All-inclusive holidays harm local businesses, report reveals
Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:57 AM
Only 10 per cent of tourist spend from all-inclusive holidays found its way into the local economy in Turkey.
All inclusive holidays are damaging local businesses and the local economy in popular holiday destinations, according to a report by Tourism Concern.
The UK charity also voiced their concerns on BBC Breakfast, where they claimed that the popular packages were effectively forcing local restaurants to close in holiday hotspots like Spain's Costa del Sol and the Dominican Republic, because tourists no longer spent money outside their all-inclusive hotel.
Effects on third world countries were even more damming - in the report, Tourism Concern reveals that although locals in Kenya live off less than £1 a day, 87 per cent of tourists who visit the African country choose an all-inclusive holiday.
In Goa, India, the report said that local taxis and guides were losing business to all-inclusive resorts, whilst in Jamaica all-inclusive tourism blocked development of other types of tourism, leading to increased tourist harassment.
Local communities also appear to be angered by the effect resorts are having on their economy. In Majorca local businesses organised a day of protest against the all-inclusive hotels in 2011 and in Turkey research found that only 10 per cent of tourist spend from all-inclusive holidays found its way into local economy
Tourism Concern conceded there was a demand for all-inclusive holidays, sales of which have risen 50 per cent in the past three years and now account for a third of all package holiday sales.
However, the report warned: "The implications for employees, other local businesses, the destination economy, and the tourist experience in terms of meaningful cultural exchange, throws up some serious questions about the sustainability and ethics of this tourism model".
TUI brand First Choice will switch to selling exclusively all-inclusive holidays from this summer. TUI distribution director Nick Longman said the operator was keen to work with local restaurants to ensure money from tourists continued to filter into the local economy.
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