Tourism: Engine of Professional Job Growth?
Some have argued that the tourism industry is economically important because it generates jobs: not just menial jobs as waiters and dishwashers but "good jobs" such as accountants and lawyers. Such was the enthusiasm about the sector by one speaker that one could be led into thinking that tourism is an economy's cure-all. Certainly, however, a more sober look reveals that such allegations are, at best, wishful thinking. When you travel on vacation to Caribbean tropical islands, do you prepare your income taxes? Do you look to hire an engineer to design your latest silicon-driven carburetor? Do you sit on a beach chair sipping on a piña colada to contemplate subtle arguments for an upcoming legal battle? Certainly, the answers to these are negative, and the manner in which the tourism feeds upper level employment tends to be by indirect consumption of the companies themselves--which tends to be minimal at the local level for international hotel chains. On a more positive note, it might be said that the tourism contributes to an economy that lacks other foundations. Nonetheless, to pretend and/or suggest this should be the only pillar is to gamble on the nation's future well-being. Sudden and drastic spikes in petroleum/energy prices could bring this flow of funds to an equally abrupt halt.