Social Impacts of Tourism TOMG 200 Tourism Management

Social Impacts of Tourism TOMG 200 Tourism Management & Environment

Definition of ‘society’ “the social relationships that exist between people with a common interest” “the arrangement of social relationships in a group” (Hall & Lew, 2009: 141) • Tourism is a cultural phenomenon that impacts culture and society, and is shaped by cultures and society

Potential positive social impacts • Generation of incomes and jobs; higher living standards • Increased community pride • Construction of new and improved facilities • Modernisation of the family via new gender roles • Broadening social horizons and reduced prejudice among tourists • Global understanding and international peace

Positive impacts • Keeps local traditions and culture alive • Empowers marginal societal groups – women, indigenous peoples • Cross-fertilisation of different cultural backgrounds • Reduces dependency on illegal commodities (e. g. drugs).

Potential negative impacts • Polarisation of social structure and increased income inequalities; benefits not evenly distributed • Disintegration of the family and traditional value structures • Tourists fail to respect local norms or behaviour, customs and moral values • Social pathology, including prostitution, drugs, crime.

Implications The tourist resort is not just a geographical location It reflects norms and attitudes that become exposed through the type of tourist development that is being permitted.

Social impacts - norms The nature of that culture. Host communities are not homogeneous Reflects not only norms, but the power and political structures

Determinants of tourism impacts • Numbers of visitors • Ratio of visitors to host • Cultural and economic differences between hosts and guests (social distance) • Presence or absence of seasonality • Places of contact • Nature of contact

The processes of social impact The Demonstration Effect (Doxey 1972) • The introduction of new behaviours and different values in a destination community as a result of tourism • Imitation by locals of behaviours displayed by tourists • The behaviours are seen as having value for hosts; can result in a shift in social structure The issues – economic inequality and power.

The processes of social impact Irritation Index (Doxey 1975) • The attitudes of local residents toward tourism unfold through a series of stages over time: EUPHORIA APATHY ANNOYANCE ANTAGONISM FINAL/NORMAL REALISM (Hall & Lew, 2009)

How are social impacts measured? There is a need to find indices that are measurable.

Possible indices to measure the social impact of tourism • • Population changes Employment changes Displacement and relocation effects Neighbourhood disruption Noise impacts Aesthetic Impacts Land use patterns

Possible indices to measure the social impact of tourism • • Accessibility changes Leisure/recreation impacts Health and safety Citizens’ reactions Crime statistics Stressful community growth Community decline

Encounter indices • Visitor perception of impact on the environment • Amount of litter / rubbish in the area • Visitor satisfaction measures • Host reports of undesirable visitor behaviour

Encounter indices • Host satisfaction • Visitor reports of undesirable tourist behaviour • Host reports of undesired social and environmental impacts

Types of questions being used • Tourism is good for the local economy … • Tourism provides many jobs … • Tourism will help the area by encouraging interest in local Maori culture …. • Tourism led to more petty crime …. • Local residents are the people who mainly suffer from living in a tourist area ….

Types of questions being used • Tourism means a growth in property prices beyond the reach of younger local people … • I feel we should severely limit growth to protect the environment …. • I feel that the tourism/planning authorities should consider plans to restrict the growth of tourism ….

This week’s reading: • Chapter 4 of Hall & Lew (2009)

Other reading resources: • Faulkner & Tideswell (1997) A Framework for Monitoring Community Impacts of Tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 5(1), 3 -28. • Deery, Jago & Fredline (2012) Rethinking Social Impacts of Tourism Research. Tourism Management, 33, 64 -73. • Waitt (2003) Social Impacts of The Sydney Olympics. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(1), 194 -215. • King, Pizam & Milman (1993) Social Impacts of Tourism. Host Perceptions. Annals of Tourism Research, 20, 650 -665.

Case Study: The Social Impact of Tourism in Thailand Watch the film: The Impact of Tourism Thailand G 155. T 5 I 46 2003 http: //waikato. lconz. ac. nz/vwebv/holdings. Info? bib. Id =610595 Individual Discussion Question (2): What are the social impacts of tourism in Thailand?