Holidays To Far Off Places or Exotic Locations Are Becoming More Popular - Describe for the growth of such holidays.

An L.E.D.C is a less economically developed country. It is a country that is still developing and has less money than countries such as the U.K. L.E.D.C are places that have less money to spend on their country this resulting in bad living conditions and a lack of services such as hospitals and schools. These countries are constantly trying to improve their standards of living and rely on money coming in from tourists to gradually improve one area at a time. An example of an L.E.D.C is Kenya. These countries are in general "poor" and their gross national product is obviously lower than any developing country. Developing countries mainly offer primary jobs, which are farming and require manual labour. The population in these places are very high because of high birth rate and the average life expectancy is also very low.

Rich countries are mainly in the north part of the world and this part is called the rich north. The south is poor and therefore is often referred to the poor south. Here is the rank order of the countries starting with the wealthiest first:

) Japan

2) USA

3) UK

4) Brazil

5) Peru

6) Egypt

7) Kenya

8) Bangladesh

Countries considered to be an L.E.D.C are:

Kenya

Brazil

Bangladesh

Peru

Uganda

Thailand

Sri Lanka

Jamaica

These countries have fallen in to this category because they have a low gross national income, high population, and low standards of living, trading mainly primary goods and have a low literacy rate.

KENYA

Here is where Kenya is situated in the world.

KENYA - BEFORE TOURISM

Kenya is a developing country. Before the impact of tourism the country made its money from exporting goods like oil and cement.

The animals were allowed to go wherever they want and their habitats were not over run by safari cars or hot air balloons. The wildlife was not disturbed and the populations have grown throughout the country. The land was rich and the natural scenery was untouched by man. Flowers grew and the environment was free from pollution and tourists. The transport was fairly simple there was no need for large minibuses or safari vans.

Maasai Life Before Tourism

In Kenya there is many ethnic groups one of these groups are the Maasai. They are a group of people that own cattle and goats. Some Maasai people move around because they have to find water and grass for their cattle. They rely upon their cattle and it is worth more to them then money because they provide the essentials, which are food and milk. The land where the Maasai live is fairly flat and grass so they can build their huts and look after their cattle. If the rains fail to come then the land become dry which is useless so the Maasai will move around to find suitable ground.

Their diet consists largely of a mixture of milk and blood from cows. In times of drought only blood is used.

Their houses are small buildings that are hardly the height of an adult Maasai. They live in groups of 20-50 huts. This is a village, which is called an enkang. The basic structure is made from a wooden frame. The walls are made from cow dung and mud and the roof is made form grass. There are no windows or chimneys and the inside is dark and full of smoke from the inside fire. The huts are built in a circular formation and are surrounded by thick thorn bushes to protect the village and to keep out harmful animals.

The men look after the animals while the women go out and collect wood and sticks for the fire. They believe that the ground is sacred so no crops can be grown there. The dead are not buried but are left for the wild animals. Sometimes Maasai people will exchange animals for grain.

The men wear a brightly coloured blanket and the women wear long lengths of cloths. The women wear beads around their necks, wrists and ankles. They use everything around them for something they do not let anything go to waste. For example they clean their teeth with sticks and use animal fat to clean themselves. For a sweet odour they use sweet smelling grass.

The Maasai people live a very traditional life and they have lived like this for many years.

KENYA- NOW

Kenya has been largely effected by tourism it has changed to accompany the needs of tourists. They country depend mostly on the money that comes in from the tourist industry. This money is then shared between the different areas and are gradually improving living standard a bit at a time.

Tourists choose to travel to Kenya for their holidays because the wildlife and the different environment attract them to the foreign country. The majority of tourists go on safari tours. These tours involve taking a minibus full of tourists out to the parks and they get up close to the animals. The minibuses are supposed to keep to defined tracks but many don't do this and go off course this had led too much of the ground to be eroded and ruined. Also many tourist use hot air balloons to travel over the parks this gives them a birds eye view of the animals. This cast shadows below and scares the animals and so they flee to other areas. Tourists also go to observe the coral reef but they stand on them this ruining the coral reef.

