Importance Of Tourism

Tourism industry has been growing at the fastest rate to be one of the single biggest industries in the world. Most of the countries of the world have realized the importance of tourism because tourism is regarded as the backbone of national economy. The several benefits of tourism are as follows:-

· Source of foreign income: - Income from foreign tourism in the form of foreign exchange adds to the national income. It offers a more reliable form of income. In most of the countries, tourism has had a very strong positive effect on the balance of payments. Tourism is, thus, a very useful means of earning source for many developed as well as developing countries.

· Regional development: - Tourism is the most important source of income for many countries. When visitors travel from rich country the money flows from one country to other. The money they spend for accommodation, attraction and souvenirs has special significance in marginal areas, which are relatively isolated, economically underdeveloped, and have unemployment problems. So underdeveloped regions of the country can greatly benefit from the tourism development.

· Infrastructural development: - Infrastructural development is one of the serious problems related to the development of the tourism in the country. Construction of primary infrastructures to develop tourism in the region helps the tourists a lot to visit different parts of the country. At the same time it helps the local people because they share the facilities of airport, road, water supply and other public utilities.

· Contribution to government revenue: - Government revenue from tourism sector can be categorized as direct and indirect contribution. Direct contributions are generated by income tax from tourism business, royalty fee and departure tax. Indirect contributions are generated from taxes and duties levied on goods and services supplied to tourist.

· Employment opportunity: - Tourism has direct relation with employment generation. Tourism employs a large number of people and provides a wide range of jobs, which extend from the unskilled to the highly specialized. According to WTO, tourism industry has the highest ratio of investment to employment. Also the infrastructural development for tourism creates employment opportunities in the country.

· International understanding: - Tourism has played a major role in improving international understanding. Besides generating economic activity, tourism develops international goodwill and understanding. It is the medium through which we can exchange knowledge and develop mutual understanding among the people of the world.

· Educational significance: - Modern tourism is regarded as an instrument of human education. It is becoming a more powerful tool of education than any other means and also widens the knowledge of one’s own country and its historic traditions and cultural values. Due to the immense value of tourism, UNESCO has regarded tourism as a basic instrument of education and has given formal recognition to the facts that the economic and social impact of tourism is real and of great significance.