A country or a destination with popular tourists’ attractions has endless gains. No wonder most countries are striving to revamp the many tourists’ destinations within their localities to attract more tourists.
People choose to travel for many reasons. Some travel for business while others travel for leisure. But for whatever reason people decide to travel, they have one thing in common; their journey becoming a success.
Among the reasons travel enthusiasts yearn to visit a place and enjoy their stay is if the place is welcoming, well-maintained and has enough amenities to pamper them or at least make them feel at home away from home. Thus, a country must strive to achieve such standards through upgrading its attractions and creating a conducive environment for its visitors. Not to forget accommodation, means of transport, food and a clean environment.
The investment is not in vain though. With proper leadership, there is so much a country stands to benefit from responsible tourism.
Below are just a few of those benefits:
1. Sustainable income
Tourism is a sector with ability to create jobs with a consistent income for the residents in different ways. For instance, so many hotels are into business thanks to tourism. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to sustain the number of employees they have.
2. Improved standard of living
When most people in a community are working, their standard of living greatly improves. That’s because the income they are getting is channelled back to the economy of that’s particular community, thus, improving their standard of living. Furthermore, with an improved standard of living, the crime rates are likely to subside because people are busy and they have the means to cater for their needs.
3. Employment opportunities
One of the biggest benefits of tourism is the creation of job opportunities. Besides, this is one industry that’s able to create jobs for both skilled and unskilled workforce. Although some jobs in the tourism industry are seasonal, there are still a good number of people working in the sector full-time whether directly or indirectly. This reduces idlers in a community and makes it a better place for both locals and visitors.
4. A chance to preserve culture
Tourism has so many cultural advantages to the host countries. In fact, most countries that have preserved their cultures up to date have done so as a way of attracting more tourists. Were it not for the income from the tourism industry, higher chances are, they couldn’t have afforded to maintain those attractions. And as the local communities preserve their traditions and cultures to showcase them to tourists, they also get an opportunity to look at their history and cultural heritage which greatly helps them develop their community identity.
5. Development of other income streams
Tourism is an industry with the ability to create a way for other income streams. The same people who are in tourism industries can venture into other sectors of the economy and invest their money there. Thus, enabling an economy to create new jobs and develop a new form of income. This is very important to a country because during low season or when the tourism industry is affected by a disaster such as the covid-19 pandemic, the people sources of income won’t be extremely affected. Meaning, their standards of livelihood won’t go down extremely.
6. Improved infrastructure
A country with a frequency of travellers will definitely have good infrastructure. Why? Because it has enough income to give its country a facelift. And when the infrastructure improves, more tourists will be attracted to that destination. Meaning, such a country will always have enough resources to take care of her infrastructure.
7. More peace
Honestly, countries with a sustainable tourism sector are more likely to enjoy greater levels of positive peace than their counterparts. A lot explains why this is so but the bottom line is, tourism is a driver for peace. As people get an opportunity to interact with travellers from different parts of the world, they are able to understand different cultures. As a result, they become tolerant and more accommodating to other people’s cultures.
8. Preserved wildlife
Wildlife is one sector that attracts a good number of tourists. And because of that, most governments are doing everything within their power to revitalize and protect the wildlife via preservation programmes against poaching and other illegal activities that could affect the future of the wildlife. A country may love to preserve its wildlife and other natural resources but fail to because of financial constraints. However, if the tourism industry is doing well, the income it generates will be enough to do so and much more.
What is expected from the citizens?
Whether you are directly working in the tourism industry or not, you have a major part to play as a citizen of the host country. How you carry yourself around, the things you uphold and generally the type of a citizen you are can influence how tourists view your country.
Many travellers embark on a journey with anticipation to reach their destination and interact with the locals. That’s how they can feel part of that destination and enjoy their stay. So, if you as the citizens fail to be welcoming, these people will go back to where they came from feeling wasted. This can be a major blow to the tourism industry in the future because these travellers aren’t likely to come back nor are they likely to recommend the place to other travellers.
In that regard, if you are patriotic to your country, then don’t be the reason a traveller swears never to come back to your country. Instead, help them create beautiful memories of your country whenever they get an opportunity to interact with you. The interaction doesn’t have to be so deep and serious, just something as simple as smiling at a tourist, giving them direction to an attraction or any other information you could find resourceful to share with them.
Responsible tourism
Though there could be a few cons of tourism in a country particularly during peak season due to the large number of tourists flocking into the country, the benefits are more. Moreover, if the government of the host country takes the necessary measures to streamline their tourism industries, they aren’t supposed to be overwhelmed regardless of the number of people visiting their country at a time.
As you enjoy your trips to various destinations around the world, note that you are as well impacting someone’s life. Through your trips, someone somewhere can put food on the table and pay bills through the income you brought to their country the last time you travelled there. So, travel more, enjoy yourself to the fullest and create lifelong memories. The money you spend doing so will improve the livelihoods of those locals you are interacting with and enable them to also travel the world. At the end of the day, you’ll have made the world a better place to live.
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