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Economic Development Reference Guide
Tourism
Tourism as an industrial sector encompasses portions of many other
sectors including hospitality, transportation, retail, and entertainment.
Tourism attracts temporary visitors to places where they purchase goods and
services before leaving. For this reason, tourism is considered an exported
commodity totaling more than $90 billion in 2000 nationwide. Both rural and
urban localities based their visitor attraction strategies around favorable
local advantages such as a climate, history, and cultural and natural resources,
which attract visitors.
Tourism offers a variety of entry-level positions for relatively unskilled
workers. For this reason, many local economies diversify their existing economic
base with complementary tourist activities. But the tourism industry is
extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the business cycle and tends to offer low
wages and limited opportunities for occupational advancement. For these reasons,
some communities prefer not to make tourism their keystone for economic growth.
Trends in Tourism
- Tourists demand greater diversity and authenticity. Heritage tourism is
travel based on an interest in history, culture, or a region's natural
resources, harvesting existing assets and boosting home-grown economic
development.
- Eco-tourism, a nature-based form of tourism, has seen large growth. The main
motivation of the tourists is the observation and appreciation of nature as well
as the traditional cultures prevailing in natural areas. The benefit for host
communities is that along with generating economic benefits, it enables natural
areas to be conserved and provides alternative employment and income
opportunities.
- Local communities of all sizes host celebrations and events which draw
visitors.
- Sustainable tourism balances economic, social, and aesthetic tourist
interests while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes,
biological diversity, and life support systems locally.
- Rural tourism draws on remoteness and natural resources to attract visitors.
- Nearly all state government departments of tourism have Web sites
enabling hotel, car rental, and attraction reservations to be made online.
- Some states
partner together to promote regional tourist attractions and create new
opportunities to boost economic development.
- Downtown development promotes tourism among
local people though cultural attractions such as theaters, galleries, museums,
and sporting venues in the urban core.
- Easing of gaming regulations enables communities to use anchor casinos to
spur economic development initiatives, development of public amenities and infrastructure improvements.
- Improved and varied transportation
modes faciliate the arrival of tourists.
Web-based Resources for Tourism
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