Class3 - TF

The Context, Meaning and Scope of Tourism
Tourism today has grown significantly in both economic and social importance. In most
industrialised countries over the past few years the fastest growth has been seen in the area of
services. One of the largest segments of the service industry, although largely unrecognised as
an entity in some of these countries, is travel and tourism. According to the World Travel and
Tourism Council (1992), Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the world on virtually any
economic measure including value-added capital investment, employment and tax
contributions. In 1992’ the industry’s gross output was estimated to be $3.5 trillion, over 12
per cent of all consumer spending. (1) The travel and tourism industry is the world’s largest
employer the almost 130 million jobs, or almost 7 per cent of all employees. This industry is the
world’s leading industrial contributor, producing over 6 per cent of the world’s national
product and accounting for capital investment in excess of $422 billion direct indirect and
personal taxes each year. Thus, tourism has a profound impact both on the world economy
and, because of the educative effect of travel and the effects on employment, on society itself.
However, the major problems of the travel and tourism industry that have hidden, or
obscured, its economic impact are the diversity and fragmentation of the industry itself. The
travel industry includes: hotels, motels and other types of accommodation; restaurants and
other food services; transportation services and facilities; amusements, attractions and other
leisure facilities; gift shops and a large number of other enterprises. Since many of these
businesses also serve local residents, the impact of spending by visitors can easily be
overlooked or underestimated. In addition, Meis (1992) points out that the tourism industry
involves concepts that have remained amorphous to both analysts and decision makers.
Moreover, in all nations this problem has made it difficult for the industry to develop any type
of reliable or credible tourism information base in order to estimate the contribution it makes
to regional, national and global economies. However, the nature of this very diversity makes
travel and tourism ideal vehicles for economic development in a wide variety of countries,
regions or communities.
Once the exclusive province of the wealthy, travel and tourism have become an
institutionalised way of life for most of the population. In fact, McIntosh and Goeldner (1990)
suggest that tourism has become the largest commodity in international trade for many
nations and, for a significant number of other countries, it ranks second or third. For example,
tourism is the major source of income in Bermuda, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and most
Caribbean countries. In addition, Hawkins and Ritchie, quoting from data published by the
American Express Company, suggest that the travel and tourism industry is the number one
ranked employer in the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, France, (the former) West Germany, Hong
Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. However,
because of problems of definition, which directly affect statistical measurement, it is not
possible with any degree of certainty to provide precise, valid or reliable data about the extent
of world-wide tourism participation or its economic impact. In many cases, similar difficulties
arise when attempts are made to measure domestic tourism.
Question 1-6 : Write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. The largest employment figures in the world are found in the travel and tourism industry.
TRUE
2. Tourism contributes over six per cent of the Australian gross national product. NOT GIVEN
3. Tourism has a social impact because it promotes recreation. FALSE (NG)
4. Two main features of the travel and tourism industry make its economic significance difficult
to ascertain. TRUE
5. Visitor spending is always greater than the spending of residents in tourist areas. FALSE (NG)
6. It is easy to show statistically how tourism affects individual economies. FALSE
Question 7-9 : Complete the sentences below

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
7. In Greece, tourism is the most important …………………… source of income ………………….
8. The travel and tourism industry in Jamaica is the major ……… employer ……………………………….
9. The problem associated with measuring international tourism are often reflected in the
measurement of ………………… domestic tourism.……………………….

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The Context, Meaning and Scope of Tourism

Question 7-9 : Complete the sentences below

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