To accommodate tourists many new hotels have been built and this has destroyed much of the natural environment. These hotels have been built for tourists so they contain swimming pools, bars etc...The land that has been cleared for hotels destroys many species and habitats.

Maasai people have been forced to move out of their natural habitat so that parks can be set up for tourists to go around and look at the wildlife. They have been forced to move out of their traditional areas to outer regions and have received no compensation for this. They have also begun to sell and make jewellery to tourists.

Local towns in Kenya are generally Muslims and tourists don't respect their customs so and they wear fewer clothes. This is seen to be disgraceful and disrespectful to the Islamic town. Also they have brought lack of moral value, alcohol, drugs and prostitution.

The transport in the country has changed vastly to satisfy the tourists. Airports have been built; there are a total o seven airports in Kenya today. More roads have been built and the road networks have grown because tourists want to travel to different areas for sight seeing during their stay.

The employment has increased because of the amount of jobs that have been created due to the increase in tourism. Many new jobs are created in hotels, safari divers, tour guides, cleaners, managers etc...

The national income of the country has increased so more improvements can be made the country. Increase in trade also brings in more money. This allows more money to be spent on facilities such as education and training for more doctors and nursing.

Kenya is still a L.E.D.C because its GNP (Gross National Product) is still only $270 per person per year. The trade per person is £110 and the life expectancy is quite low at 54 years. The country is still categorized as an L.E.D.C but it has improved over the last couple years because of the money made from tourism.

Positive Impacts of Tourism

Negative Impacts of Tourism

More money for the country is made which can be divided up and sent to different areas to improve standards.

The safari tours are disturbing animals. The animal population is decreasing because the buses are going to close to the animals and this prevents them from mating.

Improve in quality of life

Shadows from the hot air balloons are disturbing the animals and they flee and go to a different area of the park.

More jobs are being created so more Kenyans are earning money to support themselves and their families.

The tourists produce more rubbish, which is left lying around. The animals begin to eat it and this can endanger them and make them obese.

80 000 people are employed to help keep hotels running

Car tyres are wrecking the ground. The drivers don't keep to the tracks and go off course. This erodes the ground and causes a lot of pollution. It is illeagal for the minibuses to go off course but the tourists want better pictures so the drivers move closer.

380 000 Kenyans make money by selling goods to tourists

There can be up to 30-40 buses around just one animal. This can make the animal scared and they migrate to different areas.

Taxes are helping industry like schools and hospitals

Then buses and all the transport damage the surrounding environment

Tourism is a major source of income for the country

Coral reefs are dying because tourist boats release their anchors on the reefs and this kills it.

Better facilities for the local people to us e.g. clean running water

Tourists stand on the coral reefs; damaging them and this can also kill them.

Better working relationship with the local community

Maasai people have been forced to move from their natural habitat so the area can be preserved for tourists. They have received no compensation and have had to try and cope with moving.

Creates new business opportunities

Tourists are corrupting the local customs e.g. they walk around half dressed, which is seen to be disrespectful in local towns because they are predominantly Muslims.

Tourists have bought a lack of moral value to towns

Increase in drug selling which results in more criminals.

Prostitution is now becoming a factor and this is increasing the amount of infections and aids being spread

Hotels are being built this is visual pollution and air pollution from cars, minibuses etc...

The chart shows that there are more negative impacts from tourism than positive impacts. This is because the increase in tourism is causing too many problems that can be reduced but aren't because the country are depending on the money from the tourism industry so they aren't going to prevent them from doing what they want. So tourists wont get discouraged and so they will come to Kenya again.

Some parts of the country for example the National Parks depend on the money that comes in from tourists to keep it running and to pay for all the wages of the workers. The decisions made by the country can be justified in some way. The building of a new airport can to some extent be justified because the country needs more money and to make money they have to spend money. Kenya, over the years has experienced a sudden increase in the amounts of tourists travelling there; they built a new airport so it would be easier for the people to land in Kenya. Then they would have to travel less to get to their hotels and it would then make it easier for people who were thinking to travel to Kenya. The airport generates a lot of money and created more job opportunities for the local people. On the other hand they land that was cleared for the airport would have destroyed animal habitats and kill many species.

The building of more hotels for the tourists is both a good and bad choice. It allows more people to stay but it is also running the environment and causing visual pollution.

