Tourism as an Economic Develpment Tool

Probably the greatest single deterrent to tourism development is the lack of appreciation and enthusiasm for tourism by civic and business leaders. When tourism is not understood and its behefits are unclear, planning and implementation of measures to improve the industry are often lacking. Global tourism has become the largest industry in the world, with nearly 500 million consumers of tourism services per year spending hundreds of billions of dollars. The industry provides employment to over 100 million peopel worldwide. In view of tourism's increasing role in economic activity, the factors affecting its performance should be analyzed. An understanding of these factors is crucial to determine the ways in which national and international financial institutions, NGOs, and other entities can play the most value-adding role. This paper provides a brief profile of key factors and trends in tourism and their economic effects at the global, national and regional levels