Role of Tourism in the Economic Development of the Philippines

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// The economic development of a particular country is based on the performance of the different business sectors. The tourism sector contributes to a great level in the economic development of a country. In this relation, the following research study is aimed to examine the key contribution of the economic development of Philippines with the support of the tourism sector of the country. The following chapter has presented the introduction section including of the research.//
I. Introduction
Tourism is usually defined as traveling for a purpose, such as leisure, relaxation, business, or education. However, tourism goes beyond the traditional conception of being related to only holiday activities and has gained a much higher significance. Tourism also refers to the auxiliary businesses of touring, such as attracting the tourists, providing accommodations, and managing tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism to be the act of traveling and staying in a place outside an individual's usual environment for the duration of less than one year for any purpose (Carrigan, 2011). The tourism industry around the globe is expanding rapidly, and the trends are changing as well. Apart from the traditional tourism for the purposes of relaxation and leisure, the new trends of ecotourism, adventure tourism, sports tourism, experiential tourism, medical tourism, and social tourism are growing rapidly (Conrady & Buck, 2011).
The tourism industry has a potential to stimulate the economy and accelerate the growth of the local communities. Both local and international tourism plays a vital role in generating employment opportunities and result in revenue generation for the tourist destinations. International tourism, in particular, has wide implications on a country's economy. Tourism has a significant contribution to the income of many countries, and in some cases, it is the primary source of income. For example, the city of Dubai in UAE has been specifically developed as a tourist destination, and the revenue generation relies heavily on tourism. Although different factors, such as recession, terrorism, and outbreak of viruses, have resulted in the stalled growth of the tourism industry, it has slowly recovered over the years and has started contributing to the economies of different countries (World Tourism Organization, 2008).
In this regard, the following research paper focuses on the role of the tourism industry in the economic development of a country. The research setting selected for the purpose of this study is the tourism industry in the Philippines. The paper explores the current situation of the tourism industry in the Philippines, and examines the role it has in the country's economic development. The paper also makes some recommendations to stimulate economic growth of the Philippines through tourism and for the future research connected to this topic.
//Below is the second chapter of the research study. This chapter has mainly included the discussion related to the key research problem that has been undertaken for research purpose. In addition to this, the chapter has also provided discussion about research limitations and delimitations, and definitions of key terms.//
II. The Problem
C. Statement of the Problem to be Investigated
The primary aim of this research study is to examine the role the tourism industry has in the economic development of a country. The Philippines is selected as the research setting for this purpose, as the tourism industry constitutes a significant proportion of the country's income. In this regard, the research study explores the contribution of the tourism industry to the economy of the Philippines and its role in the country's economic development. Therefore, the problem statement can be constructed as:
"What is the role of the tourism industry in the economic development of the Philippines?"
The problem statement can be further sub-divided as:
How can the tourism industry stimulate a country's economic growth?
What is the current situation of the tourism industry in the Philippines?
How is the tourism industry impacting the economy of the Philippines?
How can the tourism industry stimulate economic growth of the Philippines?
E. Delimitations and Limitations of the Study
Delimitations of the study define the scope or variables within which the study is carried out. Delimitations include the factors that can be controlled by the researcher, such as focus of the study, population and sample for the research, and data analysis methods (Ellis & Levy, 2009). For the purpose of this study, the focus is on the contribution of the tourism industry to the economic development of the Philippines. The data for this study is collected from the recognized economists in the country, as they will be able to comment on the economic development of the country and impact of the tourism industry.
Limitations outline the external variables that cannot be controlled by the researcher, including time constraints and issues related to funding (Ellis & Levy, 2009). The major limitation of this study is that it provides an idea about the contribution of the tourism industry in the Philippines to the country's economic development. Although the results provide a brief idea of the role of the tourism industry in economic development, it is not possible to generalize the results, as the social and economic conditions in other countries can alter the results.
F. Definition of Terms
Tourism
Tourism is the act of traveling and staying in a place outside an individual's usual environment for a duration of less than one year for any purpose, including, leisure, business, and education (Carrigan, 2011).
Tourism Industry
The tourism industry includes all the businesses responsible for attracting tourists to the destinations and managing the tours. It also includes the auxiliary businesses that directly or indirectly facilitate the tourists' transport and accommodations (Carrigan, 2011).
Development
Development can be defined as the process that enables the growth or evolution of an entity or a concept.
Economic Development
Economic development is defined as the conscious efforts taken in order to improve the economic condition of a community by creating job opportunities, which ultimately results in financial well-being and better quality of life (Blair & Carroll, 2008).
