A Literature Review on Economic Effects of Cultural Tourism (Dissertation Review Sample)

A Literature Review on Economic Effects of Cultural Tourism
1. Introduction
For the last few decades, cultural tourism has become an extremely important and major economic sector. Cultural tourism is a sub-category of tourism. When a tourist participates in the cultural tourism scenario, it suggests that the tourist is interested in the culture, history, art, architecture, lifestyle, social aspects, religious and ethical values, and other influencing cultural agents for the people of the destination places. The scope of cultursl tourism is growing at an unbelievable rapid pace because the tourists are becoming more interested in cultural tourism. The statistics clearly shows that the arrivals of international tourists exceeded to an all-time world record of 1,184 million. It is a 4% worldwide increase in respect to the numbers of the previous year. The regions of Europe, America, and the Asia-Pacific are the largest contributors to this growth because these regions hugely attract the international tourists. But, European countries are the most visited destinations. In 2015, the European countries had the overwhelming share of 51% in the numbers of worldwide arrivals of international tourists. On the other hand, cultural tourism sums up to as much as about 40% of the whole statistical representation. Experts suggest that the numbers will hugely increase (as much as about 15% every year) in the coming years. This is because the international tourists are becoming more and more interested in the cultural scenario of the destination places CITATION Tri16 \l 1033 (Trinh, Ryan, & Cave, 2016). Culture and tourism are indeed very closely related to each other. The culture and the cultural events of these destinations play a huge role in the development, growth and impact of the tourism industry in various dimensions. Researchers and analysts are engaging themselves in the extensive studies on the cultural tourism. It is quite evident that the tourists are becoming more interested in cultural shopping rather than mere petty shopping. As a result, cultural tourism is not only creating a huge impact on the social structure but also on the economy of the destination places. If evaluated at a broader dimension, we can find out that cultural tourism also has a significant impact on the overall economic condition of the world.
1.1. An Overview of the Impact
Experts have arrived at the point of understanding that the international tourists should be disaggregated into different sections depending on two different purposes of travel -- business travel and personal travel. But travelers from the second section are differentiated into two more parts -- people who travel for leisure purposes, and people who travel being motivated by cultural influences. But, often these two purposes get merged as it is very difficult to properly determine the nature of one's personal travel. But, studies have revealed that most of the tourists try to maintain a balance between cultural and recreational aspects during their travel. About 50% of the destinations are chosen due to their rich cultural heritage and presence of heritage sites. Many experts are of the opinion that it is the cultural influence that drives the tourists to visit the destinations. They have tried to establish this argument by citing the example of the tourism industry in America where most of the tourists visit America only to explore its rich tradition and culture. Both the urban destinations and the rural destinations have immensely contributed to the growth of cultural tourism. Another significant thing has come into notice. The cultural tourism immensely contributes to the economic growth because an average cultural tourist spends more money than other tourists during the whole period of stay CITATION Got05 \l 1033 (Gotham, 2005). It is pretty clear that these facts contribute hugely to the rapid growth of cultural tourism as well as the overall economic growth.
2. Method of the Literature Review
This section of the article addresses the existing literature related to cultural tourism and its impact on the economy. It will try to provide an in-depth analysis of the literary works resulted from extensive research and evaluation. The first part of this literature review is mainly focused on analyzing a static setting where the general equilibrium is established. The prices of the goods and the resources increase according to the increase of demand. Thus, it creates a huge impact on the economy. Then, the second part addresses a dynamic setting where the main focus of the cultural tourism is focused on how tourism can lead to a long-run economic growth.
3. Background
The past studies and research have found that the economic effects of cultural tourism can be divided into three varied parts CITATION Wag97 \l 1033 (Wagner, 1997). The direct effect affects the tourism industry of the cultural destination with an immediate effect. The indirect effect does not have any direct link with the cultural tourism, but it can contribute in a roundabout way. The induced effect enhances the economic growth of an area by allowing the inhabitants to spend more in the industry or in the supporting businesses. Cultural tourism can effectively contribute to the economic growth of the region because culture is going through a stage of commodification. With the growth of modernization and industrialization, every urban tourist destination has some special technological attraction to some extent. The competitive market in terms of this aspect is quite normal. The economic impact of this factor is also equal in most of the places. Therefore, various urban destinations have decided to enhance the functionality of their cultural uniqueness by providing various means of entertainment and consumption through museums and theatres. On the other hand, the rural or sub-urban destinations have developed a different approach. Culture cannot successfully contribute to the economic growth unless it becomes a commodity. Therefore, these destinations are trying represent various aspects of their cultural uniqueness as consumption commodities. The past surveys and studies have also revealed that not every destination can be termed as cultural destination. Only those destinations that have living cultural areas, historical sites, or any other cultural components are considered as cultural destinations. The town fairs, various cultural festivals, natural ecosystems, and theme parks also contribute immensely to the growth of cultural tourism. These are cultural resources either in the tangible or in the intangible form. Experts have emphasized both of these. It should be ensured that a huge land mass of a cultural area should not be owned by any foreign investor CITATION Luc98 \l 1033 (Lucas, 1998). Then, the labor wage and the output productivity will maintain a balance and it will contribute to the economic growth. The dynamic nature of labor availability, productivity, and price change depends on the availability of tangible and intangible resources. In a specialized tourism scenario like the cultural tourism, if the demand and the need for cultural commodities change, then the economic aspects of land mass rental and labor wages will also change. These are variable aspects that are closely related to cultural tourism CITATION AGl15 \l 1033 (Datta, Bigham, Zou, & Hill, 2015). As a result, when the demand for cultural commodities increases, the increased demand gets reflected in the land rental and the labor wages. It is in a equilibrium balance with these economic aspects.
4. General Equilibrium Model
This general equilibrium model of cultural tourism is closely linked to the model of Dutch disease literature CITATION Cor82 \l 1033 (Corden & Neary, 1982). The local amenities of the tourist destinations have two different classes -- natural resources and cultural resources CITATION Ric96 \l 1033 (Richards, 1996). Beaches, mountains, and landscapes can be considered as the natural resources. Monuments, museums, and architecture are regarded as the significant cultural resources. Both of these groups are equally important for the growth of cultural tourism CITATION Tho16 \l 1033 (Thompson, 2016). As a result of these resources, cultural tourism immensely contribute to the economy in a disguised manner. The tourist come to the cultural destinations to enjoy the natural and cultural resources, they buy the services or products, and they acquire the essence of the destinations. All of these activities have to be paid to some extent. This is why cultural tourism is regarded as a medium of invisible export to enhance the economic growth of the destination CITATION Sch11 \l 1033 (Schubart, Brida, & Risso, 2011) .The impact of these resources is further divided into two models. The first model has a huge impact on the growth of tourism and economy but it does not lead to any kind of migration flows. It is also related to labor immobility. The second model analyzes the factor of labor mobility and migration flows CITATION Ada95 \l 1033 (Adams & Parmenter, 1995). With the help of the existing literary sources, these aspects can be effectively analyzed.
5. Factor of Services, Products, and Labor Immobility
We can clearly and efficiently analyze the effect of labor immobility by assessing the economic effect and distributional welfare of the cultural tourism. This model tries to establish the aspect in which local amenities plays a huge role in the growth of tourism and economy but does not induce any kind of labor immobility.
When tourists cross the national boundaries and visit a foreign country, they get the opportunity to consume the local amenities of the destination places at its original and basic location. This is why cultural tourism is often considered as an export industry in an invisible form CITATION Urr88 \l 1033 (Urry, 1988). This m...