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10. My International Tourism Philosophy

What a great semester. I took this class because I heard Lorie Tuma was a great professor and I needed an elective, I gained more than I could have imagined. My family and I have traveled a ton throughout my life but it was more of a narrow thought process of, this trip is going to be fun, then I’m going to go home. I never really looked at the big picture. When Lorie told us that tourism was the number one industry in the world, I was completely shocked, but as the class went on it was very clear that tourism was the number one industry. There are just so many little parts that go into it and it all feels so calculated. Like in my first blog, I explained that people like to escape whatever they are going through at the time by traveling. The tourism industry plans on you traveling before you even do! That’s why plane tickets are so expensive during the spring break season. Then once you get there you are bombarded with gift shops and merchandise stores to spend even more money. It just feels like the tourism business has everything that you need/want calculated to a T to be able to make the most amount of profit. Very cool industry.

My major takeaway from this class is tourism is and will always be the number one industry in the world because it is hard to find someone that simply doesn’t like to travel. There will always be some sort of traveling going on around the world. So I can see why Lorie wants us to consider an HTM career and honestly if I wasn’t so set on my dreams and aspirations I would strongly consider this field.

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9. Environmental Impacts of Tourism

On March 24, 1989 one of the worst human-caused disasters happened in world history. An oil tanker called Exxon Valdez carrying over 53 million gallons of oil hit Bligh Reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. This caused over 11 million gallons to be poured into the water. It spread over 1,300 miles and killed a variety of animals and fish that called that area home. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, animals died. Oil can still be found in the body of water 30 years later.

Exxon has paid more than $2 billion dollars to just help clean up the mess and $1.8 to restore the habitat and personal damages. The cleanup process included skimming the water surface, washing the oily beaches with hot water and cleaning animals. The economic loss from the spill was upwards of $2.8 billion dollars. Half of the 91 beach sights in Prince William Sound were/are contaminated with oil from a 2001 study. In 1990 President George Bush passed the Oil Pollution Act of1990 to increase the penalties for companies that cause oil spills.

Companies have a huge impact on tourism and our own environment. Over half of the beaches are contaminated in Prince William sound, people aren’t going there for a vacation spot anymore and that is direct because of Exxon’s oil spill. Other examples are car companies. Cars give off carbon dioxide which is bad for the environment and that is from big businesses.

We can do a better job holding businesses accountable by doing exactly what George Bush did. Make punishment for companies affecting our environment very harsh. By doing this big business will have no choice but to care more and will always be walking on pins and needles to ensure that nothing like the two major oils spills ever happen again.

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8. Political & Civil Unrest, Conflict & Terrorism

Hollywood and tourism either go together really well or really bad I feel like. It can go well because most of the time in films they only show the really nice parts of a city or country by showing off everyone having fun in the city or people relaxing on a beach. For that same exact reason, it can go bad because it creates false narratives and expectations. I could walk around with a camera and make Detroit look like the most beautiful city in America and send it to people around the world. If they decided to take a vacation to Detroit, they are going to most likely be very disappointed.

Hollywood defiantly tries to make places look the best they can though. I do believe that it does affect tourism greatly. Another example is the movie, Rio. The animated movie about the two blue macaws. They did a great job showing how beautiful Brazil is, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if a family watching that movie together decided that they should go to Brazil sometime.

In the article, I thought that it was very interesting that with $100 you could essentially be a millionaire over there. They also don’t have credit cards meaning you literally have to carry around cash everywhere. That would be horrible. The last thing I found that was very interesting in the article is that they use tissues as napkins. There are actually boxes of Kleenex on every table.

In No Reservations I found that the entire situation to be absolutely wild. I think it’s interesting that at the beginning the guy insisted to Anthony that the area was safe. As a direct example of how Hollywood can affect tourism, now when I think or hear of Beirut, I will always think of this situation. It could be the nicest place on the planet but there will/are people that will not go there anymore just because of that one episode.

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7. Economic Impacts of Tourism

Wow. That is my immediate reaction to the two case studies of The Impossible, and Tsunami. If anything, these cases confirmed that I will not be going to Florida during hurricane season in my lifetime. I would much rather deal with the cold in Michigan. The new perspective I got was how terribly affected are not only the tourist that happen to be in the area during a natural disaster, but the people that actually, live there are. Their lives are forever changed now. The tourist just get to say, “wow that sucked, I’m glad we’re okay” and go home to their perfectly fine houses.

