MGBBT1TAS Tourism and Society Assignment Sample
MGBBT1TAS Tourism and Society Assignment Sample
Introduction
Tourism can generate a high range of social impacts in order to create different cultures and support economies to create better employment and income. Thus, it can be stated that there is a dynamic inter-relationship between tourism and societal perspectives, which would be the main topic of concern in this essay. In this connection, referring to the requirement of the assessment, the two selected issues are poverty and equality, which are the major concerns of international places due to raising concerns. Both poverty and equality are important for business partnerships in the tourism sector and other stakeholders because they can directly impact the purchasing power as well as the positioning of organisations to a great extent.
The following essay has been specifically constructed based on three core sections that would specifically refer to understanding poverty and equality along with the future perspective of both the issues that will give an in-depth understanding and inter-relationship with tourism. Poverty is mainly hunger; it refers to a lack of shelter, not having proper access to anything, not being able to participate in recreational activities, or even having appropriate justice in society (Bartiaux et al. 2021). Majorly, poverty is termed, as a complex societal issue; it requires everyone’s attention to work towards society to provide an opportunity for all members with full potential. On the other hand, equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of life and live with the actual purpose with the same rights and social status (Buribayev and Khamzina, 2019). Therefore, the following essay has been constructed based on identifying the inter-relationship between tourism with poverty and equality, as it allows nations to expand employment opportunities along with influencing gender equality through tourism.
Discussion
First core section
Property is considered a severe societal issue as it is not only a lack of income-related issues but it also includes limited access to basic services and education, along with social discrimination, hunger, malnutrition, lack of participation in decision-making, and others. Different countries around the globe are facing this issue, which impacts their living standards and development as well. Findings indicate that the number of people who are living on less than approximately $2.15 a day globally was approximately 1996.23 million in 1990, which significantly reduced and became approximately 648.1 million in 2019 (Refer to appendix 1) (Statista, 2022). This indicates an improvement in the level of poverty globally; however, since 2020 the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed the situation.
Approximately 20 countries have the highest multidimensional poverty index scores, which include Niger, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Burundi, Tanzania, and others, as of 2021 (Statista, 2022) (Refer to appendix 2). The outbreak of the pandemic has pushed half a billion people globally into poverty. Around the globe, approximately 547.6 million people were in poverty due to an approximately 20% income drop caused by the pandemic situation (Refer to appendix 3) (McCarthy, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic also impacted the tourism sector negatively, which further contributed to property. This societal issue is negatively affecting the health and leaving standards of the population globally. Moreover, poverty is also associated with homelessness, standard housing, inadequate child care, unsafe neighbourhoods, and others. Additionally, low-income children around the globe are at severe risk in comparison to higher-income children for a range of emotional, health-related, and cognitive issues, which indicates how severe this societal issue is (American Psychological Association, 2023).
Poverty is one of the significant societal issues that can have diverse economic and social effects. This issue is generally a state of having limited income as well as material possessions (Ranasinghe and Herath, 2021). Moreover, there is a significant interrelationship between tourism and poverty, as tourism has the ability to contribute to the reduction of poverty around the world. Tourism and poverty have interrelations, as tourism is actually a significant way of transferring resources from the rich to the poor. For example, in places like hiking on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; cultural tourism in Ethiopia, and others, tourists help poor people around the destination (ODI, 2023). However, tourism sometimes can work less than expected and people in poverty or poor people can get a lower share of tourist spending at different destinations. Moreover, the saddest part is that tourism always tends to work progressively in some places that need the most, such as around Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia and others (ODI, 2023).
On the other hand, tourism also has a great possibility of creating job opportunities, which is effective to deal with this societal issue. According to Keynesian theory, unemployment is one of the most crucial factors for poverty that occurs unintentionally (Prasetyo and Thomas, 2021). This issue can be mitigated by increasing the employment rate with the growth of tourism. Hence, there is a clear interrelation between tourism and poverty, as tourism can be considered a solution to this societal issue.
Second core section
Equality is a critical indicator of worldwide and regional environmental sustainability with several types such as gender, income, social, civil, and many others (Zhang et al. 2022). Tourism affiliation with equality, mainly in the context of gender, has been notified. Gender issues have long been a focus of the research world as a significant international business area. Tourism is crucial in promoting women’s rights and thus closing the gap between men and women. It has also been reported that in comparison to the border economy tourism employs 54% more women than 39% of men; women in the tourism industry earn 14.7% less than men compared to 16.8% within the overall economy (Zhang et al. 2022). Moreover, 23.7% of tourism appointees were women, compared to 20.7% of general members of the government (Zhang et al. 2022).
