AT2: Portfolio Essay

HOST303 Contemporary Issues in Hospitality and Tourism

Table of Contents
Analysis 1....................................................................................................................................................2
Reference Lists........................................................................................................................................3
Analysis 2....................................................................................................................................................4
Reference Lists........................................................................................................................................5
Analysis 3....................................................................................................................................................6
Reference Lists........................................................................................................................................6

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Analysis 1
The article covers how unhealthy challenges had affected the tourism and hospitality sector. This
article will explain how the significant importance of health and medical tourism has driven
countries’ economies. Thus, the practical example taken to support this analysis is from, India
and Ethiopia. Lastly, this article has also indicated how the trend of medical tourism led the
healthcare landscape internationally.

Tourism is the fastest growing industry globally, driving socio-economic development and job
creation. According to UNWTO (2020), Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon
that entails people’s movement to countries or places outside their usual environment for
personal or business/ professional purposes. In fact, traveling is the most effective way to explore
the world; however, traveling is done for various purposes-religious tourism, medical tourism,
environmental tourism, cultural and historical tourism. Since the trend of people movement has
drastically increased over the years, medical tourism has captured people’s interest
internationally. For example, the destination in Asia is popularly known for orthopaedics and
cardiac surgery; similarly, the destination in central and south America has a sound reputation
for cosmetic and plastic surgery, dental care (Michael &Jeffrey, 2007). As evidence, almost five
hundred thousand medical tourists arrived in India in 2017, and it was expected to touch the $9
billion mark in terms of revenue by 2020 (Tanya, 2019). Thus, with the continuous rise in
medical travel, India has become one of the most preferred travel destinations for health care.
However, this scenario is entirely different in the case of a poor and developing country like
Ethiopia. With limited modern health care service, primary health centres, clinics, unqualified
doctors, physicians, and nurses; tourist seems to travel less to these nations for health care.
Health is not any commodity or service; it is a public good (Olivier, 2009). Therefore, the
unavailability of a quality health service, less standard hospitals and clinics, could divert tourists
from choosing other options that suit them.

Taking about Ethiopia, the major health concerns include maternal mortality, malaria,
tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, resulting Ethiopia as the sixth unhealthiest country in Africa with
an instability ratio of 43 and a life expectancy ratio of 66.71 years (Aderemi, 2019). Although
with the sound diplomatic relationships with other countries, cultural and natural tourist
attractions, 13 UNESCO heritage sites, Ethiopia has experienced a drastic change in tourist

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arrivals. As evidence, the number of tourist arrival in Ethiopia was around 933000, 849000 &
812000 in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. In fact, a tiny proportion (0.65%) of total tourists
has arrived in Ethiopia for health care purposes in 2018, which indirectly indicates a flawed
medical system in Ethiopia. Lastly, with the growing number of patients globally, medical
tourism has peaked; however, with the shortage of modern technology and workforce,
developing countries are facing enormous obstacles to attract medical tourists.

Reference Lists
UNTWO. (2020). What is Tourism? Available at:
https://www.tugberkugurlu.com/archive/definintion-of-tourism-unwto-definition-of-tourism-
what-is-tourism

Michael. H & Jeffrey. R. (Dec 2007). Medical Tourism: Health Care in the Global Economy.
Retrieved from: http://web.nchu.edu.tw/pweb/users/hychuo/lesson/5877.pdf

Tanya. K. (24 Nov 2019). India’s medical tourism market expected to touch $9 billion by 2020.
Available at: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/indias-medical-tourism-market-
expected-to-touch-9-billion-by-2020-report-4639931.html

Olivier. C. (Nov 2009). Trade in Health Services: What’s in it for Developing Countries?
Available at: http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/799361468147875354/pdf/
WPS5115.pdf

Aderemi. O. (19 March 2019). The 15 most unhealthy countries in Africa. Taken from:
https://www.pulse.ng/bi/lifestyle/ranked-the-15-most-unhealthy-countries-in-africa/mf0bves

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Analysis 2
This given article has presented the overall importance of sustainability and its benefits in the
Tourism & Hospitality sector. This article has also demonstrated some of practical examples how
sustainable tourism can lead to economic growth, promotes local culture, and particularly
balance ecosystem and biodiversity. Therefore, the examples taken to support this analysis are
from, Barcelona, Australia, and Spain.

