Do indexes assess poverty? Is tourism truly pro-poor?

Year 2022, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 6 - 13, 01.07.2022

Sagar Singh

Abstract

The basic premise of tourism economics that money, however used, can alleviate poverty is flawed, since monetary systems are not 100 per cent efficient, and the Law of Entropy explains declining efficiency, hence declining profits for all, but more so for the poor who have no investment capability. However, a yardstick for assessing tourism’s economic benefits is still required. An index reflecting the state of the poor in developing as well as developed countries is suggested, that, used with measures of education of tourism practitioners and the poor, can help plan tourism. The index is not a ‘universal tool’, though it can be used for quick assessments of the poor in post-COVID social systems, to help stave off increase in poverty due to perishable rural goods that tourism can consume. The paper explains the frequent failure of tourism to alleviate poverty through descriptive explanation and simple econometrics of Marx’s ‘rule of falling rate of profit’, which explanation has not been suitably addressed in modern economics.

Keywords

Marx, Sustainable, Profits, money, Poverty, Index

References

• Adams, V. (1992). Tourism and Sherpas, Nepal: Reconstruction of reciprocity. Annals of Tourism Research, (19): 534–554.
• Archer, B.H. (1984). Economic impact: Misleading multiplier. Annals of Tourism Research, 11(3): 517–518.
• Basham, A.L. (2004). The Wonder That Was India. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
• Becken, S. (2013). Developing a framework for assessing resilience of tourism sub-systems to climatic factors. Annals of Tourism Research, (43): 506–528.
• Beckwith, C. (2000). The integration of important dimensions embedded within the household livelihood security framework. CARE memorandum. Atlanta, GA, USA: CARE.
• Cemlyn, S., Greenfields, M., Burnett, S., Matthews, Z., and Whitwell, C. (2009). Inequalities experiences by Gypsy and traveller communities: A review. Research Report No. 12, Equality and Human Rights Commission, UK.
• Centre for Responsible Tourism Goa (CERT) (2012). Reclaiming water rights: Towards an equitable social contract in Goa. Panaji, Goa: CERT and Tourism Concern, UK.
• DeKadt, E. (1979). Tourism: Passport to Development? New York: Oxford University Press.
• Dogru, T., Isik, C, and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2019). The balance of trade and exchange rates: Theory and contemporary evidence from tourism. Tourism Management, (74): 12–23. doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.01.014
• Dwyer, L. (2009). Tourism and economic development: Three tools of analysis. Tourism Recreation Research, 34(3): 307–318.
• Dyson, P. (2012). Slum tourism: Representing and interpreting ‘reality’ in Dharavi, Mumbai. Tourism Geographies, 14(2): 254–74.
• Esptein, T.S. (1967). Productive efficiency and customary systems of rewards in rural south India. In R. Firth (Ed.), Themes in Economic Anthropology (pp. 229–252). ASA Monographs No. 6. London: Tavistock.
• Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1940). The Nuer. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Farrell, B.H. (Ed.) (1977). The Social and Economic Impact of Tourism on Pacific Communities. Santa Cruz: Center for South Pacific Studies.
• Finney, B.R. and Watson, K.A. (Eds.) (1977). A New Kind of Sugar: Tourism in the Pacific. Honolulu: East-West Center and Center for South Pacific Studies.
• Getz, D. (1983). Capacity to absorb tourism: Concepts and implications for strategic planning. Annals of Tourism Research, 10(1): 239–264.
• Goodwin, H. (2007a). Indigenous tourism and poverty reduction. In R. Butler and T. Hinch (Eds.), Tourism and Indigenous Peoples (pp. 84–94). New York: Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Goodwin, H. (2007b). Measuring and reporting the impact of tourism on poverty. In D. Airey and J. Tribe (Eds.), Development in Tourism Research: New Directions, Challenges and Applications (pp. 63–75). New York and London: Elsevier.
• Goodwin, H. (2011). Taking Responsibility for Tourism. Oxford: Goodfellow.
• Goodwin, H. and Bah, A. (2012). Pro-poor tourism and local economic development. In A. Holden and D. Fennell (Eds.), A Handbook of Tourism and the Environment (pp. 392–408). London: Routledge. Graburn, N.H. (1983). Editorial: The anthropology of tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 10(1): 9–33.
• Greenwood, D. (1976). Tourism as an agent of change: A Spanish Basque case. Ethnology, 3(3): 128–42.
• Greenwood, D. (1989). Culture by the pound: An anthropological perspective on tourism as cultural commoditization. In V.L. Smith (Ed.), Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism, second edition (pp. 171–186). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Hall, C.M. (Ed.) (2007). Pro-poor Tourism: Who Benefits? Perspectives on Tourism and Poverty Reduction. Clevedon, UK: Channel View.
• Harris, R.W. (2009). Tourism in Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia: A case study of pro-poor community-based tourism integrated into community development. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 14(2): 125–35.
• Harrison, D. (2008). Pro-poor tourism: A critique. Third World Quarterly, 29(5): 851–868.
• Harrison, D. (2009). Pro-poor tourism: Is there value beyond ‘whose’ rhetoric? Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2): 200–202.
• Holden, A. (2000). Environment and Tourism. London: Routledge.
