Dr Thomas Bauer, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Role of Tourism in Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation Dr Thomas Bauer, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University hmthomas@polyu.edu.hk

Economic Perspective From an economic perspective, the growth of tourism provides countries with increased employment opportunities as well as additional tax and foreign exchange revenues. If leakages can be kept to a minimum international tourism can also play a significant role in diversifying the economies of countries.

World Tourism Growth million Speedy recovery at 6.7%, compared with the drop of 4% in 2009 2010: 935 million 2009: 877 million -> 2010: +58mn 2008: 913 million -> 2010: +22mn Data source: UNWTO (various years)

World Tourism Growth vs. Forecast Source: Kester, J. (2011)

Tourism Contribution to World Economy 2011 Estimates 2021 Forecast GDP Direct contribution US$ 1850 bn (+4.5%) US$ 2860.5 bn (annualised +4.2%) (in constant 2011 price) Percentage to GDP 2.8% 2.9% Total contribution (% to GDP) US$5991.9 bn(9.1%) US$ 9226.9 bn(9.6%) Employment Direct employment (%) 99,048,000 (3.4%) 120,427,000 (3.6%) Total employment (%) 258,592,000 (8.5%) 323,826,000 (9.7%) Visitor export US$1,162.7bn (5.8%) US$1,789.2bn (4.7%) Investment US$652.4bn (4.5%) US$1,487.9bn (4.6%) Data source: WTTC (2011)

Total Contribution of Travel and Tourism to World GDP Source: ©WTTC (2011)

Tourism in Central Asia

UNWTO Statistics on CASs’ Tourism, 1995-2009 Year Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Arrivals (,000) Receipts (US$ Mn) Arrivals (,000) 1995 .. 155 36 218 92 1996 202 258 42 4 217 13 173 15 1997 284 350 87 7 257 46 253 19 1998 454 59 12 300 272 1999 394 48 18 2 ... 487 102 2000 1474 403 20 3 302 63 2001 1845 502 99 32 5 345 72 2002 2832 680 140 11 332 68 2003 2410 638 342 62 8 231 2004 3073 803 398 9 262 57 2005 3143 801 319 94 10 242 28 2006 3468 973 766 189 6 560 43 2007 3876 1213 1656 392 16 903 51 2008 3447 1255 2435 569 24 1069 64 2009 3118 1184 2147 459 [1] Arrivals stand for tourist arrival which exclude same-day visitors and cruise passengers in UNWTO’s statistical terms. Shaded data refer to total number of visitors as no separate data for same-day visitors and/or cruise passengers are available for those specific years. [2] Tourism receipts include receipts on travel and receipts on passenger transport. Shaded data refer to receipts on travel as no aggregated data are available for those specific years. [3] No available data. [4] Data provided by the country to UNWTO which do not appear in the International Monetary Fund data.

International Tourist Arrivals at the CASs, 1995-2009 ‘000 Year Data source: UNWTO (various years)

CASs’ Basic Economic Indicators Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 GDP: US$ 131 bn GDP: US$ 4.4 bn GDP: US$ 5.8 bn GDP: US$ 28 bn GDP: US$ 38 bn Per capita: US$ 12,800 Per capita: US$ 2,200 Per capita: US$ 2,000 Per capita: US$ 7,400 Per capita: US$ 3,100 Unemployed: ≈6.5% Unemployed: 18% (2004) Unemployed: 2.2% (2009) Unemployed: 60% (2004) Unemployed: 1.1% (+20% underemployed) GINI Index: 26.70 (2009) GINI Index: 30.30 (2003) GINI Index: 32.60(2006) GINI Index: 40.80 (1998) GINI Index: 36.80 (2003) Data source: CIA World Factbook (2011); World Bank (2011)

Tourism Contribution to CASs’ Economy 2009 Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Tourism receipt US$ 1184 mn US$459 mn US$20mn US$46 mn (1997) US$64 mn (2008) % of total exports 2.45% 20.5% 2% .. Travel services, % of commercial service exports 22.25% 12.41% (1997) Total economic impact (WTTC’s 2011 estimates) 5.3% of GDP 6.0% of GDP Total contribution to employment (WTTC’s 2011 estimates) 386,000 jobs (4.8 %of total) 118,000 jobs (5.2% of total) WTTC’s world relative ranking , 2011 (out of 181) 143 131 WEF tourism competitiveness index, 2011 (out of 139) 93 107 118 Data source: WEF (2011); World Bank (various years); WTTC (2011)

Tourism Establishments in CASs Kazakhstan Hotel: 370 (2005) Travel firms: 430 (2005) Uzbekistan Hotels: 267 (2010) Travel firms: Over 500 (2006) Kyrgyzstan Hotels: 172 (2005) Travel firms: 293 (2005) Data source: Kantarci (2007); Shamsiev, A. (Personal Communication, January 24, 2010)

Alleviating Poverty- what role can tourism play? 13

Poverty Alleviation through Tourism Tourism is on the increase but benefits are not evenly spread across many countries and ways have to be found to rectify this unequal distribution of benefits. The power of sustainable tourism to assist in alleviating poverty in rural or peripheral areas needs to be harnessed. This requires government appropriate government policies, strategies, planning and implementation

Pro Poor Tourism Strategies Tourism designed and developed for the poor and the alleviation of poverty The major difference between a market- led and a pro-poor tourism development agenda is that the latter uis designed to counter the problem of poverty, inequality and marginality

Types of Products A range of products can conceivably be developed including attraction, tours, packages, shopping, entertainment, information provision etc. Products can be developed from two perspectives: 1. by involving the poor in the development and management of the product and 2. by developing products based on the assets of the poor (culture, way of life etc.)

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