A Case Study of Tourism in an LEDC - Kenya

Where is Kenya?

Kenya is located in East Africa, its capital city is Nairobi and it has a population of approximately 30 million people.

Why visit Kenya?

• - it has an attractive climate (tropical) with sunshine all year round, hot and humid at the coast; temperate inland and dry in the NE (rainy season - April-June and Oct-Dec, heavy rainfall in the afternoon and early evening)

• - Safari holidays are popular - e.g. in the Maasai Mara / Nakuru National Park - Kenya has spectacular wildlife - including the big 5 - Lion, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Leopard and Buffalo


• - Cultural experience - many tourists visit local tribes such as the Maasai to find out more about their lifestyle and traditions

• - Coastal Holidays - SE of Kenya has fine sands and coral reefs with spectacular marine life - e.g. Mombassa

Why have numbers of tourists visiting Kenya increased?

• - Kenya was one of the first LEDC countries to acheive mass tourism and in the 1970s and 1980s there was a rapid increase in the numbers of tourists, particularly following the release of the films Born Free and Out of Africa.


• - Tourist numbers have also increased as larger aircraft in the 1980s brought prices of air travel down.

Advantages of Tourism to Kenya:

• - Tourism encourages the building of new roads and better communications
• - Jobs in tourism have helped develop people's business skills
  
• - Tourism has created all year round jobs for Kenyans
• - Tourism is Kenya's biggest earner of foreign exchange
• -Tourism has stimulated farming, by creating a demand for local food from farmers
  
• - National Parks have been created - encouraging people to protect the environment.

Disadvantages of Tourism for Kenya:

• - there is leakage of income - with a lot of the money paid for holidays never actually reaching Kenya (travel companies and foreign owned hotels get it instead)

• - Safari minibuses disturb animals - often getting too close (e.g. can be 30-40 buses around a single animal in the Maasai Mara), they also cause soil erosion as the wheels churn up the grass


• - many Maasai are traditionally nomadic, but many have been forced out of the National Parks - losing their land and also losing their traditional lifestyles.


• - Hot air balloons in parks disturb animals - by casting shadows and from the noise of the burners.


• - Coastal Environments such as those in Mombassa have been damaged - e.g. destruction of coral reefs as tourists step on the coral and also take souvenirs.


• - Drugs and crime has increased and AIDS is a major problem

Working towards sustainable tourism in Kenya - KIGO CONSERVANCY - An example of ECOTOURISM.

Kigio Conservancy was set up in 1997 on an old beef / dairy ranch with the aim of providing a wildlife sanctuary and a sustainable eco-tourism destination.

The accommodation at Kigio is in "cottages" built of mud, timber and thatch, using local and reclaimed materials and methods. The furniture is built from re-claimed timber from the ground and there is no electricity, oil lamps are instead used.

Kigio has a number of ecotourism activities it is involved in:

• - partnerships with local communities - helping to fund and work on community projects
• - provides links with local schools with schools in the UK, raising money for new classrooms and other projects (e.g. water tanks)
  
• - partnerships with conservation organisations such as the Tusk Trust - which has involved setting up conservation centre for use by local schools and providing sustainable development education for local communities
  
• - employees local people - e.g. guides and other workers
• - conservation activities - e.g. looking after orphaned wildlife - e.g. 2003 relocation of giraffe into the area - including a baby giraffe from the Karen Blixen Giraffe Orphange in Nairobi.
  

Links:

• Kigio Conservancy Centre - External Link
• Tourism in Kenya - Kenya Web - External Link

A Case Study of Tourism in an MEDC - Menorca

Menorca is the second largest of the Spanish Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. It has a population of 67,000 and it has a total land area of 702km2.

Reasons why people visit Menorca:

• - Mediterranean Climate - average temperature of 16oC with an average of 24oC in the summer months and little rainfall in the summer
• - Menorca has a beautiul and varied landscape - Northern Menorca has an uneven and rugged coastline and in the south there are many white sandy beaches
• - There are a wide range of watersports available (windsurfing; water skiing, scuba-diving etc.)
• - Other outdoor activities include horse riding, cycling and potholing.

What are the advantages of tourism to Menorca?

• - Job creation - tourism is the largest employer in Menorca
• - tourism has had a multiplier effect and helps to support many different sectors of the economy e.g. jobs in farming (providing food for hotels and cafes), jobs in the craft industry (providing locally made souvenirs) and it is recognised that ice-cream is a major business
• - tourism in Menorca has also raised awareness of the need to preserve the environment

What are the disadvantages of tourism to Menorca?

• - as tourism is very much a seasonal industry - employment fluctuates at different times of the year
• - the demands of the tourists have led to changes in the local way of life and there is also resentment of the number of villas and other properties being bought up as second homes by foreigners
  
• - some of the earliest hotels which were built did not fit in with the local landscape and contrast dramatically against the beauty of the natural coastline
• - the local culture has suffered some 'erosion' as changes have been made to meet the demands of tourists

Working towards more sustainable tourism in Menorca

In recognition of the importance of tourism to Menorca, as well as the importance of protecting the natural landscape which attracts tourists in the first place there have been increasing attempts in Menorca to make tourism more sustainable. These attempts include:

• - the UN have declared the island a Biosphere Reserve with the aim of continuing to profit from tourism in Menorca whilst also protecting the island
• - as part of the Biosphere - urban development has been controlled and beaches have been managed
• - endangered species have been protected
• - education programmes have been adopted in schools to raise environmental awareness
• -tight planning controls have been implemented on the island restricting the growth of multi-storey hotels within 250km of the coastline to conserve the natural beauty of the landscape.
• - government attempts to protect the impact on the local culture includes ensuring that all signage is in the traditional Menorqui language.

Photo Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerriet/

Tourism - An Introduction

Tourism is a tertiary industry in which services are provided. The industry depends on people and governments having money to spend. Tourism has become one of the world's fastest growing industries, it is an important part of the economy in MEDCs and for many LEDCs, tourism has enabled rapid economic development.

Why has the tourism industry grown?
1. People have more disposable income
2. Falling prices and the development of budget airlines - e.g. Ryanair means that holidays are more affordable
3. People have more leisure time
4. Air travel has made it easier to travel to more distant places.

Although tourism brings many advantages to a country, it also brings disadvantages.

For the OCR A course you need to learn 2 case studies of tourism
1. Tourism in an LEDC - Kenya
2. Tourism in an MEDC - Menorca

We have also studied tourism in the Peak District National Park.

For each case study you need to learn:
1. Why do tourists visit the destination - human and physical attractions?
2. What are the positive and negative impacts of tourism?
3. What management techniques can be used to make tourism in the destination more sustainable?