Briefly examine the role of tourism in the global economy

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: By some accounts, tourism is the world's largest industry, with international tourist receipts exceeding $900 billion in 2010. Tourists spend large sums of money in their destinations on everything from hotels and meals to recreation, souvenirs and taxes. In most countries, tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy and is a igni?cant income source for many poor countries. For example, tourism receipts equal about 14 percent of Cambodia's GNI and about 7.5 of Egypt's GNI.

Many poor countries are pursuing economic development strategies that exploit areas of natural beauty. Unfortunately, these are o?en areas in which additional visitors may harm the natural environment. Tourists require hotels, transportation, and food that take up land, create pollution, and draw on food supplies. Tourists use up scarce potable water suppliesespecially in luxury hotels, swimming pools, and laundry services. This puts pressure on local natural areas. The problems are not limited to developing countries dependent on tourism. Resort areas in Europe's Mediterranean put an enormous strain on scarce fresh water supplies while dumping large amounts of wastewater into sensitive watersheds.

The number of international tourists has more than doubled during the last two decades., reaching about 940 million in 2010. Half of the world's international tourist head to Europe. China, Turkey, Malaysia,and Mexico are also among the most popular destinations. Europeans and Asians are similarly the main source of international tourists