- J_The desire to capture a sizeable part of the world market (ir-

(ir-1:spective of what the

commodity)

is a general problem which is o,sting the Third World a lot5 usually it ,is one developing country competing against another for a particular market or capital. Because they act separately, it has not become obvious to public authorities

what mutual benefits can be reaped through joint action and co-opera¬

tion instead of this cut-throat

competition^ In the specific

case

of tourism, ^we should. observe that the product is available both in

the advanced countries and in the developing countries

(unlike

many other internationally traded

"items").

It. would pay the Third World, or. rather specific regions of it, to combine .together to bargain with the advanced world consumer and compete against tourist

offer made by the latter world. In any case, trends in the. industry

indicate that the facilities and physical limitations existing in the

advanced countries are such that tourists will cone to demand more

and mere of the tourist product from the Third World region. In other words, there is not much economic sense in

hurrying(and

at such

a cost),when the trends are in favor, of the Third World, Joint

action and co-operation between them

(as

should indeed be the case in all their economic

activities)

would be more beneficial to them,

The participation of Western capieal in the tourist sector of the Third World is treated elsewhere in this study,

IUOTO - Document for General Assembly in Caracas - see. bibliography

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individually or as a group, than' the present strategy cf competing against each ether. If ne comes to think of it, what

results'

from

the présent policy being pursued in the Third World is that

rthe

poor countries are subsidising the holidays

(and

the pleasure re¬

quirements)

of the citizens of the richer world community.

One of the reasons given in support of tourist development,

as opposed to other forms of earning foreign exchange is the stabi¬

lity

that this sector is said to display. The global growth rates

-•ave been undoubtedly high. A major determinant for tourist demand

is the level of income and since world economic growth continues to qualify more and more people to become international tourists, there

is a bright future for the sector. Traditional export lines are

"no't moving and have a disappointing

history.*

Tariff and other trade barriers discourage the exportation of the new manufactures of the Third World into the advanced countries

(assuming

the quality is good and production costs are low enough to make these goods competi¬

tive,

otherwise).

Tourism is a field in which the developing

countries can participate in peace and relative security, the ^argu¬

ment goes.

But is1 it that rosy? World tourism displaying a steady rising tendency says nothing about the stability of the individu;!

country's share of the tourist business. Before we take _up the stability aspect .at the country level, let us first point out what might cause fluctuations at the global level. Although there:is

an upward climb of _average income in the advanced countries, we should

bear in mind tnat essentially tourism is a luxury consumption itemj

See, for example .'/Tourism's role in economic development" in IUOTO

-"Travel Research

Journal,"

Edition

1972,

^no. 2.

Page

86

it is hit hard when economic recession sots in. Not only will per¬

sonal incomes drop "but governments ^are apt to impose restrictions

that affect travel

(one

only has to recall the British Government

measures in connection with the Balance of payments problems and the 1967 pound sterling

devaluation).

There are conditions that must "be met once the sector is esta¬

blished, to keep the clients coming and earnings steady or rising.

It is usually the Third World that we hear has been a victim of this epidemic or that disaster

(which

advancement has eradicated from

the developed

world).

Any such health hazard is enough to ruin the

tourist industry - not only during the epidemic but some seasons afterwards. The foreign policy of the receiving country must be favorable, at least as far as its major toufist-generating countries

are concerned. Any "nasty" internal incidents will give bad publi-cityffor example, the accedental shooting of an enterprising tourist swimming in the wrong direction

(Zambia)

or a General Amin despatching people to places where their passports indicate they come from - these

are enough to affect tourism not only in Zambia and Uganda, but the

effects were felt in Tanzania and Kenya, There has yet not been a

complete recovery from the ill-effects of these incidents. The October

War is still affecting the tourist sector in Egypt

(whatever

favorable developments are taking place _now, there can be no assurance that

there will be no more wars in the Middle

East),

A particular fact

which is often realised a little too late is .that although tourism

has come to stay, the tourist product changes. It is a fashion sub¬

ject to variation and each country in the business has to read the trends. In some cases, the country may be able to adjust its program to suit the current demand. But where there is a change in tourist

demand from say wildlife and safari to beach resorts, land-locked Uganda will simply be out of the race. Development financing out of

tourism should therefore realise that in terms of stability, nothing

may have changed by a switch from primary goods exports to inter¬

national tourism.

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NEED FOR PLANNING AND CONTROL OF THE TOURIST SECTOR

What we have said, about tourism and. development casts the

tourist sector in not a favorable light, to say the

least.

The

ideal situation would be for any country that intends entering

Dans le document Development and tourism (a theoretical and empirical study) (Page 89-92)