The moving of the Maasai people is wrong and I don't think this can be justified because the Maasai people have been living in Kenya for a long time and they deserve respect. They should not be forced out of the traditional surroundings just for the sake of preserving a park just for tourists. The Maasai people are kind of a tourist attraction and so they should be treated with dignity.

LIMITING TOURISM

The word limit means a boundary; border; utmost extent restraint, restriction or to bound something. It means to keep something at a certain level or point.

Further damage to Kenya can be limited if right techniques and correct managements are used. Damages can be limited if things are changed. By restricting the amount of safari minibuses and hot air balloons that go over the National Parks the animals dont get disturbed or discouraged as much from mating or hunting. Laws can be reinforced by petrol vehicles that petrol the National Parks so they make sure that there is only few minibuses around the animals. Also there is a rule that vehicles should not go within 25 metres of any animal but many drivers ignore this and if there were petrol vehicles driving around drivers woukd not break the rule. If the government passed more laws and if the local people encouraged better attitudes towards looking after the environmet then the tourists would have to respect this and will treat the environment better. To prevent the ground from erroding away people should be encouraged to walk and schedules should be kept so that only a certain number of minibuses are driving around in the park grounds. There are already some things that have been done for example divers are not allowed to wear gloves because they are tempted to touh the coral and if they wear no gloves they see that it is sharp and wont touch it again. If the Maasi tribe are involved in preserving the natural beauty of Kenya the country will be a better place. If the tribe are enouraged to help out the land will become nourished and rich again. For then to do this the government should allow them back into their natual grounds in return for their help. There are many problems caused by to tourists and if more prevention techniques are put in to practice then Kenya would be a country better off. The country can prevent damages even tough it is an L.E.D.C these are simple things and can be done. Things like the petrol vehicles only needs a bit of management but it will be very effective.

If numbers are limited then this will prevent any more damage from occurring and then the animals and environment will start to grow better and back to the proper level.

Tourism in Kenya should be allowed to a certain degree because it provides the country with money and this money is used to provide the necessary amenities for local people. There are positive effects from tourism as well as negative ones. Numbers should be limited because if it carries on increasing as it is now there will be no wildlife or culture left in the land, and these are some of the main attractions. The money produced by the tourism industry is a good source of income for the country as a whole.

EVALUATION

Sustainable is when something can be kept at a certain level so that future generations can have that thing as well.

Sustainable tourism is that which can continue without damaging the environment as well as integrating the local community and involving them in the planning and carrying out tourist development.

The existing level of tourism is really high in Kenya. It has increased vastly increased in the past couple of years. This is illustrated by the graph below.

YEAR

The present level of tourism can be sustained in Kenya if the country took action right now. It will be possible to achieve this if the whole country took some part in helping. Both the people and the land will benefit largely from this.

YEARS

Over the next 10 years I think that the level of tourists traveling to Kenya will start to decrease rapidly. I think this because the country isn't doing anything to prevent the damages occurring and tourists will not be attracted to the country as much and will begin to travel elsewhere other than Kenya.

The problems that might arise during this time are things like the country will not be able to support the people. National parks that rely solely depend on the money from the tourist industry will not be able to cope and will have to shut down and people will go out of business. The workers will not be able to have a dependable source of income and will go broke and will not be able to support their families. The country depends on this money a lot and they desperately need it. If tourism deceased many people will be out of jobs and hotels and bas will become bankrupt.

But on the other hand if tourism did decrease it will allow the country to repair all the damages and let the ground become rich again and let the animals mate so numbers will begin to increase. Then the country might experience an increase in tourist but more gradually and then they could keep these restriction to help the environment to stay as it is.

If these new ways of helping the country are introduced it could have an opposite effect on the tourists. They may not like the things that are restricted and might not go to Kenya this could then cause a decrease in the tourism level. The tourists may be put off by all the restrictions and see that they are not getting what they wanted. For example they go out on safaris to see the animals up close but this will not be possible if the 25-meter rule was being followed.

Overall Kenya needs to protect the most valuable assets in the country from dying out or getting ruined if they want to keep the essential money coming in from the tourist industry.