The Role of Tourism in Socio-Economic and Environmental Development

Modern, new economy has conditions for rapid, stable and sustainable growth.

Investing capital from the State budget, as well as calling for investment capital outside the budget, is a very important issue. Only by allocating the budget and capital reasonably for investment in tourism development can we bring high economic efficiency. Investment with a focus on key infrastructure such as electricity, roads, communication systems, and facilities to meet tourism needs can we attract domestic and foreign tourists, promote tourism development, and contribute positively to local economic growth. Investment capital is a factor that helps maintain, upgrade, and expand the development of tourism products and related services. Therefore, a source of capital, if used effectively, will overcome the shortcomings of the industry and contribute greatly to tourism development. On the contrary, ineffective use of investment capital will both cause financial loss and fail to improve the position of the tourism industry.

For the tourism sector, public investment plays a very important role, being the premise and prerequisite for the private sector to participate in tourism investment with the state in all fields. The state's interest in public investment in the tourism sector is the best condition to promote the development of the national and local tourism industry. Focusing on investment in infrastructure is the most essential condition to serve the tourism industry such as roads, bridges, communication systems to ensure smooth access to tourist destinations, investing in diverse and rich means of serving tourism, building a system of restaurants, hotels and necessary services for tourism, besides, promoting and informing about tourist destinations and forms of local tourism widely on the mass media is also very important. In particular, in addition to the state budget investment policy for tourism, local authorities need to create favorable conditions and environments, calling for private investment in key local tourist destinations to create diversity and attraction for tourists.

1.3. The role of tourism in socio-economic and environmental development

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The important role of public investment in tourism will make the tourism industry

development, from the development of the tourism industry will have positive impacts on the economy, culture and society. In other words, the tourism industry is considered an indirect tool for public investment to promote positive impacts on the economy, culture and society.

1.3.1. The role of tourism in economic development

Tourism today is considered a 'smokeless industry', helping some countries and regions develop brilliantly if they know how to properly promote the role of tourism. Because:

The tourism industry has a positive impact on increasing national income through foreign currency earnings, playing a major role in balancing the international balance of payments. Tourism is an industry that has helped many countries earn billions of dollars each year, because it is the most effective export activity. Indeed, income from international tourism increases every year. The reason for this is because: First, tourism is an industry that "exports on the spot" industrial goods, consumer goods, handicrafts, etc. at higher retail prices. Second, tourism is an industry that “invisiblely exports” tourism products, including natural landscapes, historical-cultural relic values, unique traditional customs, etc. This product is not lost but its value is increasingly increased when the quality of tourism services is high, because what we sell to customers is not the tourism resources themselves but only the value of the ability to satisfy the specific needs of tourists contained in the tourism resources.

Tourism encourages and attracts foreign investment: Because tourism is an industry with lower investment capital compared to other heavy industries, the ability to recover capital quickly, and the technology is not complicated. While the common rule in the world today of the economic restructuring process is that the service industry increasingly accounts for a high proportion of the total social product. Therefore, tourism is one of the industries that attracts businesses on the way to find the effectiveness of their investment capital, especially the business of additional services.

Tourism contributes to strengthening international economic relations and developing international transport routes. It is like a hub for "import and export" of foreign currency, contributing to the development of international foreign exchange relations.

The development of tourism will lead to the development of other economic sectors, because tourism products are interdisciplinary and related to many other sectors in the economy. When a certain area becomes a tourist destination, tourists from everywhere will flock to it, causing the demand for all goods and services to increase significantly. Stemming from this demand of tourists, the tourism industry is constantly expanding its activities through interdisciplinary relationships in the economy, at the same time changing the industry structure in the national economy. Moreover, goods and materials for tourism require high quality, rich in variety, beautiful and attractive in form. Therefore, it requires businesses to constantly innovate, improve and develop goods. To do this, businesses must invest in modern equipment, select and employ highly skilled workers to meet the needs of tourists.

Contribute to redistributing national income among regions, because regions that develop strongly in tourism often produce less material wealth.

Domestic tourism helps to use technical facilities more reasonably, taking full advantage of the value it brings, especially in non-seasonal seasons of the tourism industry.

