Planning and facilitating tourism
Any country in which tourism plays a prominent role in national income and employment can expect its government to devise policies and plans for the development of tourism. This will include generating guidelines and objectives for the growth and management of tourism, both in the short and long term, and devising strategies designed to achieve those objectives. It may be the case that the government feels the need to invest in the tourism industry in order to ‘pump-prime’ or stimulate investment, development and growth in a sector of the economy. For example, British government policy on tourism favoured investment in tourism to create employment opportunities, although the cost on the public purse was seen as a concern. While support for tourism was initially through grant aid, by the 1990s the government took the view that the industry was now ‘mature’ and further investment should be left to the private sector. VisitBritain, as a quasi-autonomous national government organization with the responsibility to promote Britain abroad, had as its aims not just to increase the total number of tourists to Britain but also to spread visitors more evenly throughout the regions and across the months, to avoid the congestion of demand in the South and during the summer months. In Spain, as demand had already been created by the private sector for the popular east coast resorts and the Balearic and Canary Islands, its national tourist office policy has focused on promoting the less familiar north west coast and central regions of the country, while coastal development has become subject to increasing control. Tourism planning calls for research – first, to assess the level of demand or potential demand to a particular region, second, to estimate the resources required in order to cater for that demand and, finally, to determine how those resources should best be distributed. As we have seen, demand is unlikely to be generated to any extent until an adequate infrastructure and superstructure are in place, but it is not sufficient simply to provide these amenities. Tourists also need staff to service the facilities – hotel workers, travel agents, guides – trained to an acceptable level of performance. Planning therefore implicitly includes ensuring the availability of a pool of labour, as well as the provision of apprenticeship schemes or training through hotel, catering and tourism schools and colleges to provide the skills and knowledge the industry requires. In some cases, providing the facilities that tourists want can actually have a negative impact on tourism to the region. To take one example, while the building of airports on some of the smaller islands in Greece opened up these islands to larger flows of tourists, it made the islands less attractive to the upmarket high-spending tourists, who preferred the relative isolation that existed when accessibility was limited to ferry operations.
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Government control over entry
Accessibility is a key factor in the development of tourism. It relies on both adequate ransport and the absence of any political barriers to travel. If visas are required for entry to a country, this will discourage incoming tourism. At the beginning of the 1990s, the UK imposed a visa requirement on citizens of Turkey seeking to enter Britain. The Turkish retaliated by imposing a visa requirement on British visitors to their country. The flow of tourists was almost entirely one way, however, so the Turkish emerged as the clear losers, the visa requirement dissuading tourists from visiting their country.
Example
Entry to the USA
In 1988, the USA abandoned the requirement for visas for many visitors from Western Europe (albeit with some limitations that continued to hinder the free flow of tourism), having recognized the barrier that this bureaucratic constraint created at a time when other factors, such as relative exchange rates, were favouring the rapid expansion of tourism to North America. The political panic that followed the 9/11 disaster changed attitudes, however, and the US government tightened entry requirements, including the need for computer-scanning of pass- ports. Biometric data (including fingerprinting and iris-scans) were taken on entry and visas, where required, became more difficult to obtain, with prospective tourists having to travel long distances to attend interviews at US embassies. Since October 2005, the Department of Homeland Security requires airlines and cruise ships to provide details of their passengers, prior to arrival. The information required includes each passenger’s full name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, passport details, country of residence, address while in the United States and arrival and departure transport details. This has raised debate regarding the rights to privacy,as well as concerns over protection and security of the data provided. The difficulty in obtaining visas and concerns that the increased security will cause problems for arriving travellers has combined with other factors to influence arrival figures. Despite a weak dollar, arrival figures in 2007 had yet to reach the levels that existed prior to the terrorist attacks of 2001. The ending of visa requirements for trips to the Baltic states following the collapse of communism in Russia and the satellite countries led to a substantial increase in tourist visits. Russia, by contrast, continued to insist on visas. The predictable result has been a drop in the numbers of visitors to Russia while the Baltic states have enjoyed a significant rise, which has accelerated since their entry into the European Union. Ukraine and Georgia have also both since abandoned the need for visas for EU nationals, which will further reduce demand for visits to Russia (and see Case study 10 for an example of how visas hinder travel to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad). Maximizing revenue from inbound tourism flows is always a temptation for governments, but it is a practice that backfires if visitors can simply switch to alternative destinations offering similar attractions. Arguably, long-haul travellers will be more willing to accept reasonably high visa costs when travelling extensively in a country, but such costs are off-putting for short-break visits or calls by cruise liner (and St Petersburg has become an important port for cruises in the Baltic region). China has restricted access to leisure travel for its citizens by granting visas only for selected destinations, with only six countries having approved destination status (ADS) by the end of the nineties. ADS allows Chinese visitors to participate in group tours for reasons other than business or education. The list of countries gaining ADS has rapidly expanded, however, and at the end of 2007 the USA became the ninety-fifth country to be added. With almost 41 million Chinese taking trips overseas in 2007, and up to 100 million forecast to do annually so by 2020, countries gaining ADS are hoping to gain a significant share of the massive market. Importantly, although ADS allows Chinese companies to offer tours to the overseas country, the travellers still require entry visas and these are not always easy to obtain.
