Impact of Tourism Development on the Economy and Health

Anna Hundt
J Travel Med 1996; 3:107-112.

Reprint requests: Anna Hundt, BA, International Health Program, MS 357660, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
98195

International tourism has quickly become one of the most important economic industries in the world.’In the 1950s and 1960s, the most popular destinations for
tourists from developed nations were other developed nations. However, as international travel gained popularity, tourists became more “savvy” and more cost-conscious, and they began malung “intercultural” excursions to underdeveloped regions of the wor1d.h tourists searched for adventure and bargains, destinations began to include Mica, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. In 1987, theThrd
World’s market share of international tourist spending.

As many economically poor and resource rich countries struggle under the
burden of onerous foreign debts, tourism development is seen as a panacea for economic woes. Foreign lenders agree with, and encourage, this belief by providing capital for tourism development.’ As tourism around the world has grown, there has been a concomitant rise in researchers’ interest in studying the economic, political
and social costs and benefits of tourism development for native and guest alike.
Unfortunately, one area in which reporting remains biased is the impact of tourism development on health.

Indeed, if health and tourism issues are addressed at all it is usually in reference to tourists’ health problems (e.g., travelers’ diarrhea, malaria. This paper attempts to detail the economic benefits that tourism development has to offer
Third World nations