Tourism contributes to promoting the development of other economic sectors, because tourism business activities require cross-sectoral support. For social production, tourism opens up a market for goods consumption.

Tourism development will expand and improve economic infrastructure such as public transport networks, electricity and water networks, mass media, etc.

1.3.2. The role of tourism in society

Investment in tourism also contributes to the creation of jobs for local workers. As the number of jobs in the tourism industry increases, investment in tourism tends to create more jobs and faster than investment in other economic activities (NETO 2003). Developing tourism resources in areas, often remote and isolated, requires investment in infrastructure and other essential accompanying services. Development then leads to income redistribution and poverty reduction; contributes to the restoration of crafts, festivals and traditions; and improves infrastructure, enhancing the general welfare of society (UN 1999). In general, tourism is believed to reduce urbanization.

in developed economies

Tourism is an effective means of propaganda and advertising for host countries. Domestic goods including industrial or handicraft products are introduced on the spot to tourists, who will promote them to their relatives and friends, thereby having the opportunity to expand the export route for these products. In terms of society, this is a channel to promote economic, political, cultural, social, human, and customary achievements. In particular, ecotourism, more and more tourists tend to visit and explore tourist areas associated with nature, communities, and learn about the local culture of the destination. Therefore, it contributes to raising awareness from the community about environmental protection, preserving traditional crafts, and highlighting cultural features through these products. An equally important factor is that tourism increases solidarity, friendship, and personal understanding between regions and between peoples of countries.

In addition to the positive meanings as we have analyzed above, tourism development also has negative impacts on the economy and society. Indeed, if passive international tourism develops too much, it will put pressure on the exchange rate, causing an imbalance in the international balance of payments. Moreover, if tourism development is too much, it will cause the economy to depend on tourism services, easily leading to the unsustainability of that economy. At the same time, environmental pollution and social evils are also negative results of tourism, affecting resources and causing other profound harms to the spiritual life of the nation...

1.3.3. The role of tourism in environmental protection

1.3.3.1. Positive impacts of tourism on the environment

Tourism also works towards the restoration, conservation and protection of the environment, as well as the restoration and embellishment of historical treasures.

Development of tourist attraction: To meet the needs of tourism, it is necessary to reserve land with less disturbed environment, build parks around the city, implement measures to protect the environment, protect water and air resources to create a living environment suitable for the needs of tourists.

Infrastructure Development: Improvements in roads, water supply and wastewater treatment systems can result from increased tourism revenues. Such improvements can reduce pollution and improve the quality of the natural environment.

1.3.3.2. Negative impacts of tourism on the environment

Although tourism has positive impacts on the environment as mentioned above, tourism also has its negative effects on the environment such as:

Environmental destruction: Mass tourism activities are at risk of degrading natural tourism resources. The concentration of too many people and often at tourist sites makes nature unable to recover and leads to destruction. The presence of groups of people has threatened the lives of some wild animals, pushing them out of their previous peaceful habitats to find new places to live.

Pollution: This is a major negative factor affecting tourism. Traffic is a major source of both air and noise pollution. Water pollution from wastewater and the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in recreational landscapes are also major issues for many tourist destinations.

Tourism activities: Many tourism activities also affect infrastructure such as eroding roads and damaging historical sites.

Thus, although it brings a significant amount of revenue to the economy, the negative side of the tourism industry seriously affects the natural environment if we do not have a long-term strategic plan for environmental protection.

1.4. Factors affecting tourism development

1.4.1. External factors

1.4.1.1. Economic and political situation in the world and region

A stable and growing world economy is an opportunity for countries with tourism resources to attract tourists, especially foreign tourists.

Political stability is a factor that ensures the expansion of economic relations.

economic - political, cultural, scientific and technological relations between countries in the world. Within the scope of economic relations, tourism exchanges between countries in the region and globally are constantly developing. If a region has war or conflicts often occur, tourists in neighboring regions will be afraid and will not travel to that area.

If the world has a tense political situation, tourism activities will have difficulty developing.

