point to continued recovery, driven by the still pent-up demand and increased air connectivity particularly in Asia and the Pacific where recovery is still subdued.

Related links

• Download the News Release on PDF
• UNWTO World Tourism Barometer
• IMF World Economic Outlook

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The effects of World Heritage Sites on domestic tourism: a spatial interaction model for Italy

• Original Article
• Published: 20 April 2013
• Volume 15 , pages 369–402, ( 2013 )

Cite this article

• Roberto Patuelli 1 , 3 ,
• Maurizio Mussoni 1 , 3 &
• Guido Candela 2  

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Culture is gaining increasing importance in the modern tourism industry and represents a significant force of attraction for tourists (both domestic and international). Cultural tourism allows destinations and regions to expand their customer base, diversify their offer, extend the stay of the tourist, and reduce seasonality. Great efforts are made, by national governments and regions, in order to obtain official designation regarding the relevance of their historical/cultural attractions, for example through UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites (WHS) list. Such an aspect seems particularly relevant for a country like Italy, which has a high number of entries in the WHS list and where regions take an active role in promoting tourism. Using an 12-year panel of domestic tourism flows, we investigate the importance of the regional endowment in terms of WHS from two perspectives: (a) by separately estimating the effects, on tourism flows, of WHS located in the residence region of tourists and in the destination region; and (b) by taking into account potential spatial substitution/complementarity effects between regions due to their WHS endowment. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is offered to evaluate the spatial extent of the latter.

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The Effects of World Heritage Sites on Domestic Tourism: A Spatial Interaction Model for Italy

Do UNESCO World Heritage Sites Influence International Tourist Arrivals? Evidence from Italian Provincial Data

Elina De Simone, Rosaria Rita Canale & Amedeo Di Maio

Cultural Heritage Tourism Export and Local Development. Performance Indicators and Policy Challenges for Romania

The UNWTO also derived different categories of tourism by combining the three basic forms of tourism: ‘internal tourism’, which comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism; ‘national tourism’, which comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism; and ‘international tourism’, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism.

Further specifications in the literature have used population (Linnemann 1966 ) in order to capture size effects.

‘Cultural heritage’ is defined in Article 1 of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (adopted by UNESCO in 1972) as monuments, groups of buildings and sites that are of ‘outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science’ and form the ‘aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view’.

A further (binary) variable simply indicating a relationship of spatial contiguity (shared border) between the origin and destination regions could be employed, if it is of interest to parcel this component out from the average effect of distance. We choose not to follow this approach, so to maintain the most general estimate for distance deterrence.

One would prefer to use regional power-purchasing-parity (PPP) price indices to account for relative consumption prices. However, such indices are not available from the Italian National Statistical Agency and have been computed only in one study (ISTAT, Unioncamere, Istituto Tagliacarne 2010 ). Additionally, the FE estimators used in this paper would render the long-run levels of relative price irrelevant (they are absorbed into the FE), so that only short-run inflation trends would be identified (as for the variable used here).

The variable for the share of coast unsuitable for bathing should ideally be complemented by a variable for the length of the coast, in order to account for landlocked regions. As for other time-invariant variables (e.g., indicator variables for regions bordering with other countries), it is not possible to include them in our models (unless interacted with time-varying variables), as their effect is accounted for by the FE.

When a contiguity rule is applied to define proximity, two regions are defined as neighbours if they share a border. In rook contiguity, the common border has to have length greater than zero, while in queen contiguity, common borders of length zero are allowed as well.

Internal distances are computed as \( \sqrt {{{\text{area}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\text{area}} \pi }} \right. \kern-0pt} \pi }} \) (see, e.g., Leamer 1997 ; Nitsch 2000 ).

Because the implementation of a panel spatial filtering model is not the main focus of this paper, we refer to Chun and Griffith ( 2011 ) and Lionetti and Patuelli ( 2009 ) for methodological and implementation details.

Alternatively, we could hypothesize \( T_{2.2}^{\prime \prime } (k) < 0 \) . We consider the case of the intersecting functions more interesting, and we limit ourselves to discussing the latter.

The results concerning GDP and population are stable independently of the number of contextual variables added to the basic framework of the spatial interaction model (supply and demand size variables and distance as a deterrence variable). Only if the individual FE are excluded from the model GDP and population appear with the usual (expected) coefficient values between 0 and 1, which leads us to assume that in our panel specifications the ‘size’ effects are picked up by the FE.

