News Update on International Tourism Research: May – 2019
Panel evidence on the impact of tourism growth on poverty, poverty gap and income inequality
Using a panel of 13 tourism-intensive economies for the period 1995–2012, this paper shows that rising growth in tourism which is proxied by tourism receipts to GDP ratio has an impact on poverty conditional on the poverty measure used. Using a panel Vector Autoregression method, there is little evidence to suggest that growth in tourism reduces headcount poverty. However, the poverty gap measure shows that the amount of money needed to help the poor out of poverty is significantly reduced. Based on different types of Gini coefficient, the results fail to find an improvement in income inequality resulting from tourism growth. Alternative measures such as relative poverty and poverty gap may be considered to better assess the impact of tourism on the poor. [1]
Tourism Development in Least Developed Countries: Challenges and Opportunities
Effective tourism strategies of a developing country can create revenue generating opportunities (tax revenues) and provide sustainable employment for semi-skilled or unskilled workers. Such tourism development strategies require systemic thinking and comprehensive investment portfolio strategies regarding the tourism industry as a whole, i.e. going beyond investing in hotels, but also including transportation infrastructure, catering, restaurants, safe water, financial system etc. In other words, the destination countries need to review their tourism value & supply chains and identify structural impediments to the full utilization of their tourism assets and facilities. This chapter shows how Least Developed Countries (LDCs) can define their tourism sector development and suggests a framework which can be used by a LDC to assess its tourism development potential. It can also be used by potential investors interested in investing in an LDC’s tourism sector who need to understand the broader context of doing business in LDCs. [2]
Tourism and hospitality research on Iran: current state and perspectives
The tourism industry in Iran has grown rapidly following the relaxation of sanctions in the wake of the recent landmark nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, despite the significance of tourism in the country, no study has previously provided an examination of research trends of tourism and hospitality studies on Iran. This review provides an overview of 180 papers identified in academic and bibliometric databases between 2000 and 2016. Through content analysis, the empirical findings indicate that the number of publications is continuously increasing since the nuclear accord, and the dominant research themes/foci identified among the Iranian tourism research community are tourism development followed by tourism marketing and ecotourism. The majority of the articles used empirical techniques and there is a tendency toward multiple-authorship. The history and scope of sanctions on Iran since the establishment of the theocratic Islamic Republic of 1979 and its consequences on the scientific research are also explained. Implications for the further development of tourism and hospitality research in Iran particularly in the light of softening of sanctions are also discussed. [3]
The carbon footprint of global tourism
Tourism contributes significantly to global gross domestic product, and is forecast to grow at an annual 4%, thus outpacing many other economic sectors. However, global carbon emissions related to tourism are currently not well quantified. Here, we quantify tourism-related global carbon flows between 160 countries, and their carbon footprints under origin and destination accounting perspectives. We find that, between 2009 and 2013, tourism’s global carbon footprint has increased from 3.9 to 4.5 GtCO2e, four times more than previously estimated, accounting for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transport, shopping and food are significant contributors. The majority of this footprint is exerted by and in high-income countries. The rapid increase in tourism demand is effectively outstripping the decarbonization of tourism-related technology. We project that, due to its high carbon intensity and continuing growth, tourism will constitute a growing part of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. [4]
Trickster-Like Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism: Shortcuts towards Destroying Illusions
Trickster-like Dharma teachings in Tibetan Buddhism behave as a kind of shortcuts in the approach to leading people along the path of enlightenment. This essay collects three such teachings of different levels towards destroying illusions, i.e., Buddha’s silence, Guru’s paradox, and Ego’s kleshas. They are necessary as “an ace up the sleeve” for Buddha to destruct disciples’ metaphysical quagmire, for Guru to lead community toward perfect transcendence, and for individuals to attain self-consciousness. [5]
Reference
[1] Mahadevan, R. and Suardi, S., 2019. Panel evidence on the impact of tourism growth on poverty, poverty gap and income inequality. Current Issues in Tourism, 22(3), pp.253-264. (Web Link)
[2] Saner, R., Yiu, L. and Filadoro, M., 2019. Tourism development in least developed countries: Challenges and opportunities. In Sustainable Tourism: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 94-120). IGI Global. (Web Link)
[3] Seyfi, S., Hall, C.M. and Kuhzady, S., 2019. Tourism and hospitality research on Iran: Current state and perspectives. Tourism Geographies, 21(1), pp.143-162. (Web Link)
[4] The carbon footprint of global tourism
Manfred Lenzen,Ya-Yen Sun,Futu Faturay,Yuan-Peng Ting,Arne Geschke &Arunima Malik
Nature Climate Change 8, 522–528 (2018)(Web Link)
[5] G. Ma, Z. (2018) “Trickster-Like Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism: Shortcuts towards Destroying Illusions”, Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 5(1), pp. 1-9. doi: 10.9734/ARJASS/2018/38108. (Web Link)