1.4.1.2. Economic development situation and trends of the country

One of the important factors that influence the emergence and development of tourism is the general economic condition. The development of the general economy is the premise for the emergence and development of the tourism industry. This is explained by the dependence of tourism on other economic achievements. According to the opinion of some economic experts of the United Nations Economic and Social Council: a country can develop tourism if it can produce most of its material wealth for tourism.

The development of light industry, agriculture and food processing industry. The development of these industries has an important meaning for the development of tourism. The tourism industry uses a large amount of food, especially food. Here, the role of the sugar, beef, milk, canned food processing industry is emphasized. Some light industries play an important role in supplying materials for the tourism industry such as the textile industry, porcelain industry, and pottery.

Development trends of domestic and foreign trade: Domestic trade includes wholesale network, retail network and hotel and restaurant network. Foreign trade is import and export and a positive sign for the economy is the high export ratio.

The proportion of people in working age, the larger this proportion, the higher the economic development.

1.4.1.3. Peaceful and stable political situation of the country

Political situation, peace and stability are the premise for the economic, political, cultural and social development of a country. A country, although having tourism resources, cannot develop tourism if there are always events that worsen the political and peace situation.

In the world, countries with neutral political policies and stable peace are often attractive to the masses – potential tourists. On the contrary, in countries with unstable politics, peace or revolutionary events, military coups, etc., tourism development is limited and sometimes destroyed.

1.4.1.4. State regulatory policies

Government regulatory policies help to facilitate tourism development in line with the current economic situation and future projections. However, there are also some policies that hinder the development of the industry. For example, some policies on heritage conservation help the government achieve social goals but limit the return of tourists because there is no new thing.

1.4.1.5. Tourist needs

Any product or service created is to meet the needs of the market (tourists). Therefore, the fluctuation of tourist demand directly affects the development of tourism. Factors affecting tourist demand are: changes in income levels, changes in lifestyle, changes in thinking, costs and quality of tourism services... This change can have a positive or negative impact on the development of the tourism industry.

1.4.1.6. Natural factors

Including location, land, climate, rivers, resources, these are factors that directly affect the attractiveness of tourism products.

1.4.1.7. Cultural factors

This is considered a particularly attractive resource for the tourism industry. If natural resources attract tourists by their wildness, uniqueness and rarity, human tourism resources attract by their richness, diversity, uniqueness and traditionality as well as locality. Cultural objects are the basis for creating rich forms of cultural tourism. On the other hand, cultural awareness is also a factor that motivates tourists' travel motivation. Thus, from a market perspective, culture is both a supply factor and a contributor to the formation of demand factors in the tourism system.

1.4.1.8. Information technology

This factor does not create a tourism product, but is an important factor in promoting and bringing tourism products closer to everyone. It creates conditions for tourists to search according to their travel needs. At the same time, information technology contributes to making the tourism industry of countries closer together.

1.4.2. Internal factors

1.4.2.1. Tourism industry planning

Tourism development planning can be considered as a multidimensional activity and oriented towards a unified future. It involves natural, social, economic, political and technological factors; it involves the analysis of the past, present and future of a tourist destination. Planning also involves the selection of an action program from a number of options. It also involves the establishment of basic goals for the destination to serve as a basis for other supporting action plans to follow.

In tourism development strategy, good planning will bring many benefits from tourism and minimize the negative impacts that tourism can bring to the community. The benefits of planned development are huge, so if this factor is lacking, it can lead to material losses (facilities, cultural values, transportation, environment), human, marketing impacts, organizational impacts and other impacts (Tourism Economics Textbook, page 286).

1.4.2.2. Tourism development policy

A consistent or flexible policy cannot be said to have a positive or negative impact on tourism development. However, each different economic, political and social situation can confirm that, and then a tourism development policy that is put in place and operated flexibly according to the times will put the tourism industry on a very favorable development trajectory.

1.4.2.3. Legal environment and administrative procedures

If we consider the factor of attracting investment for tourism development, the legal environment and administrative procedures are the first gateway to encourage or limit the spirit of investors. Open policies and one-stop mechanism are a great advantage to attract investors, on the contrary, the complexity in procedures will make investors

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