A sensitivity analysis testing polynomial specifications for the distance term shows that a cubic specification provides slight fitting advantages (for example, in terms of BIC). The negative-positive-negative signs for the three terms of the polynomial suggest that a destination’s distance from the tourist’s residence region becomes a positive tourism reinforcing factor only after a certain threshold (after which the destination appears to be ‘exotic’), and up to a second threshold level, after which the distance deterrence effect again becomes dominant.

Our results might not carry over to international tourism.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Roberto Cellini (University of Catania) and two anonymous referees for useful comments, as well as session participants and seminar attendees at: the 2011 NECTAR Conference (Antwerp), the 51st European Congress of the Regional Science Association International (Barcelona), the Fifth European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics (Dublin), the SNSF International Exploratory Workshop on ‘Advances in the Statistical Modelling of Spatial Interaction Data’ (Lugano), the 2nd International Conference on the Measurement and Economic Analysis of Regional Tourism (Bilbao), the Toulouse School of Economics of the Université Toulouse 1 Capitole (Toulouse), the Workshop on ‘The Economics and Management of Leisure, Travel and Tourism’ (Rimini), and the Workshop on ‘UNESCO World Heritage: Economic and Policy Issues’ (Turin).

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Patuelli, R., Mussoni, M. & Candela, G. The effects of World Heritage Sites on domestic tourism: a spatial interaction model for Italy. J Geogr Syst 15 , 369–402 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-013-0184-5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-013-0184-5

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Impact of domestic tourism on economy under COVID-19: The perspective of tourism satellite accounts

Doris chenguang wu.

a School of Business, Sun Yat-sen University, Xinguang West road, Guangzhou, 510275, China

b Essex Business School, University of Essex, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1LW, UK

Jason Li Chen

c School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic reversed the ongoing upsurge in the global tourism industry. Yet compared with still-stagnant international tourism, domestic tourism has shown signs of recovery. This study takes Guangdong Province, China as a case for regional domestic tourism and adopts the tourism satellite account (TSA) method to assess domestic tourism's status. A pre- and post-pandemic comparison is conducted to map the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on domestic tourism's economic contribution. The TSA results show that the direct contribution of domestic tourism to Guangdong's economy fell from 2.53% to 1.20% across these timeframes. Findings also reveal changes in visitor composition by places of origin and in industries' proportional contributions to tourism.

1. Introduction

Despite being vulnerable to myriad environmental, political, and socio-economic factors ( Sigala, 2020 ), tourism has enjoyed a decades-long upsurge worldwide. This sector has also displayed strong resilience against an array of crises, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 and the global economic crisis in 2008 ( Gossling, Scott, & Hall, 2021 ; Pham, Dwyer, Su, & Ngo, 2021 ). Yet the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, in conjunction with responsive governmental policies of mobility bans, lockdowns, and social distancing worldwide, has profoundly obstructed tourism ( Sigala, 2020 ). The United Nations World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO, 2021 ) reported that global international tourist arrivals have fallen by 74%—US$1.3 trillion lost in international tourism receipts. International tourism has effectively reverted to the 1990s as a result.

As international tourism nearly stopped entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic tourism market presented a target for recovery of both the tourism sector and the overall economy. A randomized experiment by Volgger, Taplin, and Aebli (2021) revealed that an increase in COVID-19 cases weakened tourists' hotel booking intentions. Results of an online survey highlighted safety and security as key factors affecting individuals' travel decisions ( Moya Calderón, Chavarría Esquivel, Arrieta García, & Lozano, 2021 ). People have thus tended to travel shorter distances amid COVID-19 versus before. This propensity has led to encouraging signs in domestic tourism markets ( UNWTO, 2021 ) as the pandemic comes under local control and travel bans are lifted in some countries and regions. It is therefore sensible to train attention on expanding domestic tourism demand and promoting the conversion of outbound visitors into domestic ones. These aims also align with the idea of “dual circulating” economic patterns proposed by the Chinese government.

The premise of “dual circulation” is that domestic and foreign markets boost one another, with the domestic market occupying a dominant position. Cultivating domestic demand is thought to strengthen the effect of final consumption on national GDP. The notion of dual circulation originated from a thorough investigation of China's developmental context, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this idea, coupled with the fact that tourism—especially domestic tourism—plays a core role in stimulating consumption and economic recovery, we argue that a precise measurement of the economic impact of domestic tourism in the COVID-19 era is urgently needed.

