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TOURISM ON TRIAL.

International tourism is on trial, and the charge sheet is as long as it is damning. Mass tourism is associated with rising crime, begging and other social problems. It stands accused of imposing itself on some of the world's most fragile ecosystems and of being a force for environmental destruction. Powerful international companies are charged with robbing local people of water and other precious natural resources, of forcing them from their homes, their lands and means of survival.

Tourists to the developing world behave badly. They disrespect their hosts by failing to observe dress codes and other cultural norms. Moreover, it is alleged, tourism works to promote dominant Western values at the expense of proud and ancient cultures. The trade is fixed by multinational companies from the richest countries that cream off the lion's share of the profits, leaving little for local people, bar menial jobs. Those accusing the companies include charities and human rights groups, communities affected by tourism, and academics.

Such accusations are hard to reconcile with the defendant in the dock — the tourist industry which is, after all, the 'funshine' industry. It promises some of our happiest times — those two weeks in paradise that we spend the rest of the year longing and saving for.

The claim that developing countries do not benefit from tourism simply does not square with the facts. The industry creates over ten per cent of the world's income and provides employment for one in 25 people on earth. A fast-growing proportion of that trade is going to poorer countries - rather than being a freeloader, the industry is throwing an economic lifeline to emerging nations. It is a quick, lead-free engine of wealth creation, driving fledgling economies and creating much-needed foreign exchange. The plea from the dock is unequivocal: ‘not guilty'.

If charges were brought before a real court the case might well split the jury. The search for the truth means looking at a series of complex economic and social activities that cross many cultures and visit different destinations. Causal relationships about the real effects of tourism are hard to establish. While some entire communities have been dispossessed, others have discovered business opportunities and valued waged employment.

Furthermore, even if international tourism is dominated by multinational companies bent on exploiting the new frontiers of the developing world, this hardly distinguishes it from any other form of trade. So if tourism is not so different, why has it become one of the most talked about issues in development?

Tourism is different. It is different because there is an expectation that it should be a force for fair social change. The industry has billed itself as a place where cultures meet, a catalyst to international understanding and to the transfer of wealth from visitor to visited. Even those most sceptical about the industry's track record in this field are up-beat about the development potential of tourism — if only it were regulated. Tourism is talked about precisely because there is still much to be won — and lost - from discussions that may shape its future. For the development of 'third world' tourism is perhaps the most eloquent metaphor for the unjust world in which we live. Fuelled by the growing gaps in income and ever cheaper travel, tourism has become something the world's rich do to the world's poor. In the words of one Namibian school pupil, ‘When I grow up I want to be a tourist'.

If there is one truth about the effects of tourism, it is yet to be found. But the search for a mote just and sustainable form of tourism is still a noble enterprise.

From Proficiency Gold Coursebook by Jacky Newbrook and Judith Wilson

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