Tourism impacts in Melbourne
7 categories of tourism impacts:
- Economic impacts
- Environmental impacts
- Social and cultural impacts
- Crowding and congestion
- Services
- Taxes
- Community attitude
Economic impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Contributes to income and standard of living
• Improves local economy
• Increases employment opportunities
• Improves investment, development and infrastructure spending
• Increases tax revenues
• Improves public utilities infrastructure
• Improves transport infrastructure
• Increases opportunities for shopping
• Economic impact (direct, indirect and induced spending) is wide spread in the community
• Creates new business opportunities
(Negative impacts)
• Increases prices of goods and services
• Increases price of land and housing
• Increases cost of living
• Increases potential for imported labor
• Cost for additional infrastructure (water, sever, power, fuel, medical, etc.)
• Increases road maintenance and transportation systems costs
• Seasonal tourism creates high-risk, under- or unemployment issues
• Competition for land (higher value) with other economic uses
• Profits may be exported by non-local owners
• Jobs may pay low wages
Environmental impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Protection of selected natural environments or prevention of further ecological decline
• Preservation of historic buildings and monuments
• Improvement of area’s appearance (visual and aesthetic)
• A “clean” industry (no smoke stacks)
(Negative impacts)
• Pollution (air, water, noise, solid waste and visual)
• Loss of natural landscape and agricultural lands to tourism development
• Loss of open space
• Destruction of flora and fauna (including collection of plants, animals, rocks, corals, or artifacts by or for tourists)
• Degradation of landscape, historic sites, and monuments
• Water shortages
• Introduction of exotic species
• Disruption of wildlife breeding cycles and behaviors
Social and Cultural impacts:
(Postive impacts)
• Improves quality of life
• Facilitates meeting visitors (educational experience)
• Positive changes in customs and values
• Promotes cultural exchange
• Improves understanding of different communities
• Preserves cultural identity of host population
• Increases demand for historical and cultural ]\4\
• exhibits
• Greater tolerance for social differences
• Satisfaction of psychological needs
(Negative impacts)
• Excessive drinking, alcoholism, gambling
• Increased underage drinking
• Crimes, drugs, prostitution
• Increased smuggling
• Language and cultural effects
• Unwanted lifestyle changes
• Displacement of residents for tourism development
• Negative changes in values and customs
• Family disruption
• Exclusion of locals from natural resources
• New cliques modify social structure
• Natural, political and public relations calamities
Crowding and congestion impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Minimizes sprawl
• Concentrates tourist facilities
• Old buildings reused for tourism
(Negative impacts)
• Congestion including interference with other businesses
• Overcrowding- exceeding area capacity
• Conflict
• Overpowering building size and style
Service impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Increases availability of recreation facilities and opportunities
• Better standard of services by shops, restaurants, and other commerce
• Improves quality of fire protection
• Improves quality of police protection
(Negative impacts)
• Neglect of non-tourist recreation facilities
• Effects of competition
• Shortage of goods and services
• Increases pressure on infrastructure
Tax impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Additional state and local sales tax revenues
• Lodging tax revenue to city (or state)
• Service tax revenues
• Increased income tax payers
(Negative impacts)
• Increases property taxes
Community attitude:
(Positive impacts)
• Heightens pride in community
• Greater appreciation of local resources
• More facilities and range of choices available
• More interesting and exciting place to live
(Negative impacts)
• Heightens community divisiveness
• Increasingly hectic community and personal life
• Creates a phony folk culture
• Residents experience sense of exclusion and alienation over planning and development concerns
• Feeling of loss control over community future ( caused by outsider development)
• New building styles fail to “fit” community
- Economic impacts
- Environmental impacts
- Social and cultural impacts
- Crowding and congestion
- Services
- Taxes
- Community attitude
Economic impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Contributes to income and standard of living
• Improves local economy
• Increases employment opportunities
• Improves investment, development and infrastructure spending
• Increases tax revenues
• Improves public utilities infrastructure
• Improves transport infrastructure
• Increases opportunities for shopping
• Economic impact (direct, indirect and induced spending) is wide spread in the community
• Creates new business opportunities
(Negative impacts)
• Increases prices of goods and services
• Increases price of land and housing
• Increases cost of living
• Increases potential for imported labor
• Cost for additional infrastructure (water, sever, power, fuel, medical, etc.)
• Increases road maintenance and transportation systems costs
• Seasonal tourism creates high-risk, under- or unemployment issues
• Competition for land (higher value) with other economic uses
• Profits may be exported by non-local owners
• Jobs may pay low wages
Environmental impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Protection of selected natural environments or prevention of further ecological decline
• Preservation of historic buildings and monuments
• Improvement of area’s appearance (visual and aesthetic)
• A “clean” industry (no smoke stacks)
(Negative impacts)
• Pollution (air, water, noise, solid waste and visual)
• Loss of natural landscape and agricultural lands to tourism development
• Loss of open space
• Destruction of flora and fauna (including collection of plants, animals, rocks, corals, or artifacts by or for tourists)
• Degradation of landscape, historic sites, and monuments
• Water shortages
• Introduction of exotic species
• Disruption of wildlife breeding cycles and behaviors
Social and Cultural impacts:
(Postive impacts)
• Improves quality of life
• Facilitates meeting visitors (educational experience)
• Positive changes in customs and values
• Promotes cultural exchange
• Improves understanding of different communities
• Preserves cultural identity of host population
• Increases demand for historical and cultural ]\4\
• exhibits
• Greater tolerance for social differences
• Satisfaction of psychological needs
(Negative impacts)
• Excessive drinking, alcoholism, gambling
• Increased underage drinking
• Crimes, drugs, prostitution
• Increased smuggling
• Language and cultural effects
• Unwanted lifestyle changes
• Displacement of residents for tourism development
• Negative changes in values and customs
• Family disruption
• Exclusion of locals from natural resources
• New cliques modify social structure
• Natural, political and public relations calamities
Crowding and congestion impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Minimizes sprawl
• Concentrates tourist facilities
• Old buildings reused for tourism
(Negative impacts)
• Congestion including interference with other businesses
• Overcrowding- exceeding area capacity
• Conflict
• Overpowering building size and style
Service impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Increases availability of recreation facilities and opportunities
• Better standard of services by shops, restaurants, and other commerce
• Improves quality of fire protection
• Improves quality of police protection
(Negative impacts)
• Neglect of non-tourist recreation facilities
• Effects of competition
• Shortage of goods and services
• Increases pressure on infrastructure
Tax impacts:
(Positive impacts)
• Additional state and local sales tax revenues
• Lodging tax revenue to city (or state)
• Service tax revenues
• Increased income tax payers
(Negative impacts)
• Increases property taxes
Community attitude:
(Positive impacts)
• Heightens pride in community
• Greater appreciation of local resources
• More facilities and range of choices available
• More interesting and exciting place to live
(Negative impacts)
• Heightens community divisiveness
• Increasingly hectic community and personal life
• Creates a phony folk culture
• Residents experience sense of exclusion and alienation over planning and development concerns
• Feeling of loss control over community future ( caused by outsider development)
• New building styles fail to “fit” community