The tourism satellite account (TSA) is consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA) and several other international statistical frameworks. TSA is also an internationally approved method for measuring tourism's direct contributions to the economy; its application is not limited to national or sub-national tourism impact measurement. With TSA as a foundation, interindustry linkage analysis ( Beynon, Jones, & Munday, 2009 ), computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling ( Pratt, 2015 ), social accounting matrix modelling ( Gul & Cagatay, 2015 ), and tourism forecasting ( Ahlert, 2008 ) can each be reinforced. Direct or extensional use of TSA additionally facilitates analyses of the impacts of specific tourism activities ( Beynon, Jones, Munday, & Roche, 2018 ; Diakomihalis, 2008 ; Diakomihalis & Lagos, 2011 ; Jones & Li, 2015 ; Sauer & Repik, 2014 ; Zhang, 2014 ) as well as tourism's ecological effects ( Collins, Jones, & Munday, 2009 ; Dwyer, Forsyth, Spurr, & Hoque, 2010 ; Jones, 2013 ; Li, Li, Tang, & Wang, 2019 ; Meng, Xu, Hu, Zhou, & Wang, 2017 ; Munday, Turner, & Jones, 2013 ; Perch-Nielsen, Sesartic, & Stucki, 2010 ; Ragab & Meis, 2016 ). It remains necessary to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the tourism industry, and TSA offers a suitable approach.

In the present study, we seek to measure the economic impact of domestic tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing a TSA for Guangdong Province, China. This work is guided by three objectives: 1) to compile TSAs for Guangdong for 2019 and 2020, respectively; 2) to examine the structure of Guangdong's tourism industry and how the industry has evolved after the outbreak by comparing the two TSAs; and 3) to calibrate the impact of COVID-19 on Guangdong's tourism industry and, in turn, on the economy based on the established TSAs. The economic impact of the pandemic on Guangdong's domestic tourism has two facets, namely changes in scale (i.e., the plunge in domestic tourist arrivals, tourism consumption, and tourism's contribution rates to the overall economy) and structure (e.g., the composition of visitors, expenditure, output, and direct value added). Addressing these aims can generate a comprehensive understanding of the status of domestic tourism in Guangdong. The resultant implications are practically and theoretically helpful for rebooting the tourism sector given that domestic tourism has recovered earlier and more readily than international tourism.

The above-mentioned objectives are realized through three steps. First, we use the TSA method to estimate and organize statistical data on tourism demand for a range of goods and services along with the output of these goods and services from various industries. This process generates a useful overview of the scale and composition of regional domestic tourism. Second, we integrate data from the demand side and supply side and identify their intersections, thus discerning the direct contributions of domestic tourism activities. As such, we develop a TSA for Guangdong using a “bottom-up” approach, which has superior accuracy ( Jones, Munday, & Roberts, 2009 ). Third, we compare the regional TSAs of 2019 and 2020 to identify shifts in the scale and structure of domestic tourism in Guangdong.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the TSA method and reviews its applications in evaluating the tourism-related consequences of COVID-19. Methodological details are provided in Section 3 . Section 4 presents our results and analyses of TSAs for Guangdong. Section 5 concludes this study and suggests future research directions.

2. Literature review

2.1. tsa and its applications.

Tourism is not an industry with distinct boundaries but rather represents a “sector” comprising multiple industries with complicated interactions ( Meng et al., 2017 ; Odunga, Manyara, & Yobesia, 2020 ). This complexity renders it challenging to measure tourism's economic impact via SNA, especially given tourists' characteristics which differentiate them from other consumers ( OECD et al., 2017 . TSA has emerged to address this issue and has become an internationally approved and standard means of tourism measurement ( Diakomihalis, 2008 ; Frechtling, 2010 ; Frent, 2018 ). As Frechtling (2010) noted, a complete TSA describes tourism's direct contribution to an economy, tourism consumption, tourism industry production, and other non-monetary information about the sector. TSA hence offers rich insight into all aspects of demand related to tourism, the interface of said demand with tourism industry supply, and the interaction of said supply with other industries. This method enables practitioners to separate the impacts of tourism from the overall economy. TSA compilation is consistent with other statistical frameworks, including SNA and International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics ( IRTS ). This approach has thus been extensively and successfully applied.

TSA measurement has been carried out at both national and regional levels. Nationally, TSA has been implemented in countries including the United Kingdom ( Bryan, Jones, & Munday, 2006 ), India ( Munjal, 2013 ), Iceland ( Frent, 2018 ), Ireland ( Kenneally & Jakee, 2012 ), Rwanda ( Odunga et al., 2020 ), and elsewhere. In developing a TSA for Tanzania, Sharma and Olsen (2005) compensated for a lack of statistical resources to adhere to UNWTO's bottom-up method, which was deemed more accurate than the “top-down” method, to provide guidance for developing countries. Using TSAs from countries whose TSA data were available, Figini and Patuelli (2021) compared the tourism share in GDP among European Union economies and discovered a high degree of heterogeneity. TSA has also been adopted on a sub-national or regional basis, such as in China's Guangdong Province ( Wu, Liu, Song, Liu, & Fu, 2019 ), Caribbean islands ( McArthur, 2015 ; Steenge & Van De Steeg, 2010 ), an Australian coastal town ( Williams, 2016 ), and several federal states in Austria ( Smeral, 2015 ).