Tourism Development
Tourism development can be defined as the policies that attract tourists, allow and facilitate the tourism industry to grow while minimizing its negative impacts on the society and environment (Sharpley, 2009).
//Literature review is the most important chapter of the research study as it provides evidence based and empirical data to provide support to the research findings. In this relation, in the following chapter a detailed literature review is conducted to generate the evidence based data.//
III. Review of the Literature
Smith (2012) has explored the concept of tourism from the anthropological point of view. The literature explores the historical conceptions and significance of tourism and examines the relationship between 'the guest' and 'the host' involved in tourism activities. The literature explores the history of tourism and investigates the reasons behind the rise of current form and trends in the tourism. Tourism is one of the oldest and one of the largest industries, and it has wide implications in terms of economic and cultural exchange. Tourism activities have a potential to have a significant impact on the cultures of the guests and their hosts through cultural exchange. These social and cultural impacts of tourism are very subtle and can be observed only after careful observation. In this context, the literature examines different types of tourism, including recreational, cultural, historical, environmental, and ethnic tourism. The impacts of these tourism activities on the societies have been studied across a wide geographical area (Smith, 2012).
Ukabuilu & Igbojekwe (2015) have explored the economic development theories and their implications in tourism projects. The literature argues that the tourism economic development theories must be applied while developing tourism projects in order to avoid failure in the project. The literature presents a study conducted in Cross River State, Nigeria to understand the relevance of the tourism economic development theory and its sub-theories. The literature uncovered different aspects of a tourism project, including sequential procedures, ways to improve information technology and increase sales. The literature concludes that it is essential for an individual or an agency in the tourism industry to follow the sub-theories in order to avoid failure (Ukabuilu & Igbojekwe, 2015).
There are four sub-theories of the tourism economic development theory, namely, the theory of modernization, theory of dependency, theory of world system, and theory of globalization (Ukabuilu & Igbojekwe, 2015). The theory of modernization was first proposed in 1954 by Winton, and it is also known as Rostow's theory of growth and development. The theory of modernization outlines the five stages involved in the development process, namely, the traditional society, preconditions for takeoff, the takeoff process, the drive maturity, and high mass consumption. The theory of modernization has a greater significance because it allows for a systematic change in the systems (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). The theory of dependency was introduced in the 1950s, as a result of the research carried out by Economic Commission in Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The theory states that the ability of an economy to develop autonomously is directly related to its dependency on the capitalist economies. The theory explains that the dependency on capitalist economies can be reduced by reducing leakage, and it also outlines the procedures that can be adopted to prevent leakage. It is argued that the control of leakage have positive impacts on the contributions made by the project to environment, society, and economy (Foster, 2014).
The third sub-theory is the theory of world system, which indicates that the social system should be the primary focus of analysis. The social systems can be studied by analyzing the internal mechanisms of a country or the external mechanism of the entire nation and the surrounding region. The world system theory is primarily concerned with the global financial mechanisms, transference of the technology, and trade mechanisms. This theory distinguishes between the direct and indirect transactions having immediate significance or future stipulations. The world system theory puts emphasis on social research, in order to be able to impact the society in a beneficial way (Schieder & Spindler, 2014). The last sub-theory is the theory of globalization, emerging from the global mechanism. The emphasis of this theory is on the integration within the sphere of economic transactions. Although the theory of globalization appears similar to the world system theory, its focus is primarily on the cultural aspects and the global communication. One of the most important factors is the flexibility of technology that allows the people to connect around the world and ways to increase it. The interaction between different nations is becoming easier and frequent, and both the governments, as well as citizens, are able to communicate with each other. The theory of globalization highlights the importance of global communication systems and recognizes that the probability of interaction between the marginal groups within different nations is increasing with the advancements in communication technologies (Axford, 2014).
The tourism industry has wide implications in the economy of a country. The scholars have argued both for and against the role of the tourism industry in the economic development of a country. Ashley et al. (2007) have examined the role tourism sector plays in creating and expanding economic opportunities for a country. Initially, the literature outlines the paradox presented by the tourism industry in developing countries. If the tourism companies are able to resolve this paradox, they can potentially be the market leaders and expand the economic opportunities for that country. The literature attempts to identify the potential the tourism industry has for creating and expanding economic opportunities. The literature explores different business cases and strategies that can help tourism sector in expanding economic opportunities (Ashley et al., 2007). The discussion about business cases includes the mitigation of risks, building opportunities and obstacles in the process of engagement. On the other hand, the discussion of business strategies includes the ways to ...