Globalization of Tourism and Third World Tourism Development——A Political Economy Perspective

1 Introduction “Tourism is advanced by businesses and governments alike as a development mechanism which can lift people out of poverty and make them equal partners in society. But regardless of how altruistic this claim may sound, it is doubtful whether those who are intended to benefit— at least according to the rhetoric—have gained nearly as much as those promoting tourism through corporate globalization… The tourism sector is tied closely to the globalizing force which pursues profit o…

Globalization of tourism and third world tourism development

Globalization, which is characterized by the escalating mobility of capital, people, ideas and information on a universal scale, has become a sweeping theme in the contemporary world. Tourism and its associated economic activities are evidently not immune to such a wider context of the world economy. In the past one or two decades, a stable increase has been witnessed in international tourist flows, inter-regional and inter-organizational alliances, and foreign direct investment. These trends are especially prevalent in the developing world, largely because of their pristine nature, di- verse culture, inexpensive goods and services, cheap labours, and other resources. However, it has been cautioned by some scholars, especially those from the Third World countries, that tourism is an industry run by and for the rich, more powerful nations and their corresponding multinational corporations. This article, from the perspective of political economy, supplemented with views from development studies, made a normative analysis on the impacts of the glob- alization of tourism on the Third World destination countries. Specifically, these impacts have been detailed in terms of economic, sociocultural, and ecological domains. It was demonstrated that without appropriate planning and manage- ment, the costs of Third World tourism development may accrue to the extent that its benefits are burned out. To avoid this happening, some suggestions have been made.