With its descriptive nature ( OECD et al., 2017 ) and the ability to separate tourism from industries in national accounts ( Meng et al., 2017 ), TSA can promote further research. It serves as a framework for impact measurement and supports tourism economic modelling, policy analysis, tourism growth analysis, and other analytic procedures ( Bryan et al., 2006 ; Diakomihalis, 2008 ). For instance, improvements in regional tourism data and sub-national TSAs have enabled tourism interindustry linkage analysis ( Beynon et al., 2009 ). Xu, Jones, and Munday (2020) used TSA to identify variation in the attributes of regionally and externally owned tourism sectors. Hadjikakou, Chenoweth, Miller, Druckman, and Li (2014) focused on disparities in numerous tourism market segments' contributions based on TSA data. Their findings provided insight to enhance tourism contributions in Cyprus. Tourism demand data in TSAs can also be modelled using a CGE model, which is a routine practice as mentioned by Pratt (2015) ; he examined the economic impact of tourism in Small Island Developing States using the abovementioned method. Gul and Cagatay (2015) combined TSA with a social accounting matrix to evaluate the impacts of demand-driven shocks on the Turkish tourism industry. Ahlert (2008) integrated TSAs with a macroeconomic forecasting and simulation model to more precisely depict the impacts of future inbound tourism on GDP and employment in Germany. Others have leveraged TSA to address leakages in international tourism receipts ( Unluonen, Kiliclar, & Yueksel, 2011 ).

The TSA method can also unearth the contributions of specific tourism activities. For instance, scholars have estimated the contributions of Greek yachting and coastal leisure shipping to the local economy ( Diakomihalis, 2008 ; Diakomihalis & Lagos, 2011 ). Researchers have further investigated the contributions of landmark historical sites' heritage assets ( Beynon et al., 2018 ), meetings and conferences ( Jones & Li, 2015 ; Zhang, 2014 ), wine tourism ( Sauer & Repik, 2014 ), and additional topics. A number of studies have measured the ecological consequences of tourism (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and water consumption). In such cases, TSA is often used for boundary setting (i.e., determining whether a proportion of ecological impacts is due to tourism consumption) ( Dwyer et al., 2010 ; Jones, 2013 ; Li et al., 2019 ; Meng et al., 2017 ; Perch-Nielsen et al., 2010 ; Ragab & Meis, 2016 ). In two studies concerning carbon emissions, an environmentally extended input–output model ( Sun, 2014 ) and an environmental input–output framework ( Munday et al., 2013 ) were applied along with TSA-based tourism consumption data to delineate the environmental consequences of various types of tourism consumption. In exploring the environmental externalities of mega sport events, Collins et al. (2009) adopted an environmental input–output framework refined by satellite accounts.

The TSA framework presents an ideal approach for measuring the economic impact of tourism. Yet among the bevy of studies regarding COVID-19's effects on tourism, few have assumed a TSA perspective to contemplate either the pandemic's impact on tourism or tourism's impact on the economy in the pandemic era. The present study endeavors to bridge this gap by uncovering how the economic role of tourism has changed after the outbreak so as to detect COVID-19's economic impact on the tourism sector.

2.2. Economic impact of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and consequent travel restrictions, quarantine policies, and social distancing have halted almost all tourism activities ( Gossling et al., 2021 ). Scholars have used a variety of modelling approaches to estimate the pandemic's economic impact on tourism. These efforts have provided meaningful insight. To map the stochastic characteristics of the length and severity of epidemic outbreaks, Yang, Zhang, and Chen (2020) applied a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to examine the economic effects of infectious diseases on tourism. Two parallel studies later pertained to inbound tourism in Australia. By incorporating the full TSA into CGE modelling, Pham et al. (2021) projected short-term epidemic impacts on Australian inbound tourism in terms of tourism's direct contributions and its indirect effects via interindustry linkages. Ghosh (2021) leveraged a novel panel model to determine the long-term impacts of multiple factors on Australian inbound tourism. This model was also augmented to address panel heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence, reinforcing the study's robustness. For Greece, whose economy heavily depends on international travel income, a multisectoral model framework using data from the Supply and Use Table was employed to estimate the multiplier effects of tourism on GDP in a COVID-19 context ( Mariolis, Rodousakis, & Soklis, 2021 ). Slovakia is a unique nation featuring spa tourism; the Box–Jenkins method was used to forecast spa facility performance ( Senkova et al., 2021 ). The forecast results differed greatly from reality and thus verified the pandemic's significant impact on this branch of tourism.

A study in Japan described the influence of COVID-19 in terms of tourist consumption, carbon footprint, and employment using a lifecycle approach and input–output tables ( Kitamura, Karkour, Ichisugi, & Itsubo, 2020 ). Regional research was carried out in Andalusia using a social accounting matrix linear model ( Cardenete, Delgado, & Villegas, 2021 ). Additionally, a series of methods were adopted to study how the pandemic has influenced Macao; examples included the autoregressive integrated moving average model, correlation analysis, and regression. Findings revealed the effects of COVID-19 on Macao's tourism sector, the impact of tourism on Macao's economy, and the local tourism industry's dependence on gambling as a revenue source ( Lim & To, 2021 ).

The body of knowledge on tourism-related economic impacts stands to be updated since the COVID-19 outbreak. The most appropriate economic methods vary situationally. TSA, as a statistical approach, should be further applied to generate methodological and theoretical insights. This study aims to expand TSA studies in the pandemic era.

3. Methodology

3.1. case selection.

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 resulted in lockdowns and bans on gatherings across China. These measures were intended to curb transmission of the virus while also halting tourism activities. Through the collective effort of Chinese people, the pandemic came under control in March 2020, after which work and production gradually resumed. The domestic tourism sector also entered a recovery phase.

To determine how the pandemic has affected domestic tourism, and to estimate how much the sector's economic contribution has diminished, we choose Guangdong Province, China as the focal destination. This location has been selected as the study case for several reasons ( DCTGD, 2021 ). First, tourism is of great scale and importance in Guangdong Province; the province's total tourism earnings and foreign exchange earnings from international tourism have ranked first in the country for several successive years. Second, the tourism industry is one of the province's primary growth sources. Third, domestic tourism in Guangdong has shown strong signs of recovery. According to statistical data from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, the number of inbound tourists arriving in Guangdong declined by 87.45% in 2020 compared with 2019, suggesting that international tourism remained stagnant. Therefore, domestic tourism in Guangdong is taken as the research setting.

3.2. Compilation of TSA

To maintain consistency with the definitions in IRTS ( UNDESA, 2008 ), we use same-day visitors to denote excursionists and tourists to denote overnight visitors. Greek numbers are used to index tables that constitute the TSA; Arabic numbers are used to index the tables shown in this study.

The conceptual framework of TSA was initially constructed in 2000 by the United Nations Statistics Division, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and UNWTO. The framework was later updated in 2008, resulting in the publication of Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 ( OECD et al., 2017 ). TSA was built to provide a holistic view of all aspects of visitor demand, the proportion of the supply of all goods and services that meet said demand, and how said supply interacts with other economic activities. To accomplish these goals, an array of six inter-connected tables was established to provide TSA macroeconomic aggregates, with the sixth table being the core of TSA ( Frechtling, 2010 ). TSA Tables I–III concern visitors' tourism expenditure as reflected in different forms of tourism on different goods and services: Table I focuses on inbound tourism, Table II focuses on domestic tourism, and Table III focuses on outbound tourism. TSA Table IV records internal tourism consumption by goods and services, combining inbound expenditure from Table I and domestic expenditure from Table II with other components of tourism consumption. TSA Table V indicates the tourism production of tourism industries and other industries. TSA Table VI integrates supply (Table V) and tourism consumption (Table IV), identifying the total output and direct value added contributed by tourism activities.

Demand-side data for these TSA tables are mainly derived from the Visitor Survey of Guangdong Province for 2019 and 2020. The Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, China conducts this survey regularly. Supply-side data are generally obtained from Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2020 and 2021, Guangdong Input–Output Table 2017, and Guangdong Economic Census Yearbook 2018. Because the Input–Output survey and economic census are performed in China on a five-year basis, we only borrow the proportions in 2017 and 2018 to infer and approximate values for 2019 and 2020 given that the economic structure does not change significantly within a few years ( Bryan et al., 2006 ; Jones, Munday, & Roberts, 2003 ; Munjal, 2013 ).

