Tourism: Importance, Impacts, Problems and Prospects, with Case Studies – Environmental Conservation and Tourism (Senior 6 Geography) | Ganzaa

Environmental Conservation and Tourism

Lessons

Senior 6 · Geography

Environmental Conservation and Tourism

5 lessons

Lesson 5 of 5

Tourism: Importance, Impacts, Problems and Prospects, with Case Studies

50 min

Rwanda's record year

According to the Rwanda Development Board's 2025 Annual Report, tourism earned Rwanda US$ 685 million in 2025, up from US$ 647 million in 2024, and the country recorded 1.49 million visitor arrivals. Meetings, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) alone earned US$ 94.7 million, up from US$ 84.8 million, as Kigali hosted 165 international and regional events (RDB, April 2026). Mountain gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, at US$ 1,500 per permit since 2017, remains the best-known product.

Rwanda chose a high-value, low-volume model: few visitors to the parks, each paying a lot, with part of the money shared with the communities around them. This lesson asks what tourism gives and what it costs, and compares three very different tourist regions: Switzerland, the USA and East Africa.

Definition

Tourism revenue (receipts): money spent by visitors in a country on accommodation, food, transport, permits, guides and shopping.

Multiplier effect: the way tourist spending creates further income as it is re-spent, for example when a hotel buys vegetables from local farmers who then spend their earnings in local shops.

Leakage: the part of tourism revenue that leaves the country, for example as profits of foreign-owned hotels or payments for imported food and drink.

Carrying capacity: the largest number of visitors a place can receive without unacceptable damage to its environment, its people or the visitors' experience.

Revenue sharing: returning part of park income to neighbouring communities; in Rwanda 10% of park revenues since 2017.

Importance and impacts of tourism

Area	Positive impacts	Negative impacts
Economic	Foreign exchange; jobs for guides, porters, drivers, hotel staff and artisans; markets for farmers through the multiplier effect; taxes and fees; investment in roads, airports and hotels	Leakage abroad; seasonal and low-paid jobs; dependence on an industry that collapses in crises (COVID-19 in 2020); rising land and food prices
Environmental	Money and a reason to protect parks, forests and wildlife; restoration projects (Akagera's return of lions in 2015 and rhinos in 2017)	Litter, sewage and water use; trampling and erosion of trails; disturbance of wildlife; carbon emissions from flights
Social and cultural	Revival of crafts, dance and festivals (Kwita Izina, the gorilla-naming ceremony); better services; international understanding	Loss of cultural identity; begging and crime; overcrowding; conflict over land when parks exclude local people
Political	A positive national image ("Visit Rwanda"); regional cooperation (the East Africa Tourist Visa for Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda)	Vulnerability to instability in neighbouring countries

Worked example 1: who benefits from gorilla permits?

Problem. In an illustrative case, 80 gorilla permits are sold each day at US$ 1,500, every day of the year, and 10% of the revenue is shared with communities around the park. Calculate the yearly permit revenue and the community share.

Solution.

\text{Per day} = 80 \times 1500 = 120\,000 \text{ US\$}; \qquad \text{Per year} = 120\,000 \times 365 = 43\,800\,000 \text{ US\$}

\text{Community share} = 0.10 \times 43\,800\,000 = 4\,380\,000 \text{ US\$}

Interpretation. Over US$ 4 million a year can pay for schools, health centres, water tanks and alternative livelihoods near the park, giving neighbours a reason to protect the gorillas rather than clear the forest. Few visitors at a high price also keep disturbance low, within the park's carrying capacity.

Worked example 2: how is Rwanda's tourism changing?

Problem. Using the RDB figures above, calculate (a) the percentage growth of tourism revenue from 2024 to 2025, (b) the growth of MICE revenue, and (c) MICE's share of tourism revenue in 2025. Comment.

Solution.

\text{(a)} \quad \frac{685 - 647}{647} \times 100 \approx 5.9\% \qquad \text{(b)} \quad \frac{94.7 - 84.8}{84.8} \times 100 \approx 11.7\% \qquad \text{(c)} \quad \frac{94.7}{685} \times 100 \approx 13.8\%

Interpretation. Conference tourism grew about twice as fast as tourism as a whole and now earns about one seventh of the total. Diversifying from gorillas into conferences, sport events, culture and Lake Kivu makes the industry less dependent on one attraction, which is one of its main prospects.

How tourist areas change: Butler's model

Figure 1. The tourism area life cycle (after Butler, 1980). Drawn by Ganzaa.

In 1980 the geographer Richard Butler suggested that tourist areas pass through stages. A few adventurous visitors explore; local people become involved by offering rooms and food; outside investors build hotels and numbers develop rapidly; growth slows in consolidation; at stagnation the area reaches its carrying capacity, becomes crowded and goes out of fashion. Then it may rejuvenate with new attractions (A), stabilise (B) or decline (C). Mass resorts such as Benidorm have passed through most stages; Rwanda's parks, by limiting visitor numbers, are trying to stay below the carrying-capacity band.

Case study 1: Switzerland

Attractions: the Alps, with peaks such as the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau, glaciers, lakes (Geneva, Lucerne), ski resorts (Zermatt, St. Moritz, Davos, Verbier) and scenic railways such as the Glacier Express; cities with conferences and international organisations (Geneva, Zurich, Davos's World Economic Forum).

Factors in its success: spectacular scenery in both seasons (skiing in winter, walking and lakes in summer); a long history of tourism since the nineteenth century; excellent railways, mountain railways and cable cars that reach even high peaks; famous hotel schools and a reputation for service; political stability and neutrality; a central position in Europe close to rich source markets.

Figures: Swiss hotels recorded a record 43.9 million overnight stays in 2025, the third record in a row: 22.8 million by foreign guests and 21.1 million by Swiss residents (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, February 2026).

