Contemporary issues in travel and tourism Assignment

Contemporary issues in travel and tourism - Assignment Example Tourism has emerged to be one the fastest growing economic sectors in many countries. For instance, in Costa Rica, tourism has been serving as the largest foreign exchange earner since 1995. The natural attractions such as Poas Volcano Crater and Cocos Island have enhanced the growth of the sector in Costa Rica. Since the year 1999, tourism in Costa Rica has earned more foreign exchange than agricultural product exportation in the country (Jawahar 2009, p. 268). Despite the tourism sector being the leading foreign exchange source, it also brings consequences such as terrorism and security, health and safety impacts, and negative social and cultural impacts in the country. Current issues affecting tourism in Costa Rica Insecurity issue There are many current issues affecting travel and tourism in Costa Rica, which include insecurity and natural hazards such as earthquakes. The problem of insecurity in Costa Rica towards tourists may pose a greater negative impact to tourism in the country. Costa Rica hopes to make billions of revenue from the travel and tourism sector this year, so travelling to Costa Rica is very imperative to sustain the country’s economy (Costa Rica News 2011). Tourists should be aware of the current possible insecurity matters in the country. Terrorist attacks in the country occur randomly anytime and anywhere. Examples of these attacks include suicide bombs, car bombs, kidnappings, and shootings. Therefore, tourists should be aware that there is an increment in the number of crimes around the entire country including pick pocketing and stealing of passports (Costa Rica News 2011).... Ecotourism in the country helps in provision of political, social, and economical funds, educate travelers, directly benefits local communities’ political empowerment and economic development, and ensure protection of different cultural practices and human rights. â€Å"Take the only memories and leave only footprints† is a common slogan used in Costa Rica in protected places (Costa Rica 2013). However, tourist destinations in Costa Rica are shifting carbon free area following the trend of tourists being more focused in environmentally responsible hence adopting a sustainable tourism (Donald 2005). Task 2 Key statistics of tourist for the last five years in Costa Rica Costa Rica remains to be the most visited country in Central American States, with 2.2 million tourists in the year 2011. The total of tourists touring the destination surpassed the two million landmarks in the year 2008 representing 54% U.S. tourist visiting Costa Rica. Due to the combined global economic crisis and the flu epidemic, this occurred in the year 2009, lead to a reduction of the number of tourists in 2009 to 1.9 million visitors. This was a reduction of 8% percent compared to the turn up in 2008. In the year 2010, the number of tourists rose to 2.1 million, barely breaking the record of 2008. An historical record was set in the year 2012 with 2.34 million tourists visiting Costa Rica, a 6.9% increase over the year 2011. The global tourist receipts increased to 2.4 billion dollars in the year 2012, and the leading country of origin was United States with a total of 864,340 visitors, Nicaragua in 474,011tourists being the second, and Canada with 136,261 visitors. Emerging trends in terms of product services offered The Costa Rica tourism composes of visible actors-like airlines and hotels,