We often equate the positive impact that tourism brings to the local economy with the revenue generated through tourism. While true, these figures provide a one-sided view of tourism’s impact on local economies. The traditional model of tourism management has predominantly focused on demand-side factors such as visitation trends and market growth, often overlooking critical supply-side considerations such as resource consumption, infrastructure utilization, and asset management. The Invisible Costs of tourism development include the costs to cover the infrastructure required to transport, feed and house, provide energy and water, and manage waste and wastewater for the growing numbers of visitors and tourism workers in each destination. Most of this cost remains unaccounted for when we speak of tourism gains. This gives rise to some key questions. Do we understand the costs and benefits per tourist and the marginal cost as visitor numbers grow? What is the water and energy consumption per tourist? How does this vary as compared to the consumption per resident? How do we reduce the variance? How can we capture and track data on the utility consumption of tourists? Do we need to invest in infrastructure to meet peak season tourist demand? If yes, who bears the cost of it? How much of the investment can be offset through a rise in tourism revenue? Who absorbs the underutilized capacity of additional investment in infrastructure during the offseason? Do we have enough data for informed decision-making? How can we start tracking all of this? #TourismDevelopment #TourismEconomy
Gopinath Parayil
6mo
start with quantifying all that is done! from carbon emission to energy consumption! the focus has to be on 'destination' not only from a tourism industry perspective but also from the people's perspective. tourism is just one aspect of what happens in the destination. Hence The Blue Yonder focuses on Climate Resilient & Climate Responsible Destinations.
Chief Operating Officer - ELCOT | Corporate to Government | Operational Leadership & Excellence | Public Policy | Tourism Advisory & Consulting | SCM | IT/ITES, Automotive & Healthcare | Lean Six Sigma professional
6moKeerthana Ravi In one post, you have covered various aspects... 1) Revenue accounting 2) Data transparency and visibility 3) Total cost of ownership 4) Cost vs Benefit trade-off 5) "Thinking on the margins" 6) Economic growth vs Environmental sustainability Today, generally speaking 1) We know where we have a system in place, balance no data 2 and 3) Long journey ahead to capture. Most needed.. 4 and 5) We do partially but the perceived interests and mass emotional appeal prevail over economic trade-off 6) Presume world over, it is a reactive model that gets triggered once it reaches the threshold. However, it is getting disussed regularly which is a good sign