Tourism and Millennium Development Goals: tourism for global development?

摘要

It is estimated that tourism contributes approximately 9% to global production and employs more than 220 million people across the North and South. With the rise of tourism as a major industry and its growing global importance, great expectations have been raised as to its developmental potential. Traditionally, tourism has been seen as a tool for regional and local economic growth and employment creation. Recently, however, its potential role has been expanded to address global-scale developmental challenges, such as sustainable development and poverty reduction (e.g. Ashley & Mitchell, 2005; Bolwell & Weinz, 2008).