The Impact Of Tourism In The Construction Industry Essay

The Impact Of Tourism In The Construction Industry - Essay Example This type of development is now under the scanner and faces various pressures and challenges like environmental regulations, land-use planning and protocols, local socio-economic forces and other requirements. Under this situation, it makes a good case to assess and investigate the impacts and implications of modern-day tourism on the construction sector. A careful look at any tourist destination reveals the cyclical link between tourism and the construction industry, both capacitating and facilitating each other. Identifying this link, Riera (1999) and Apostolopoulos et.al. (2001) expressed that mass tourism and accommodation construction are inter-woven, accommodations and hotels need tourist to survive and do business and tourism too needs good accommodation facility for attracting tourists (Riera A., 1999; Apostolopoulos et.al., 2001). Thus, the current trend is in favor of exotic destinations and vacation or second home, a home away from the home which is also an investment home for some. The growth of tourism is always welcome as it has the potential of offering multiple benefits (WWF, 2001; UNEP/CI, 2003; WITC, 2005)-economic opportunities, socio-cultural exchanges & integration, international relationship building and many other associated advantages. For any tourist destination or spot, the growth of tourism implies additional influx of tourists which in turn calls for construction of additional accommodations/vacation homes and tourism infrastructures. Under this situation, tourism growth means more tourists, more demands for accommodations and infrastructures and consequently more construction activities. Looking it the other way, good infrastructures and accommodations can also add to the real value of a destination and attract people facilitating tourism in the process. Thus, there seems to be a straight forward interrelation between tourism and the construction industry (Apostolopoulos et.al., 2001). However, this interrelation or interdependence is not as simple as it sounds. Tourism is intrinsically an activity constrained by time and space and construction too is heavily dependent on space or geographical area and land-use configuration (Hall, 2005). Space has limitations and thus, tourism and the construction industry cannot keep on growing or developing indiscriminately and ceaselessly or else, the realities of space constraints and the possible negative environmental consequences are sure to push this industry into the extinction. Construction related to tourism development (hotels, airports, roads, and vacation homes) causes the greatest negative impact to the ecosystem and more so when the destination is rich in biodiversity like the Mediterranean region. Loss of biodiversity and picturesque landscapes already affects a number of tourist destinations throughout the Mediterranean and often, these losses or negative impacts are far greater than the positive outcomes or the associated values of tourism (Paris Chris, 2006). Therefore, balancing the