Tourism as a wealth: praise and criticism combined!
Tourism as a wealth: praise and criticism combined!
At the LTS General Assembly, A. Hofer, President of the State Association for Tourism (LTS), emphasized the importance of tourism for the prosperity of the region. He criticized that the contribution of tourism as an economic engine, job machine and income procurement is not adequately recognized. Hofer questioned the common measurement variable of the prosperity, which is often only based on arrivals, overnight stays and sales. In fact, a study by the University of Bozen shows that the population in South Tyrol perceives negative effects of tourism, such as rising real estate prices, traffic loads and increased cost of living.In addition, a clear majority of the population do not want any further growth in tourism. HGV director Mooswalder described the public skepticism as inappropriate, but noted that the "tourism guild" increasingly decreases among the locals. He pointed out that tourism, together with the public sector, is essential drivers of the order situation in the construction and secondary business.
challenges in tourism
The industry provides over 50,000 jobs during the high season, but there are fewer year -olds. On average, around 37,500 people are employed in tourism, which corresponds to about 14 % of the total employees. It was found that productivity in tourism is lower and the remuneration is often not competitive. The challenges of demographic change also lead to a lack of qualified workers. Hofer warned that excessive tourism could be harmful because he absorbs young people who can be used more sensibly in other areas.
Overall, tourism contributes to prosperity in South Tyrol, but the region remains the most tourism -intensive in the central Alps. Against this background, experts consider an economic political reorientation to be necessary in order to take into account the limits of growth and respond to the wishes of the population.
sustainability and positive impulses of tourism
Despite the challenges, tourism also offers opportunities for positive changes worldwide. As Plant Values reports, a partnership-based cooperation between the tourism industry, governments and local communities is crucial to maximize the benefits and minimize negative effects. Tourism has the potential to protect nature, secure income flows and to have positive effects on education and health.
In the global context, it turns out that tourism is about 10 % of the economic output and creates hundreds of million jobs. Interestingly, domestic tourism exceeds international travel movements, while international tourism has almost reached the level before pandemic in 2023 with 1.3 billion arrivals. However, it is important to be aware of the environmental pollution: tourism contributes to 5-8 % of global CO2 emissions and could increase by 130 % by 2035.
In tourist regions, not only high water consumption rates are found, but also inadequate waste disposal, which leads to environmental problems. There is also a risk that social inequalities will be reinforced. The path to sustainable tourism requires to take economic, social and cultural needs into account in the long term and to use resources in a gentle manner in order to preserve cultural identity.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Südtirol, Italien |
| Quellen | |