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Example
The benefits of expansion of the European Union’s Schengen Agreement for non-EU visitors
In December 2007, the Schengen zone was expanded — 8 eastern European countries and Malta being added — so the Agreement now covers travel across 24 European countries. Border controls have eased for travellers between these countries. While EU travellers and visitors from the USA and Japan can travel without a visa in the EU zone, other travellers moving around Europe would have required a separate visa for each country they entered. Now, a single Schengen visa can provide access to all 24 countries, saving money as well making travel across Europe more convenient and thus making Europe a more attractive destination for some international tourists. The cost of obtaining visas as well as the complexity of applications can encourage travellers to choose to travel to countries that do not require visas.
Taxation policy
Government policies on taxation can impact on tourism, whether the taxes are applied directly to tourists (such as an entry or exit tax), the industry (such as on hotel accom- modation) or indirectly (such as VAT or sales taxes, which can discourage shopping and benefit countries with lower taxes). It may even encourage day trips across borders to shop in areas where taxes are lower. Transportation taxes, such as those introduced in 1997 both into and out of the state of Florida, increasing the cost of an airline journey for a family of four travelling to the Walt Disney World Resort by some £70 – a substantial percentage of their total flight costs – can have a significant impact on demand for a destination. Even within the European Union, variations in taxation can impact on tourism flows. In 1993, Greece increased its airport departure tax threefold, to 5200 drachmas (roughly £15), sufficient to antagonize tour operators and persuade the ‘marginal’ tourists to switch to other Mediterranean destinations. The British government’s imposition in the 1993 Budget of an airport departure tax (Air Passenger Duty, or, APD) of £5 in the European Union and £10 elsewhere was widely criticized in the press and the decision to double this rate from November 1997 provoked fury in the trade. It was further increased in February 2007. If the revenue raised by such taxation were reinvested in the tourism industry, there would be less of a sense of outrage, but when it is introduced purely as a convenient means of raising taxation, travellers often feel that it is an injustice. More recently the government has proposed removing the APD, replacing it with an aircraft tax (paid on each flight, rather than on the number of passengers), which is aimed at encouraging airlines to ensure flights operate close to full capacity. This is seen as a small step towards making the industry ‘greener’. Overall, when one considers the level of taxes paid against the low-cost fares offered within Europe by carriers such as easyJet, it is appar- ent that taxes can regularly account for as much as 25 per cent of air transport costs.
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Глоссарий
| Inbound tourism Social tourism Social consequences Private partnership Private speculators Developing nations A handful A landscape Fingerprinting Maximizing revenue Public sector Regional employment Public ownership Government department Tourist amenities An aircraft tax Government policies Requirement for visas Cruise ships Centrally planned economies Private enterprise Swamped by tourists Overbuilding Communication links Interpretation centre Private involvement Puplic involvement Reliable supporting infrastructure Nation’s heritage Upmarket Carriers Devising strategies Entry visas Broadcasting Amenities Economically viable To manifest Economic survival Airport departure tax Government subsidized Deprivation Intangible Affiliate Members Poverty Alignment Encompass Evolve Interrelated Subsidize Ensure Inventory To be embedded Skill shortage Remedial Evident Reliability Credibility Courtesy Venture Distinctive | Въездной туризм Социальный туризм Социальные последствия Частное партнерство Частные спекулянты Развивающиеся нации Горсть Пейзаж Дактилоскопия Максимизация прибыли Государственный сектор Занятость в регионах Общественная собственность Департамент правительства Туристические удобства Налог на авиацию ( самолет) Политика правительства Запрос на получение виз Круизные суда Централизованно планируемые экономики Частное предприятие Наплыв туристов Большое количество зданий Связи Центр перевода Участие частного сектора Участие гос. сектора Надежная вспомогательная инфраструктура Национальное наследие Престижный Носители Разработка стратегий Въездные визы Вещания Услуги Экономически жизнеспособный Проявлять Экономическое выживание Налог на выезд из аэропорта Субсидировано правительством Лишение Нематериальный Присоединившиеся члены Нищета Регулировка Охватить Развиваться Взаимозависимый Субсидировать Обеспечивать Инвентарь Встраиваться Нехватка навыков Исправительный Очевидный Надежность Правдоподобие Учтивость Предприятие Самобытный |
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