Assignment task:
Asian Tourism: Japan
Among all the choices a society has, there are many types of "industries" that help create wealth. These range from the traditional smokestack industries (manufacturing), extraction industries (mining, agriculture, and fishing) and construction to the broad range of services sectors. In most highly developed countries, the service sector accounts for as much as 80% or more of total employment and wealth creation. In developing nations that ratio may be nearly reversed. Certainly tourism can have a far different impact depending on the total context of a nation's economic composition.
1. In many cases tourism can have limitations for total economic development that other sectors MAY not (some will). These include the seasonal nature of tourism and the hardships that may bring, the need for many workers at very basic skill and compensation categories with little opportunity for mobility, and the tendency of tourism and its settings and infrastructure to be set apart from the life of the rest of a city or country (we have considered this already in a cultural context where tourists may be isolated from the real life of a particular Asian country; so also the economic gains and investments may not mix a great deal with the rest of the economy and its people. Please discuss how you think Asian societies deal with some of these challenges that may be unique to tourism? Are there examples in Asian which you think really stand out- positively or negatively?
2. There is often much discussion about tourism as a "clean" industry- not very polluting (comparatively), outsiders spend their money to enjoy someone else's environment, locales may gain benefit of enjoying the same venues as visitors, etc. Also think about the different roles of the public and private sectors in promoting tourism for development. Are there instances where a similar type of broad debate occurs regarding tourism development? Are there national or local tourism "policies" from your knowledge of Asian nations (to direct the path of tourism, grow an industry sector, build infrastructure? Any examples? If so, who pays for this? Who should pay?