What I learned about natural disaster recovery is being prepared in 99% of it. I feel like if you live in an area that has a history of hurricanes, tornados, etc. it’s more of a when it's going to happen rather than an if this happens scenario. That would just be the safest mindset for people in that area. They shouldn’t be paranoid and if they are, then they probably shouldn’t be living there.

I learned that a lack of preparedness can set you so far behind and even be the difference between life and death. Preparedness is such an underrated thing to be good at, I somewhat view it as a skill. Think about it. If you are prepared for everything that you do in life, you completely lose any sort of, “I wish I would have done this, instead of this.” For example, football coaches watch game film on their next opponent to see what they like to do. If they are going to verse a team that likes to run the ball a lot, the coach isn’t going to just find ways to stop them from running the ball. They are going to watch the 5-6 times that the other team passed it on film as well so that they are 100% prepared for anything during the game. That’s how countries and states should treat a natural disaster, prepare for anything and everything.

If I’m in a leadership position the number one priority is to make sure all of my citizens have a complete understanding of how to handle all sorts of natural disasters. Preparedness is key. I would have a list of names of people in my city or town, with addresses so that if something happens, we will have a rescue team cross off each name, so no one goes missing. As far as taking care of properties and items that people own, I would try to help as much as I could.

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6. Eco-Tourism and Voluntourism

I have never really considered studying abroad or doing voluntourism, I enjoy being at home with my friends and family too much. With that being said, I could definitely see why people with the funds would want to do something like this. After conducting some research, I realized that there are so many great opportunities to travel the world and help a country that really needs it.

I found this website called projects-abroad.org and they have all the voluntourism opportunities you could ever imagine. There are over 200 to choose from! One of the examples I found, which happened to be the cheapest one on the website, priced at $1,770 is a medical internship in Nepal. It’s for one week and they said you can get great medical experience while learning right next to Nepal doctors and nurses.

The most expensive opportunity available on the website is by far the coolest one, shark conservation volunteering in Fiji. Not only do you get to go to the beautiful, tourist hotspot Fiji, but you get to swim with sharks! While typing this in the comfort of my room this seems really cool but I’m not sure how I would do if a shark was swimming 3 feet away from me. This is a 2 weeklong trip; you have to be over 16 years old and it costs $4,215.

The last project that I thought was cool is volunteer teaching in Peru. For $2,065 dollars you can travel to a foreign country and work at schools. The goal would to not only help kids with their English but teachers as well. I think this would be a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to go into the teaching field.

I think people doing these projects are helping because it’s for a good cause. What makes these successful is a support group whether its family and friends or the people you will be working within that country. The challenges ahead are just being nervous in a new area and having to learn about the country on the fly. Based on the projects I listed, they are all helping each country with something very important, heath in Nepal, animal protection in Fiji and education in Peru.

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5. Darker Sides of Tourism

Based off what I now know from the two movies and article I do believe that there should be some sort of “class” or online tutorial given to everyone that plans on traveling to a new country. As a tourist we are invading their homeland, we are wrong for landing and thinking we own the place. As Americans, we have always felt entitled to what we have and that has followed suit through our entire nation’s history all the way back to Christopher Columbus and later on with Manifest Destiny.

More support should be offered by travel agents when families are taking a trip to a new land. The agent or someone from the same travel agency should be able to teach the family the culture of that country so they don’t stand out as much. It would also help put tourists in the best position if they were taught some basic words to use in the new country just in case.

I do believe it should be required to “know before they go” because if we want to change the perspective of entitled Americans, we need to start having more respect for the places that we travel to. I don’t think any American would appreciate a foreigner coming to our country and just show no respect for their town or culture.

Personally, I think the best way to fix this problem is to offer a quick online tutorial or a breakdown by a travel agent in the country before you travel. This would not only help the family that’s traveling have an even better understanding of the country, but they may enjoy getting a taste of living like them as well.

I did not know that the government made a website for travelers to look at. I think it's very cool that they offer a fun fact page so that you can learn a little more about the country. It’s also cool that they offer a local laws tab along with a safety and security tab.

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4. Disability Tourism & Access to Tourism

The most impossible, unachievable, unreachable career I could get in my field happens to be my dream job. My goal is to one day be the General Manager of the Detroit Lions. This is something that I thought of as a “wow wouldn’t that be nice” career. I started my college career off by going to Ferris State to be a sportswriter because I wanted to get a career in sports. I realized during my sophomore year that I didn’t actually want to write about sports, I wanted to be apart of them. So, I decided to transfer to Grand Valley to take Sports Management.