Considering our research purpose, we adopt a flexible compilation strategy which does not require assembling all six TSA tables. To measure the impact of COVID-19 on domestic tourism in Guangdong, we construct a regional TSA for the province. We specifically compile tourism expenditure in Guangdong, based on international visitors and Chinese visitors living outside Guangdong, in TSA Table I; all visitors are divided into same-day visitors and tourists. For TSA Table II, we compile the tourism expenditure by Guangdong residents. TSA Table III, which records the expenditure of Guangdong residents travelling outside Guangdong, is omitted. TSA Table IV is a summation of Tables I and II and tourism social transfers in kind, without vacation homes on own account or other composition considered. For TSA Table V, we compile total output and direct value added for each tourism-related industry. TSA Table VI is a summation of Tables IV and V to bridge supply and demand: regional total consumption and its proportion to regional total output for each tourism product are first computed and then used to estimate tourism-related output for each product in each industry. The sum of all tourism-related output per industry is next divided by the total output to obtain a ratio capturing tourism's contribution. Then, by multiplying the ratio by the total value added in each industry, the direct value added attributable to tourism is obtained. Adding all direct value added attributable to tourism across industries and dividing the sum by the regional GDP indicates tourism's contribution to the overall regional economy.

4. Case study of Guangdong province

4.1. an overview of tourism in guangdong during covid-19.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing health restrictions, pervasive fear, and decreased household income, tourism activity around the globe has witnessed a steep decline. Guangdong Statistics Bureau and China's National Bureau of Statistics have documented that the pandemic has severely influenced domestic tourism in both the province and the country. As depicted in Fig. 1 , Fig. 2 , before the outbreak, domestic tourism underwent a swift and steady climb. The unexpected shock of COVID-19 then placed tourism into a marked retrogression. Parallels in these two figures reflect the consistency in regional and national data and verify the generalizability of this study to some extent. Nationally, the number of domestic visitors decreased by 52.06% and total domestic tourism expenditure decreased by 61.07% in 2020 versus 2019. In Guangdong Province, the number of tourists and domestic tourism earnings dropped by 54.28% and 67.04%, respectively. The results in Section 4.3 compare tourism contribution rates in 2019 and 2020 to provide a more precise estimate of the degree to which COVID-19 ravaged domestic tourism.

Number of domestic visitors and total expenditure nationwide.

Number of domestic tourists and tourism earnings in Guangdong.

4.2. Composition of tourism expenditure

Data from two sources—a sampling survey of visitors in Guangdong Province conducted by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and accommodation facility data provided by Guangdong Statistics Bureau—are referenced here. Domestic visitors in Guangdong can be divided into two groups: those from Guangdong and those from other provinces. The number of visitors hailing from Guangdong is estimated to be 394.17 million, composing 66.19% of all domestic visitors in 2019. For 2020, the number shrinks to 202.89 million to equal a proportion of 74.13% ( Fig. 3 ). The regional expenditure of visitors from Guangdong is RMB 535.05 billion and RMB 227.40 billion, respectively ( Fig. 4 ). Inter-provincial tourism is found to decrease by a higher ratio than intra-provincial tourism; this phenomenon offers additional evidence for people's preference for shorter-distance travel in light of the pandemic.

Estimated visitor arrivals by visitors' places of origin.

Estimated tourism total expenditure by visitors' places of origin.

For 2019 and 2020, respectively, the number of tourists staying at hospitality facilities across the province is 494.10 million and 225.91 million ( Fig. 5 ). Tourists' average length of stay is 2.61 days and 2.16 days, respectively. In 2019, 82.97% of domestic visitors stayed overnight. The average expenditure in a day is RMB 531.59 and RMB 780.97, respectively, for same-day visitors and tourists. Tourists' estimated expenditure is RMB 1,007.13 billion, accounting for 94.92% of all expenditure ( Fig. 6 ). For 2020, tourists represent 82.54% of all visitors to Guangdong ( Fig. 5 ). Average expenditure in a day is RMB 499.81 for same-day visitors and RMB 767.66 for tourists. Tourists' estimated expenditure is RMB 374.59 billion—94.01% of overall expenditure ( Fig. 6 ). Although the ratio of same-day visitors to tourists does not vary substantially, tourists' length of stay declines significantly, as does the per-day expenditure for all visitors. In the absence of restrictions and given the ability to travel, tourists may have opted against staying longer and spending more due to pronounced uncertainty and weaker purchasing power.

Estimated visitor arrivals by length of stay.

Estimated tourism total expenditure by length of stay.

