Impacts of Tourism Development in Developing Countries

Abstract

Tourism development has been viewed in terms of its contribution to economic growth. Thus, most developing countries have declared tourism as an important economic sector. Tourism is also envisaged to provide economic benefits to communities through the provision of employment. Due to the increase in tourist numbers, environmental changes to the natural resources have been a cause for concern to nations. Tourism stakeholders have incorporated environmental issues in their tourism development plans to ensure that the tourism products are sustainable, and communities are benefitting. For the communities to benefit from tourism development, the analysis of socio-cultural impacts has become of paramount importance. Governments have emphasised increasing tourism numbers to influence economic growth. The local community would then benefit from the tourism increase through multiplier effects. Thus, the chapter explores the impacts of tourism development in developing countries with a focus on Namibia as a developing country.