Bob Quinn is currently the General Manager of the Lions but based off their current record he might not be the GM for much longer. He started off as a graduate assistant for the University of Connecticut and was hired by the New England Patriots after 1 season. He worked for them for 15 seasons rising up the ranks very quickly. After winning 4 Super Bowls with the team in 2016 he was hired by the Detroit Lions as a GM to try to help the struggling franchise.

The reason I want this job so bad is because I feel like it’s sort of my destiny. I have been a fan of the team for as long as I can remember, and they have been struggling for as long as I can remember. I just want to try to bring a championship to the hungry fan base of Detroit. They have never won or been to a Super Bowl and I just want to try to help make that more of a reality.

What makes this job so impossible is it’s a one of one job. It’s also a “who you know” job and being an average guy from Fenton, Michigan that isn’t very easy. So, what I’m getting at is the odds are not in my favor, but I’m going to do everything in my power to go against the odds.

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3. Eco-Tourism & Nature Conservation

What is being depicted from films such as Blackfish and The Cove is the fact that animals are being treated very poorly and a majority of the world has no idea. The common theme in both movies is that there are things going behind the scenes that people don’t think is happening. People always see “happy” animals during the shows, but the animals are actually miserable. I didn’t even know about the horrible things that Sea World and the murdering of dolphins that was going on. What makes the situation so depressing is that the animals don’t even get a say. Obviously, animals can’t talk to us but what I’m getting at is that they are forced to live this lifestyle.

I can try to help by spreading the word but with one small voice that’s hard to do. Organizations around the world can have a greater impact on stopping the capturing of these animals or maybe even petitions.

If I was a UN ambassador, I would start with an investigation on the most offending country to see if there was any sort of mistreating of animals going on. After the investigation, I would evaluate the findings and decide if they are breaking any rules. If they are, I would start with an immediate fine and the money for the fine would go to charity. The conversation would look like this, I would call the owner of what every company is breaking any laws and say, “I’m sorry to inform you, but during our investigation we came to a conclusion that you are indeed improperly treating animals in your facility and your company will have to pay a fine, the proceeds will go to charity.”

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2. UNWTO Sustainable Goals & Sustainable Development

I didn’t really think about how big of an impact tourism has on a society before these films. Looking back, it makes complete sense. From an economic standpoint, it’s great for businesses around popular areas like New York, San Francisco, etc. If your business is in one of those areas, there is potential for your business to become an attraction itself. Socially it’s great because your country, city, town has a chance to show off your culture to incoming tourists. For example, if someone went to Mexico from the United States, the citizens of Mexico may influence them to attend a Bullfight since it’s a big part of their culture. The environmental impacts of tourism could have a negative effect in some ways but its more about self-discipline of the tourist and being able to pick up after themselves.

I have unknowingly contributed by purchasing things from gift stores and restaurants. I didn’t know before about the negative impacts that tourists and have on an area environmentally, but it makes sense. People need to start picking up after themselves and not leave such a mess when they travel.

The two issues I chose to write about are No Poverty and Clean water. I can help with no poverty by donating the things that I don’t use or even donating a little bit of extra money that I have. 836 million people live in extreme poverty and that should not be happening in any circumstance. Water scarcity is a huge problem as well and affects over 40% of the population in the world. I can help by not only donating water but making sure I’m not wasting any of my own water.  

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1. Motivations of Travel & Tourism

People travel around the world for many reasons. Some of these reasons include such as visiting a friend/family member, leaving behind the drama of life or just to become a better person. I personally feel people travel to escape whatever they are going through during that point in their life. People like to travel during spring break to escape the stress of school. During the summer kids go to summer camps to escape their parents. People travel with the goal to come back refreshed. I feel like a majority of people come back feeling just like that. Especially if it is with a group of friends somewhere tropical.

In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless wanted to experience true freedom by dropping the current life he had and enter the wilderness. He wanted to escape the current life he was living so he decided to travel.

In The Way, Dr. Avery walked the path his son was going to walk to help his son complete his destiny. This can also be viewed as an escape for the father to ease the pain of the death of his child.

My point is, I believe that traveling is a great way to help someone escape what they are currently going through and to especially maybe become better from it.

One quote that I thought was very interesting by Saint Augustine is “The World is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” Traveling is something that I think everyone should be able to experience in their lifetime. I was lucky enough to be able to travel coast to coast in my lifetime and there’s just so much to see every new place you go. Hopefully one day I will experience countries outside the USA. But going back to that quote I agree with St. Augustine travel is very important.