The sampling survey also provides the proportion of various goods and services visitors consume, from which we can extract the composition of domestic visitors' tourism expenditure ( Table 1 and Fig. 7 ). The types of goods and services with the greatest proportions in both years are accommodation services, food and beverage, and shopping, followed by passenger transport and transport equipment rental services. The proportion of expenditure on shopping is shown to decline significantly between 2019 and 2020. The proportion of expenditure on food and beverage increases; the expenditure on accommodation services and passenger transport and transport rental decreases overall by a small margin, confirming their rigidity. However, when solely considering expenditure on air and road passenger transport services, visitors' propensity to use more private transport modes becomes clear.

Composition of domestic visitors' tourism expenditure.

Composition of expenditure by types of goods and services in 2019 (upper) and 2020.

4.3. Direct value added from domestic tourism and its composition

As displayed in Table 2 , for 2019, the direct value added from domestic tourism is RMB 272.75 billion. This figure accounts for 2.53% of the province's regional GDP and 4.56% of the added value of tertiary industry. In 2020, the direct value added from tourism falls to RMB 132.40 billion, only totaling 1.20% of total regional GDP and 2.12% of the added value of tertiary industry in Guangdong. These patterns reflect the impacts of COVID-19 on industries engaged in domestic tourism and substantiate the tourism industry's sensitivity to external crises. Tourism direct value added from tourism-related industries is RMB 261.34 billion for 2019, equal to 95.81% of all tourism direct value added. The corresponding number and proportion are RMB 123.18 billion and 93.03% in 2020. The composition of tourism direct value added is summarized in Table 3 and Fig. 8 .

Direct value added from domestic tourism and regional GDP.

Composition of tourism direct value added.

Composition of tourism direct value added in 2019 (left) and 2020.

To further clarify various industries' contributions to tourism direct value added, tourism-related value added in each industry is estimated and used to investigate the composition of industry-specific tourism direct value added as elaborated in Table 4 and Fig. 9 . Industries with the three highest contribution rates are food and beverage, accommodation for tourists, and road passenger transport in both years. It is worth noting that the proportions of contributions to direct value added by ecological conservation and the scenic spot administration industry double during this time frame. This circumstance partly mirrors visitors' preferences for natural and ecological destinations in the same period.

Composition of tourism direct value added by industry.

Composition of tourism direct value added by industry in 2019 (upper) and 2020.

5. Conclusions and future directions

In this study, we adopt the TSA framework to measure the impact of domestic tourism on Guangdong's regional economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. TSAs for 2019 and 2020 are compiled and compared. These TSAs comprise data on tourism expenditure, representing the demand side; tourism social transfers in kind and tourism output across relevant industries, representing the supply side; and the interface of demand and supply to measure tourism's contribution to the regional economy. The results inform several conclusions regarding the province's domestic tourism sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic is found to have negative and substantial effects on tourism, with the number of visitors and tourism earnings decreasing by more than half. These declines can be attributed to visitors' risk perceptions ( Donaire, Gali, & Camprubi, 2021 ; Dryhurst et al., 2020 ; Kozak, Crotts, & Law, 2007 ; Li, Zhang, Liu, Kozak, & Wen, 2020 ; Williams, Chen, Li, & Baláž, 2022 ) as well as travel bans. Yet the proportion of visits from Guangdong residents appears to increase despite an overall decrease in the total number of visitors. The pandemic has led people to favor travel that is closer to home ( Bratic et al., 2021 ; Donaire et al., 2021 ; Hall, Scott, & Gössling, 2020 ; Qiu, Park, Li, & Song, 2020 ; Renaud, 2020 ), spurring the earlier recovery of domestic tourism ( UNWTO, 2021 ) and provincial tourism over international tourism. The structure of visitors and tourism expenditure (i.e., the proportions of the number and the expenditure of same-day visitors to tourists) has barely changed after the onset of the pandemic. However, the average stay has significantly shortened, and the average daily expenditure for all visitors has declined. Donaire et al. (2021) pointed out that shorter lengths of stay may be due to visitors' efforts to reduce the risk of infection along with lower purchasing power. The documented decrease in average daily expenditure supports the latter point.

From a product perspective, domestic visitors have spent the most on accommodation services, food and beverage, shopping, passenger transport, and transport equipment rental services. The drop in the proportion of shopping further exemplifies that visitors have tended to be more conservative in their tourism expenditure ( Bratic et al., 2021 ) due to reduced purchasing power and consumption patterns characterized by an unprecedented circumstance and general uncertainty ( Li et al., 2020 ). However, the proportional increase in food and beverage expenditure and the meagre decrease in accommodation- and passenger transport-related expenditure highlight these three aspects as concrete demand sources during a trip. Although the expenditure proportion of transport has not changed much overall, two of its components—road and air transport—warrant attention. Flight reductions tied to civil aviation policies and infection risk have caused visitors to shift their travel preferences: they have turned to road trips rather than air travel to reduce interpersonal touch ( Donaire et al., 2021 ).

