Transport, Tourism, Trade: Key Elements and Impacts
Transport
It is the activity that moves people & merchandise between two or more places by using different transport systems (land, air & sea), each of them with specific means of transport and infrastructures.
Tourism
It is the temporary movement of people (24h – 1 year) from their place of residence to another place, generally for leisure purposes.
Trade
It is the sale and purchase of products/services between producers and consumers in exchange for payment.
Causes of Tourism Growth
The economic growth after World War II, that increased the purchasing power of the middle-class; the right to paid holidays, that increased the time of spare time; and the progress in transports that enabled people to travel at affordable prices.
Factors that Affect Tourists’ Choices
Natural attractions, cultural and leisure attractions, affordable prices, good transports/infrastructures and political stability.
Consequences of Tourism
It creates employment, but many times it is precarious due to many jobs being seasonal; it attracts job-seeking population but visitors can saturate the services supplied; it helps to avoid racism but can also lead to the loss of a region’s specific identity; it has aided in the rehabilitation of certain areas but it also gives rise to pollution and an increase in waste.
New Tourism Policies
Current trends tend to promote sustainable tourism, through social-cultural, environmental and economical sustainability.
Elements Involved in Trade
Supply and demand (sellers and buyers); merchandise (goods and services); payment (bartering in the past, nowadays money, credit cards, etc.); the market (both physical or abstract, such as the stock exchange).
Protectionism
It is the economic policy that limits trade with foreign countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. It aims to protect national businesses.
Free Trade
It is the economic policy that reduces as much as possible the barriers to trade, fostering the purchase and sale of goods and services between countries without tariffs or quotas.