THE CONTRIBUTION OF TOURISM TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIJI AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES

David Harrison and Biman Prasad
Additional contact information
David Harrison: The University of the South Pacific, Fiji
Biman Prasad: The University of the South Pacific, Fiji

Chapter 32 in Handbook of Tourism Economics:Analysis, New Applications and Case Studies, 2013, pp 741-761 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: AbstractOver the last two decades, tourism has become the major driver of economic growth in many Pacific Island countries (PICs), most notably Fiji, Cook Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa, and it is becoming increasingly important in others. Conventionally, its main economic impact is generally considered to be in providing foreign exchange and employment, and contributing to the gross domestic product. While statistical data are often unreliable or even non-existent, such indices are important, and an attempt is made in the paper to compare the differential economic impacts of tourism in PICs. At the same time, other and less obvious forms of economic impacts are also relevant. The structure of the tourism industry, especially the hotel and guest house sector, can be quite different across island states, and whereas new institutional players, in the form of transnational hotels, have an important role in tourism development in Fiji, they are much less apparent in such PICs as Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands. In addition, forms of poverty alleviation other than those conventionally discussed are also relevant. Further benefits, even less easy to categorise, come with the more ad hoc exercise of corporate social responsibility by (large and small) hotels, which includes, but is not restricted to, assistance in medical and educational projects. This chapter discusses the above issues and assesses the region's potential for future tourism, with due reference to the need for political stability and a stable global financial environment.

Keywords: Accommodation and Tourism; China; Congestion and Tourism; Cost-Benefit Analysis of Tourism; Cruise Ship Tourism; Cultural and Heritage-Based Tourism; Demand for Touring; Economic Development and Tourism; Economic Impact Analysis of Tourism; Ecotourism; Educational Tourism; Environmental Conservation and Tourism; Ergodic Events and Tourism; Gambling and Tourism; Health and Tourism; India; Information Technology and Tourism; Infrastructure and Tourism; Inter-Industry Analysis of Tourism; International Tourism; Medical Tourism; National Parks and Tourism; Nature-Based Tourism; Pollution and Tourism; Protected Areas and Tourism; Public Finance and Tourism; Religious Tourism; Special Events and Tourism; Sustainable Tourism; Terrorism and Tourism; The Environment and Tourism; Theme Parks; Tourism; Tourism Economics; Tourism Industry; Tourism Satellite Accounts; Transport and Tourism; Travel; Travel Insurance; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/9789814327084_0032 (application/pdf)
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789814327084_0032 (text/html)
Ebook Access is available upon purchase.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:wschap:9789814327084_0032

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in World Scientific Book Chapters from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().