Leisure & tourism
Every year thousands of visitors fly into Namibia to watch elephants at an Etosha waterhole, climb the orange dunes of Sossusvlei, and fish off the Swakopmund coast. In this lesson we learn that tourism is a tertiary, service activity; we define leisure and tourism, and sort out domestic from international visitors. We weigh the advantages — income, foreign exchange, jobs, infrastructure and cultural pride — against the negative impacts of seasonal unemployment, congestion, pollution, water shortages and rising prices. Finally we tackle the real problems of developing tourism in Namibia and other LEDCs — transport, marketing, capital and management — and the solutions that make tourism sustainable.
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Geography 2.3):
- Describe tourism as a tertiary activity and define the terms leisure and tourism
- Describe the types of leisure and tourist activities in Namibia
- Describe the difference between local/domestic tourism and international tourism
- Discuss the advantages of the tourist industry: growth in income, foreign exchange earnings, employment, development of infrastructure and facilities, and cultural advantages
- Discuss the negative impacts of tourism: seasonal unemployment, under-use of facilities, congestion, pollution, water shortages, damage to the landscape, socio-cultural problems, dependence on imports and price rises
- Analyse the problems facing the development of tourism in Namibia and other LEDCs (transport, marketing, capital, organisation and management) and suggest possible solutions