The Tourism / Events Industry cannot be made sustainable in a cost-effective manner.
Introduction
Events are a vital motivator for tourism and are important in the development of many destinations. Tourisms as a sector often contribute towards the economic growth of a country or a region. Although it plays an important role in the growth of an economy it still impacts on the communities that it affects. In this essay, I am going to write about how tourism/event industry cannot be made sustainable in cost effective manners. For this, I will be looking at why tourism/events are important? What is meant by sustainable tourism? And also by identifying the advantages and disadvantages of tourism/ event industry, overall to conclude I will sum up whether it can be made sustainable or not? Why is tourism/ events industry important? Over the year’s tourism / events, industry has experienced continuing growth and became one of the fastest growing economies sectors in the world. “Tourism is an activity that has grown by around 25 per cent in the past 10 years, It now accounts for around 10 percent of the world’s economic activity and is one of the main generators of employment” (UNEP and WTO. 2005, p2). The global spread of tourism in industrialised and developed states has produced employment benefits in different sectors. Combination of international and nation tourism adds up to $4000 million (Sharpley, R. 2002). Tourism contributes to the quality of life by bringing different sports and special events relying on visitors as well as residents to attend. The main objective of developing the tourism industry in a community is increasing constructive impacts while decreasing potential negative impacts. Here is a case study showing how tourism attracts visitors and creates income opportunities for the locals. Blackpool Sea Life Centre, Blackpool sea life centre is a themed attraction based on marine life. The leisure centre opened in 1990 for the visitors. It offers visitors the opportunity to see a wide range of British marine life, it has the largest display of tropical sharks in the Europe. The main objective of this attraction is to make a profit, educate people about the marine life and generate income as well as provide leisure activities for the community. Since the opening, the number of visitors has increase and people have more knowledge about the marine life. Approximately 75% of the total income comes from the entrance charges while 11% comes from retailing and 14% from catering and children rides. This centre has different stalls and shops, which gives an opportunity to the locals to expand their business (Swarbrooke, J. 1995). Looking at the above case study it illustrates that how tourism industry can generate more income for the resident and the region by bringing more job opportunities. But there are some drawbacks of this project was it took a bit longer to build and jobs for the local community in the centre are seasonal. What is sustainable tourism? Is it good or bad? Sustainable tourism means the ideal use of social, natural, cultural and financial resources for national development on impartial and self-sustaining basis to provide a unique visitor experience. “For a tourism-based economy to sustain itself in local communities, the residents must be willing partners in the process. Their attitudes toward tourism and perceptions of its impact on community life must be continually assessed”. (Allen et al. 1988) Tourism/events are in special position to make it sustainable because of the growth of the sector and the major contributions it makes to the economy and the relationship it creates between the visitor and local community (UNEP and WTO. 2005). Many regions are now considering sustainable tourism and majority of the people tend to travel within their region to visit attractive places. Edinburgh’s old town Edinburgh’s old town has been sustainably refurbished and improved in recent years and all attempts are