• Holden, P. (1984). Third World People and Tourism. Bangkok: Ecumenical Coalition of Third World.
• Işık, C., Dogru, T. and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2018). A nexus of linear and non-linear relationships between tourism demand, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: Theory and evidence. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(1): 38–49. doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2151
• Işık, C., Kasimati, E. and Ongan, S. (2017). Analyzing the causalities between economic growth, financial development, international trade, tourism expenditure and/on the CO2 emissions in Greece. Energy Sources: Economics, Planning and Policy, Part B 12(7): 665–673. doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2016.1263251.
• Johnson, H.G. and Nobay, A.R. (Eds.) (1974). Issues in Monetary Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kinnaird, V. and Hall, D. (Eds.) (1994). Tourism: A Gender Analysis. Chichester: John Wiley.
• Kobasic, A. (1996). Level and dissemination of academic findings about tourism. Tourism, 44(7–8): 169–181.
• Lanza, A., Markandya, A. and Pigliaru, F. (Eds.) (2005). The Economics of Tourism and Sustainable Development. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
• Lewis, O. (1959/1975). Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty. New York: Basic Books.
• Lo, K., Li, J., Wang, M., Li, C., Li, S. and Li, Y. (2019). A comparative analysis of participating and non-participating households in pro-poor tourism in southern Shaanxi, China. Tour. Planning and Development, 16(3):318–333.
• Marx, K. (1973). Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy. Translator M. Nicolaus. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
• Meyers, D. (2009). Pro-poor tourism: Is there actually much rhetoric? And, if so, whose? Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2), pp. 196–99.
• Meyers, D. (2010). Pro-poor tourism: Can tourism contribute to poverty reduction in less economically developed countries? In S. Cole and N. Morgan (Eds.), Tourism and Inequality: Problems & Prospects:164–182. Oxford: CABI.
• Mitchell, J. and Ashley, C. (2010). Tourism and Poverty Reduction: Pathways to Prosperity. London: Earthscan.
• Montesquiou, A., Sheldon, T., DeGiovanni, F.F. and Hashemi, S.M. (2014). From extreme poverty to sustainable livelihoods: A technical guide to the graduation approach. New York: CGAP–Ford Foundation.
• Moynihan, D.P. (1969). On Understanding Poverty: Perspectives from the Social Sciences. New York: Basic Books.
• Nash, D. (1989). Tourism as a form of imperialism. In V.L. Smith (Ed.), Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism, second edition (pp. 33–47). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Nash, D. (1996). Anthropology of Tourism. New York: Pergamon.
• Owsianowska, S. and Banaszkiewicz, M. (Eds.) (2018). Anthropology of Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe: Bridging Worlds. Lanham: Lex. Books.
• Roe, D., Goodwin, H. and Ashley, C. (2004). Pro-poor tourism: Benefiting the poor. In T.V. Singh (Ed.), New Horizons in Tourism: Strange Experiences and Stranger Practices (pp. 147–162). New York: CABI. Scheyvens, R. (2007). Exploring the tourism–poverty nexus. Current Issues in Tourism, 10(2–3): 231–254.
• Scheyvens, R. (2009). Pro-poor tourism: Is there value beyond the rhetoric? Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2), pp. 191–196.
• Sharma, R.S. (2005). India’s Ancient Past. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Sinclair, M.T. (1997). Introduction. In M.T. Sinclair (Ed.), Gender, Work and Tourism (pp. 6–17). New York: Routledge.
• Sinclair, M.T. and Stabler, M. (1997). The Economics of Tourism. London: Routledge.
• Smith, V.L. (Ed.) (1989). Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism. Second edition. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Smith, V.L. and Brent, M. (Eds.) (2001). Hosts and Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of the 21st Century. New York: Cognizant.
• Srinivas, M.N. (1962). Introduction. In M.N. Srinivas (Ed.), India’s Villages, second edition (pp. 5–12). New York: John Wiley.
• Steinbrink, M. (2012). ‘We did the slums!’ – Urban poverty tourism in historical perspective. Tourism Geographies, 14(2): 213–234.
• Tolkach, D., Pearlman, M. and King, B. (2012). Key implementation factors in pro-poor tourism. Tourism Recreation Research 37(1): 3–13.
• Torres, R.M., Skillicorn, P. and Nelson, V. (2011). Community corporate joint ventures: An alternative model for pro-poor tourism development. Tourism Planning and Development, 8(3), pp. 297–316.
• Towner, J. and France, L. (1992). Rapid rural appraisal techniques: Their application to geographical studies of tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 17(1), pp. 48–53.
• Trau, A.M. (2012). Beyond pro-poor tourism: (Re)interpreting tourism-based approaches to poverty alleviation in Vanuatu. Tourism Planning and Development, 9(2): 149–64.
• Tribe, J. (1995). The Economics of Leisure and Tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Tribune, The. (2019). 3,000 kg garbage collected from Mt Everest region. Retrieved from https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/3-000-kg-garbage-collected-from-mt-everest-region/765550.html (April 15, 2020)
• Truong, V.D. (2014). Pro-poor tourism: Looking backward as we move forward. Tourism Planning and Development, 11(2): 228–42.
• Young, G. (1973). Tourism: Blessing or Blight? Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin