Leakage effect

Last updated

In the study of tourism, the leakage is the way in which revenue generated by tourism is lost to other countries' economies. [1] Leakage may be so significant in some developing countries that it partially neutralizes the money generated by tourism.

Contents

Methods

Leakage occurs through seven different mechanisms. [2] It is an intrinsic component of international tourism and thus is present in every country, to widely varying degrees. [3]

Goods and services

Many countries must purchase goods and services to satisfy their visitors. This includes the cost of raw materials used to make tourism-related goods, such as souvenirs. For starting tourism industries, this is a significant problem, as some countries must import as much as 50% of tourism-related products.

Infrastructure

Some less economically developed countries do not have the domestic ability to build tourism-related infrastructure (hotels, airports, etc.). The cost of such infrastructure is then leaked out of the country.

Foreign factors of production

Smaller countries often require foreign investment to start their tourism industry. Thus, profits from tourism may be lost to foreign investors. In addition, travel agents outside of the destination country remove money from that market as well.

Promotional expenditures

Many countries spend considerable sums of money for advertisements and publicity. Maintaining a presence abroad may increase the volume of tourists to a country but also represent a considerable loss of money to foreign markets.

Transfer pricing

Many foreign companies manipulate their pricing to reduce taxes and other duties. In smaller or less developed countries, where many tourism-related companies may be foreign owned, this can represent a substantial loss of income.

Tax exemptions

Countries with a small tourism industry may have to give tax exemptions or other offers to increase foreign investment. While this may enlarge the tourism industry there, it must be taken into account as an instrument of income loss. This will lead to lost in income to the host nation as various tax exemptions are provided.

Foreign workers

Often foreign workers are employed in tourism and especially on a temporary base. These workers typically stay a couple of months in the country, they live on the premises and take all the salary home when they return home after their assignment. Depending the portion of this type of foreign workers it can represent a substantial loss of income.

Application

A study of tourism 'leakage' in Thailand estimated that 70% of all money spent by tourists ended up leaving Thailand (via foreign-owned tour operators, airlines, hotels, imported drinks and food, etc.). Estimates for other Third World countries range from 80% in the Caribbean to 40% in India. [4]

Leakage is not restricted to less-developed countries. Australia experiences a significant leakage effect from Japanese tourists. Though they spend the most per capita of all tourists to Australia, much of what they spend is through Japanese travel companies, Japanese hotels, and other foreign-owned businesses. There is thus significant leakage to Japan's economy. [2]

Leakage not only varies from country to country, but also from industry to industry. High-income tourism may well significantly increase leakage, as that industry likely involves importing more goods and services than usual. Ecological or adventure tourism may exhibit a very small degree of leakage, however, as they place value solely on what the host country has to offer. [3]

Effect

As a result of the leakage effect, tourism industries in developed countries often are much more profitable per dollar received than tourism in smaller countries. Islands, in particular, suffer from significant leakage. In countries such as Turkey and the United Kingdom, the benefit to the economy from tourism is twice the dollar amount spent by tourists. In smaller places, such as Micronesia and Polynesia, that benefit is half the dollar amount spent. [2] Some locations have managed to nullify the leakage effect almost entirely - New York City claims to generate seven dollars for the local economy per dollar spent by tourists. [5] Some estimates of the degree of leakage claim only 5% of money spent on tourism remains in a developing country's economy. [6]

Reducing leakage

For many countries, some sources of leakage are unavoidable. Foreign-owned hotels and airlines are necessary for all but the most established of tourism industries. However, encouragement of domestic involvement in a country's tourism industry may reduce leakage in the long run. Currently, the most popular measure is restrictions on spending. Countries may limit the use of foreign currency within their borders, reducing the effect of transfer pricing (see above). Many countries require visitors to have a certain amount of money before entering, as well. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of the Bahamas</span> National economy

The economy of the Bahamas is dependent upon tourism and offshore banking. The Bahamas is the richest country in the West Indies and is ranked 14th in North America for nominal GDP. It is a stable, developing nation in the Lucayan Archipelago, with a population of 391,232 (2016). Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth for many years. The slowdown in the Economy of the United States and the September 11 attacks held back growth in these sectors from 2001 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Cyprus</span> National economy

The economy of Cyprus is a high-income economy as classified by the World Bank, and was included by the International Monetary Fund in its list of advanced economies in 2001. Cyprus adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2008, replacing the Cypriot pound at an irrevocable fixed exchange rate of CYP 0.585274 per €1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of the Dominican Republic</span> Overview of the economy of Dominican Republic

The economy of the Dominican Republic is the seventh largest in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central American region. The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle income developing country with important sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing, energy, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture. The Dominican Republic is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2030, and is expected to grow 79% in this decade. The country is the site of the single largest gold mine in Latin America, the Pueblo Viejo mine.Although the service sector is currently the leading employer of Dominicans, agriculture remains an important sector in terms of the domestic market and is in second place in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $7.4 billion in annual earnings in 2019. Free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. A leading growth engine in the Free-trade zone sector is the production of medical equipment for export having a value-added per employee of $20,000 USD, total revenue of $1.5 billion USD, and a growth rate of 7.7% in 2019. The medical instrument export sector represents one of the highest-value added sectors of the country's economy, a true growth engine for the country's emerging market. Remittances are an important sector of the economy, contributing $8.2 billion in 2020. Most of these funds are used to cover household expenses, such as housing, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed businesses and productive activities. Thirdly, this combined effect has induced investment by the private sector and helps fund the public sector through its value-added tax. The combined import market including the free-trade-zones amounts to a market of $20 billion a year in 2019. The combined export sector had revenues totaling $11 billion in 2019. The consumer market is equivalent to $61 billion in 2019. An important indicator is the average commercial loan interest rate, which directs short-term investment and stimulates long-term investment in the economy. It is currently 8.30%, as of June 2021.

Economy of Jamaica National economy

The economy of Jamaica is heavily reliant on services, accounting for 70% of the country's GDP. Jamaica has natural resources and a climate conducive to agriculture and tourism. The discovery of bauxite in the 1940s and the subsequent establishment of the bauxite-alumina industry shifted Jamaica's economy from sugar, and bananas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Nauru</span>

The economy of Nauru is tiny, based on a population in 2019 of only 11,550 people. The economy has historically been based on phosphate mining. With primary phosphate reserves exhausted by the end of the 2010s, Nauru has sought to diversify its sources of income. In 2020, Nauru's main sources of income were the sale of fishing rights in Nauru's territorial waters, and revenue from the Regional Processing Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax</span> Compulsory charge imposed by government

A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures, and tax compliance refers to policy actions and individual behaviour aimed at ensuring that taxpayers are paying the right amount of tax at the right time and securing the correct tax allowances and tax reliefs. The first known taxation took place in Ancient Egypt around 3000–2800 BC. A failure to pay in a timely manner (non-compliance), along with evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent.

The economy of the United States Virgin Islands is primarily dependent upon tourism, trade, and other services, accounting for nearly 60% of the Virgin Island's GDP and about half of total civilian employment. Close to two million tourists per year visit the islands. The government is the single largest employer. The agriculture sector is small, with most food being imported. The manufacturing sector consists of rum distilling, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly. Rum production is significant. Shipments during a six-month period of fiscal year 2016 totaled 8,136.6 million proof gallons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Fiji</span> National economy

The economy of Fiji is one of the most developed among the Pacific islands. Nevertheless, Fiji is a developing country endowed with forest, mineral and fish resources. The country has a large agriculture sector heavily based on subsistence agriculture. Sugar exports and the tourism industry are the main sources of foreign exchange. There are also light manufacturing and mining sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Andorra</span>

The economy of Andorra is a developed and free market economy driven by finance, retail, and tourism. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) was US$3.66 billion in 2007. Attractive for shoppers from France and Spain as a free port, Andorra also has developed active summer and winter tourist resorts. With some 270 hotels and 400 restaurants, as well as many shops, the tourist trade employs a growing portion of the domestic labour force. An estimated 13 million tourists visit annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Barbados</span> National economy

Since the island country's independence in 1966, the economy of Barbados has been transformed from a low-income economy dependent upon sugar production into a high-income economy based on tourism and the offshore sector. Barbados went into a deep recession in the 1990s after 3 years of steady decline brought on by fundamental macroeconomic imbalances. After a painful re-adjustment process, the economy began to grow again in 1993. Growth rates have averaged between 3%–5% since then. The country's three main economic drivers are: tourism, the international business sector, and foreign direct-investment. These are supported in part by Barbados operating as a service-driven economy and an international business centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecotourism</span> Tourism visiting natural environments

Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, so that future generations may experience destinations relatively untouched by human intervention. Ecotourism may focus on educating travelers on local environments and natural surroundings with an eye to ecological conservation. Some include in the definition of ecotourism the effort to produce economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources financially possible.

A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the term subsidy can relate to any type of support – for example from NGOs or as implicit subsidies. Subsidies come in various forms including: direct and indirect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Export</span> Goods produced in one country that are sold to another country

An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an exporter; the foreign buyer is an importer. Services that figure in international trade include financial, accounting and other professional services, tourism, education as well as intellectual property rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Oceania</span> Overview of the economy of Oceania

The economy of Oceania comprises more than 14 separate countries and their associated economies.

Circular flow of income

The circular flow of income or circular flow is a model of the economy in which the major exchanges are represented as flows of money, goods and services, etc. between economic agents. The flows of money and goods exchanged in a closed circuit correspond in value, but run in the opposite direction. The circular flow analysis is the basis of national accounts and hence of macroeconomics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Cuba</span>

Tourism in Cuba is an industry that generates over 4.7 million arrivals as of 2018, and is one of the main sources of revenue for the island. With its favorable climate, beaches, colonial architecture and distinct cultural history, Cuba has long been an attractive destination for tourists. "Cuba treasures 253 protected areas, 257 national monuments, 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 7 Natural Biosphere Reserves and 13 Fauna Refuge among other non-tourist zones."

The FIFA World Cup has a significant impact on the global economy.

Economy of Guam Overview of the economy of the US territory of Guam

The economy of Guam depends mainly on US military spending and on tourist revenue. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry grew rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels, golf courses and other tourist amenities. More than 1.1 million tourists visit Guam each year including about 1,000,000 from Japan and 150,000 from Korea. Setbacks in the 1990s include numerous super-typhoons, a M7.8 earthquake, and a Korean airline crash. More recently, SARS, the Iraq war and most importantly the Japan economy and accompanying yen-to-dollar adjustments have significantly impacted tourism with spending per person in retail and attraction sectors now nearly 50% compared to their peak in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, as of 2005 tourism is finally starting to stabilize and recover.

In economics, a leakage is a diversion of funds from some iterative process. For example, in the Keynesian depiction of the circular flow of income and expenditure, leakages are the non-consumption uses of income, including saving, taxes, and imports. In this model, leakages are equal in quantity to injections of spending from outside the flow at the equilibrium aggregate output. The model is best viewed as a circular flow between national income, output, consumption, and factor payments. Savings, taxes, and imports are "leaked" out of the main flow, reducing the money available in the rest of the economy. Imported goods are one way this may happen, transferring money earned in the country to another one.

Tourism brings both positive and negative impacts on tourist destinations. The traditionally-described domains of tourism impacts are economic, socio-cultural, and environmental dimensions. The economic effects of tourism include improved tax revenue and personal income, increased standards of living, and more employment opportunities. Sociocultural impacts are associated with interactions between people with differing cultural backgrounds, attitudes and behaviors, and relationships to material goods. Environmental impacts can have both direct effects including degradation of habitat, vegetation, air quality, bodies of water, the water table, wildlife, and changes in natural phenomena, and indirect effects, such as increased harvesting of natural resources to supply food, indirect air and water pollution.

References

  1. Negative Economic Impacts of Tourism - UNEP Tourism
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mill, Robert Christie (2002). The Tourism System. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
  3. 1 2 Rasuchelbach, Burghard (2002). Cooperating for Sustainable Tourism.
  4. Agenda 21
  5. "Tourism's Multiplier Effect". I Love NY. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  6. "Tourism in Third World Development". UNEP DTIE. Retrieved 17 July 2009.