The relevance of tourism to socio-economic development in Sarawak

Abstract

Since the early 1970s most countries of the Third World have considered tourism as an important avenue for socio-economic development. This widespread optimism about the remedial role of tourism, especially as regards to its ability to solve problems unemployment and relating to balance of payment deficits, regional disparities, has to do with the nature of tourism itself, and the manner in which its role is perceived by politicians, planners and the ordinary citizen of the host community. That tourism does confer benefits with little problem to certain established destinations is just as unassailable as the frequent accusation against the industry in other destinations where tourism happens to deliver more problems than solutions.