Despite the pandemic, both Guangdong's regional GDP and the province's value added of tertiary industry are found to increase slightly in 2020 over 2019. However, the direct value added from tourism falls by about half, as does the tourism contribution rate. These outcomes corroborate that tourism, as an economic sector, has been arguably hit the worst by COVID-19 ( Munawar, Khan, Ullah, Kouzani, & Mahmud, 2021 ; Nicola et al., 2020 ). The evaluation of tourism direct value added in terms of employee compensation, net taxes on production, depreciation of fixed assets, and operating surplus is nearly identical across the two years. However, some proportions of industrial contributions to tourism direct value added have changed: the contributions from accommodation, non-tourism industries, and ecological conservation and scenic spot administration have increased by 6.98%, 2.78%, and 1.02%, respectively. Contributions of air passenger transport, food and beverage services, the retail industry, and railway passenger transport respectively have decreased by 4.05%, 3.58%, 3.31%, and 1.82%. These changes in proportions point to a structural shift in the tourism sector amid the pandemic. In particular, the proportion of value added by ecological conservation and the scenic spot administration industry has doubled. This distinction echoes previous studies showing that tourists tend to favor ecological tourism ( Li, Ding, Zheng, & Sui, 2021 ) or natural areas ( Donaire et al., 2021 ) and are apt to avoid urban destinations and crowded spaces. Hall et al. (2020) also pointed out visitors' preferences for less congested destinations.

As the present study demonstrates, perceived risk is a major travel impediment ( Dryhurst et al., 2020 ). Safety and health represent key concerns when tourists plan trips ( Donaire et al., 2021 ; Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ; Li et al., 2021 ). These considerations carry valuable implications for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and tourism enterprises. For instance, destinations should be motivated to strengthen hygiene measures ( Li et al., 2021 ) and enhance pandemic-related informational transparency. Businesses such as hotels have been forced to implement stricter hygiene management ( Hao, Xiao, & Chon, 2020 ) and to adopt mechanical and digital service systems to reduce human interaction ( Bae & Chang, 2021 ). Proximity to home is another factor influencing visitors' travel behavior ( Donaire et al., 2021 ). The marketing efforts of DMOs and tourism enterprises should therefore concentrate on source markets proximal to the focal destination or domestic market. At the same time, a decline in tourism activities helps to alleviate the negative environmental and social effects of tourism ( Bratic et al., 2021 ). Juvan and Dolnicar (2016) noted the persistence of non-sustainable tourism behavior before the pandemic. The outbreak has afforded DMOs and enterprises an opportunity to reshape visitors' behavior.

The contributions of this study are threefold. First, to the best of our knowledge, this research represents a pioneering attempt to apply the TSA framework to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected tourism. Our established TSAs offer a detailed view of domestic tourism in Guangdong Province, including its scale, structure, and pandemic-induced changes. Second, with a focus on a regional domestic tourism market, this analysis is theoretically meaningful for regions and countries seeking to restore their tourism industries. Third, our work builds a foundation for subsequent studies of tourism's economic impact during the pandemic. For example, researchers could calculate direct and induced contributions throughout this period in history.

This study, as with any other, has limitations. First, the Input–Output Table and Economic Census Yearbook are updated on a five-year basis. No considerable structural change has occurred in the economy; as such, we acquire proportions for the outputs of various goods and services across industries using the data at hand. Tourism data availability is a common problem when compiling TSAs ( Bryan et al., 2006 ; Jones et al., 2003 ; Jones & Munday, 2010 ), and plausible proportions are often used ( Munjal, 2013 ). Further verification based on more recent data will be required. Second, TSAs do not measure indirect or induced effects of tourism activities; other methods should be employed to discern overall impacts. Third, this study creates a regional TSA for Guangdong, China. TSAs from other countries or regions under the pandemic remain necessary.

Funding source

This work was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2020B1515020031).

Biographies

Doris Chenguang Wu, Professor, School of Business, Sun Yat-sen University. Research interests: tourism big data analytics and forecasting.

Chenyu Cao, PhD candidate, School of Business, Sun Yat-sen University. Research interests: tourism big data analytics.

Wei Liu , Lecturer, Essex Business School, University of Essex. Research interests: operations management in tourism, hospitality and events.

Jason Li Chen , Senior Lecturer, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey. Research interests: tourism economics and tourist behavior.

Editor: Dr. Kirilova Ksenia

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