Progress toward equality appears to be stalled (Refer to appendix 4). Global equality is all in horrible condition and not seen to be improving. Inequalities today are the very same as they were in the 20th century, as well as a pandemic is also making it very much worse (Stanley, 2022). Women who face a variety of discrimination, such as migrant women, disabled women, and those who are being discriminated against due to ethnicity and race, are vulnerable. After a year and a half of the pandemic, institutions are still partially and completely closed in 42% of the worldwide territories (UN Women, 2021). The closures of schools and institutions mean there would be fewer opportunities for girls as well as a higher risk of exploitation, violence, and forced marriages. Thus, it is essential to understand the concept of social justice, referring to that Rawls’ Social Justice theory can be considered which refers to the equitable decisions of opportunity, resources, and privileges in society (Joseph, 2020). According to the theory, it is acknowledged that people should understand the rules for a fair allotment of social goods in society with the context of equality that can prevent ignorance while benefiting from social determinants and distributing an immense impact (Singh et al. 2020).
Nevertheless, it has been noted that income equality is a major impediment to worldwide sustainable development, and eradicating inequalities is one of the primary goals of the United Nations in 2030 (Zhang, 2021) (Refer to appendix 5). The main cause of income disparity is the growth of various industries as well as the income distribution that results from them. Besides encouraging poor individuals to engage in tourism, the inequalities created by involvement should be considered. Furthermore, the potential of tourism, as a tool for increasing the income of the poor, should not cause increasing inequality, which might lead to political and social instability (Zhang, 2021). Thus, it can be stated that the inter-relationship between tourism and equality is strongly interconnected and has both positive and negative influences. For example, gender equality is positively influenced and impacted by tourism development; however, income equality was found to be negatively impacted. Hence, it can be stated that the inter-relationship of equality with tourism is multi-folded.
Third core section
The growth of the tourism sector has great importance in dealing with societal issues such as poverty and equality. The growth of the tourism sector in different areas, which consists of people under the poverty line, can influence their income level and living standards positively. Tourism also involves cross-cultural interactions among populations from different countries. Hence, it has the ability to help in creating better understanding as well as peaceful relations (IIPT, 2023). Global tourist arrivals are predicted to reach approximately 2,745,000,000 by the upcoming three years, which was approximately 2,499,200,000 arrivals, in 2021 (ReportLinker, 2023) (Refer to appendix 6). Based on the ideas of the Keynesian theory, increasing the rate of employment is helpful to deal with a societal issue like property (Prasetyo and Thomas, 2021). Moreover, considering the growth of the tourism sector in the future, it is evident that tourism would be helpful for societal development by increasing employment opportunities.
However, the interrelation between tourism and societal issues is considered a multi-folded aspect, which can positively as well as negatively influence societal development. It has been noted that the tourism sector has a specific influence over societal issues and context due to which, it is impacting them with a positive and a negative influence. Thus, it can be stated that the development of tourism in society would have a better outcome because all of the governments and organisational contexts are highly inclined towards maintaining sustainability and increasing their shared responsibility. In this connection, they are specifically focused on addressing sustainable development goals. For example, it has been noted that poverty and gender equality are the two aspects that are significantly having a positive influence due to tourism.
Tourism is the way through which property is getting addressed by influencing the chances of better employment and offering a better purpose in life. Moreover, gender equality is also being addressed while offering women better opportunities in the industry along with offering them a respectful position. Thus, it can be stated that with the development of tourism and society, the future possibilities would be reducing poverty to zero, along with having more campaign practices, and motivational prospects for women to have a future with equal status.
Conclusion
Based on the overall discussion, it can be concluded that tourism has interrelations with social issues like poverty and equality. Findings indicate that poverty is not only influencing income levels but also negatively impacting the living standards of the global population. In addition, the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis has also fuelled this issue. In this regard, it is observed that the tourism sector and its growth are positively influential in terms of dealing with poverty, which is chosen as the most impactful societal issue. This is because the tourism sector has the ability to enhance job opportunities, which is beneficial for reducing the rate of unemployed people and reducing the poverty level.
Apart from that, the findings also made it clear that equality is considered a critical indicator of global as well as regional environmental sustainability. In this regard, tourism is also playing a crucial role as it contributes to promoting women’s rights. This, further, helps society to reduce gender inequality. The tourism sector has been providing equal employment opportunities to men and women that are positively impactful on societal development and dealing with the issue of equality. Just like the societal issue of property, the issue of inequality is also influenced by the pandemic situation. It is evident that income equality is important for future social development in which the growth of tourism can play a significant role. Based on the findings, it can be summarised that after the fluctuations in the growth of tourism after the pandemic, this sector has a great potential to increase in upcoming years. Furthermore, the growth of the tourism sector has a great ability to contribute to the future of global societal development, while considering societal issues like inequality and poverty.
Reference list
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