Problems and prospects: high prices and a strong franc; crowding at a few famous spots; and above all climate change, which is shrinking glaciers and shortening the snow season at lower resorts. Resorts are responding with year-round activities, artificial snow at higher altitudes and conference and health tourism.

Case study 2: the United States of America

Attractions: the world's first national park, Yellowstone (1872), and others such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the Great Smoky Mountains; great cities (New York, Washington, San Francisco); theme parks and entertainment (Orlando, Las Vegas, Hollywood); beaches in Florida, California and Hawaii.

Factors: a huge, wealthy home population, so domestic tourism is enormous; varied climates and landscapes; excellent roads and domestic flights; heavy investment in hotels and entertainment; the global reach of American film, television and culture.

Figures: the National Park Service recorded about 323 million recreation visits to its sites in 2025, 2.7% fewer than the record 331.9 million of 2024, partly because a government shutdown closed some sites in October and November 2025. The most visited national park was the Great Smoky Mountains, with about 11.5 million visits (NPS, March 2026).

Problems and prospects: crowding and traffic in popular parks, which have introduced timed-entry reservations; wildfires and droughts; the cost of travel; and, according to UN Tourism, weaker international arrivals in 2025, which held back growth in the Americas.

Case study 3: East Africa

Country	Main attractions
Kenya	Wildlife safaris in the Maasai Mara (the wildebeest migration from the Serengeti), Amboseli with views of Kilimanjaro, Nairobi National Park; beaches at Mombasa, Diani and Malindi
Tanzania	The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater; Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m, Africa's highest peak); Zanzibar's beaches and Stone Town
Uganda	Mountain gorillas in Bwindi; Murchison Falls; the source of the Nile at Jinja; the Rwenzori Mountains
Rwanda	Mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park; chimpanzees and the canopy walkway in Nyungwe; the Big Five in Akagera; Lake Kivu; Kigali's conferences, culture and memorial sites

Factors in its growth: unique wildlife and scenery; a pleasant highland climate; parks and conservation policies; air links through Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Kigali; joint marketing and the East Africa Tourist Visa; peace and security in most areas.

Problems: long and expensive flights from the main source markets; poaching and the loss of wildlife corridors to farms and settlements; conflict between people and wildlife at park edges; dependence on a few attractions and on foreign tour companies (leakage); insecurity in some border areas; climate change and drought; and, in the busiest parks such as the Maasai Mara, too many vehicles.

Prospects: growing domestic and regional tourism (most of Rwanda's visitors now come from the EAC and the DR Congo); conference and sports tourism; ecotourism and community-based tourism; better regional air links; and the conservation successes that are bringing back species, such as the mountain gorilla: its numbers have risen above 1,000 (1,063 in the counts completed in 2018), and in 2018 the IUCN moved it from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

Warning

Common mistakes

Writing only about benefits, or only about problems. "Impact" questions expect both, weighed against each other.
Giving case studies without facts. Name places, give dated figures and say who published them.
Thinking that more tourists is always better. Beyond the carrying capacity, more visitors can destroy the attraction they came for.

CGTN Africa: "Rwanda's mountain gorillas drive tourism and economic growth" (2026). As you watch, list the businesses and jobs around Volcanoes National Park that depend on gorilla tourism, and link them to the multiplier effect.

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Practice

Define the multiplier effect and leakage in tourism.
Give three positive and three negative environmental impacts of tourism.
A park sells 60 permits a day at US$ 1,500 for 300 days a year and shares 10% with neighbouring communities. Calculate the community share.
Using Figure 1, describe the stages of Butler's model and explain what might cause decline.
Explain four factors that have made Switzerland a major tourist country.
Compare the problems facing tourism in the USA and in East Africa.
"Rwanda's high-value, low-volume tourism model is the best path to sustainable development." Evaluate this view.

Show answersHide answers

Multiplier effect: tourist spending generates further income as it is re-spent in the local economy. Leakage: the part of tourism revenue that leaves the country, such as foreign hotel profits and payments for imports.
Positive (any three): funds conservation; reasons to protect parks and wildlife; restoration of species and habitats; environmental awareness. Negative (any three): litter and sewage; heavy water use; trail erosion; disturbance of wildlife; carbon emissions from flights; building on coasts.
Revenue = 60 × 1,500 × 300 = US$ 27,000,000; community share = 10% = US$ 2,700,000.
Exploration (few visitors), involvement (local services), development (rapid growth, outside investment), consolidation (slower growth), stagnation (carrying capacity reached), then rejuvenation, stabilisation or decline. Decline may follow overcrowding, pollution, loss of the original attraction, new competing destinations, or insecurity.
Any four: Alpine scenery and glaciers; snow for winter sports and lakes for summer; railways and cable cars; long tourism tradition and hotel schools; stability and neutrality; central location near rich markets; conferences and international organisations.
USA: crowding and traffic in national parks, wildfires, cost, weaker international arrivals in 2025, government shutdowns. East Africa: long, costly flights; poaching and human–wildlife conflict; leakage to foreign firms; insecurity in some areas; dependence on few attractions; drought. Both face climate change and pressure on the most popular sites.
For: high prices with few visitors earn much foreign exchange while keeping disturbance low; revenue sharing gives communities a stake in conservation; the gorilla population has grown. Against: only rich visitors can afford it; earnings depend on a few products and on long-haul markets; leakage still occurs; most Rwandans gain little directly. Judgement: it is effective for fragile sites like the gorilla parks, but sustainable development also needs domestic, regional, conference and community tourism that spreads the benefits more widely.

1Rwanda's record year

2Importance and impacts of tourism

3How tourist areas change: Butler's model

4Case study 1: Switzerland

5Case study 2: the United States of America

6Case study 3: East Africa