According to United Nations, sustainability can be defined as activities of meeting our own
desire without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The goal
of sustainable business practice means to create strategies that preserve and promote the long-
term viability of peoples and the planet (Samuel,2020). When we talk about sustainable tourism,
we tend to think only about the environment, but sustainability is based on three major pillars:
environmental, social, and economic. With the number of tourists globally, poses growing
challenges including greenhouse gas emissions, economic leakages, and impact on local
communities and cultural aspects. For example, in June 2019, Barcelona was named as the most
polluted port in Europe, with the highest ratio of Sulphur oxide and carcinogenic nitrogen oxide
came from visiting cruise ships (Alex, 2019). Similarly, from a socio-cultural perspective,
tourism brings peoples from various cultural backgrounds together, but meantime many
communities lose their cultural and traditional identity due to globalization and modernization.

Moreover, tourism plays a crucial role to boost the country’s economy and enhance job
opportunities. For instance, in the financial year 2018-19, Tourism in Australia generated around
$60.8 billion as revenue employing 666,000 Australians, becoming the fourth largest exporting
industry (TourismAustralia, n.d). Since tourism brings a huge economic potential for a
destination, but it equally costs the local government or local taxpayers a great deal of money for
infrastructural development. Likewise, rising demand of tourist can cause a hike in price which
directly affect local peoples. For example, Hong Kong has created a sound reputation as a
“shopping paradise” for tourists, therefore; the substantial increase in tourists’ shoppers has
driven a rise in products price, as a result, a local resident has faced numerous problems
concerning the pricing. Ultimately, with the increasing numbers of tourist arrivals, the issue of
sustainability has raised over the years. Thus, to promote the long-term value of the industry,
concerned authorities should make an effort around a specific problem or issue.

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Video Presentation on Sustainable tourism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfOQuJT5kw

Reference Lists
Samuel. W. (4 March 2020). Sustainable Tourism: A long Road Ahead. Available at:
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4097313.html

Alex. L. (12 June 2019). Barcelona Is threatening to shut out tourists. Retrieved from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2019/07/12/barcelona-is-ready-to-shut-out-tourists/?
sh=62cdb16e5546

TourismAustralia. (n.d). The Economic Importance of Tourism. Available at:

https://www.tourism.australia.com/en/markets-and-stats/tourism-statistics/the-economic-
importance-of-tourism.html#

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Analysis 3
The given article has explained about the major consequences of Covid-19 pandemic on global
economy. It has also described how the unprecedented covid-19 crisis has driven countries
economic negatively, also how covid-19 pandemic led tourism industry to face decremental
effects that results economic collapse globally.

Firstly Covid-19 started on the begging of 2020 and is still affecting entire world’s revenue, a
sudden shut down of international borders, many countries has experienced severe disruptions in
demand of tourism worldwide. For example, Australia has still closed its border for international
travelers, as a result many parts of industry relying on international travelers are hurt. Many of
luxury hotels and restaurants are compelled to close, as they were unable to create revenue at
least to sustain in the market. Therefore, with the unprecedented covid-19 pandemic has
negatively impacted tourism and hospitality industry, due to travel restrictions, quarantine and
social distancing rules. As an evidence, in the financial year of 2019, tourism industry in
Australia contributed $50.4 billion which is 2.5% of overall GDP and employing 621,000 people
(Austrade, n.d). However, in 2020, international visitors number fell by 80% which results
around $34.3 billion loss as compared to 2019 (Alaae, 2020). Likewise, the recent research
report of the World travel and tourism council (WTTC) has estimated around 75 million job risk
as result of Covid-19 crisis (Marinko, Domingo, Malgorzata, 2021). Therefore, with millions of
jobs at risk, it has been one of the most labor-intensive sectors of the global economy.

Furthermore, with the rising number of covid cases world-wide, governments are still unsure
about re-opening of its international borders. Consequently, businesses highly relying on
international travelers are forced to close temporarily or permanently, concerning this global
pandemic. Moreover, the highly infectious novel cause coronavirus has continued to threaten
global economic and raises questions about the present and future of tourism and hospitality
sector. Overall, the covid-19 pandemic has led many businesses to rely on government support
package and aid. Thus, covid-19 pandemic has been a major issue in tourism industry since its
existences.

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Reference Lists
Austrade. (n.d). Tourism Research Australia. Retrieved from: https://www.tra.gov.au/

Alaae. S. (28 Sep 2020). How Covid-19 Impacted Travel and Tourism Industry globally.
Available at: https://infomineo.com/covid-19-impacted-travel-tourism-industry/

Marinko. S., Domingo. R.S., Malgorzata. P.R. (Feb 2021). Impact of Covid-19 on the travel and
tourism industry. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162520312956