The Virtual Developing Country is a case study of Zambia. This trip is the Wildlife Tour and it looks at the economic costs associated with tourist developments.

Livingstone

The Economic Costs of Tourist Development

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Economic Costs of Tourism

The need for diversifying the economy away from mineral production has been well established. The growing tourist sector is increasing the country's foreign exchange earning, generating jobs and contributing to raising incomes in centres such as Livingstone. Many LDCs have identified the tourist industry as a potential growth area. However there are the dangers to the economy and to the population of a growing tourist sector.

Costs of tourism

• Tourism forces up the prices of local food and land making it more expensive for the local community.
• Tourist facilities use water, and electricity. During times of drought and shortage this worsens the pressure for these services from local communities.

Economic Costs of Tourism

• Souvenirs made from wildlife e.g. wildlife skin or flora e.g. hardwoods can have an environmental impact such as deforestation.
• The income earned by hotels and tourist facilities owned by foreign firms will flow out of the country as property income paid abroad.
• Tourism attracts labour from the rural areas hastening rural depopulation.
• Job opportunities are often low wage, seasonal, unskilled and insecure.
• Tourism creates pollution such as rubbish, and the noise from helicopters rides around Victoria Falls.
• The fragile ecosystems of some animals such as the cheetah are disturbed by an influx of tourism.

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Related Glossary Items:
Net Property Income From Abroad
Deforestation
Externalities

Related Issues:
Tourism in Zambia
Tourism in Livingstone

Related Theories:
Establishing Property Rights
Market Failure
Sustainability