Page 159 - Tourism The International Business

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Exhibit 56: Tourists require many
support services. (Courtesy Hong
Kong Tourist Association.)

Information needs. Three types of information are needed:
• What are the attitudes of the private, public and civic sectors toward increased tourism?
• What is presently being done to promote tourism?

• What are the perceptions of the community regarding the existing economic impact and relative
importance of tourism to the community? 21
This information is vital to the development process. If organizations underestimate the present role of tourism
it will affect their attitudes about the amount of effort they will put into future development. Equally, if increased
development is perceived as a negative, the process of development will be slowed or stopped altogether. If the
specific perceived problems of increased tourism are identified an action plan can be formulated to educate
community residents if their perceptions are wrong or to ensure that problems in developing tourism are
controlled. A survey of what is presently being done is necessary to determine what remains to be done. This

information can be collected by means of a mail survey or through personal interviews.
Financial institutions. Of particular importance is the attitude of financial institutions toward tourism. The
growth of tourism requires the availability of capital. If extensive development is envisioned, funding from outside
the community may be necessary. This is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, financing is available. However, the
price paid (apart from interest payments) is that control of the project is moved outside the community. Decisions
are then made by those outside the community that affect those within the community. Thus, it is important to
determine the extent to which the local banking community supports the growth of tourism, the extent to which it

will lend financial and moral support to efforts to increase tourism, and the kinds of incentives it would give to
expand tourism within the local area.

21 Creating Economic Growth and Jobs Through Travel and Tourism, p. 88.

Tourism the International Business 159 A Global Text