What Hotels are Doing to Help the Local Economy: Find out at Travel Republic

Supporting the Local Economies

Many of the world’s favourite holiday destinations rely heavily on the money that tourism brings to the region. Big hotel and resort chains also have a crucial role to play in supporting the economies in the holiday destinations.  Most of the world’s top holiday destinations will have some of the large brand hotels operating there, and the revenue stream they create is invaluable to ensuring that these locations will still be there in years to come.

There are two main factors to how hotels help out the local businesses. The first is by attracting high spending tourists to the destinations and the second is the supply chain for the hotels. Also, there is the fact that the hotels employ so many people in the area which in turn helps out the local businesses indirectly. All of these factors are essential in assisting developing countries to grow in a sustainable way.

Sustainability

In recent years, one of the central buzz words people will hear regarding any development or enterprise is sustainability. In many ways, the sustainability of the resort or hotel are by local environmental factors. To keep a resort full of guests, local tourist attractions and points of interest looked after, this needs the assistance of the community. This includes nature parks, beaches, local landmarks and activities. In some cases, the hotel owners are taking matters into their own hands and creating their own initiatives. These community projects help with the maintenance and upkeep of the attractions.

Attracting high spending tourists

In many developing countries, it is the backpackers who are the first ones to frequent them. This is vital as most top destinations were at one point a backpacker’s paradise. The natural evolution of holiday destinations starts with the backpackers and low spending tourists. Once the destination gains enough notice, the larger hotel chains move in and start to attract families to the area. An increase in infrastructure usually follows suit which in its own right, is a great asset to the destination.

A Backpacker’s Destination

A great example of this is in Thailand. In years gone by, Thailand was either a stopover on the way to Australia or New Zealand or as a favourite destination for backpackers. Although still famous for attracting the backpacker community, it has also worked hard to attract the tourists who are here for a two week summer vacation.

The biggest companies in the industry understand that they have a crucial role to play in keeping these top destinations available for years to come and have initiatives in place to tackle this. It is not simply a case of employing the local people, although this is an extremely significant part of the whole strategy. Resorts and hotels are taking the initiative and engaging local businesses to use as part of their supply chain. This could mean simply buying the food sold in the in-house restaurants locally, to employing services of businesses in the area for things like cleaning contracts, transportation or construction and maintenance companies.

Creating a legacy

The large hotel and resort chains are engaging local governments and businesses, to ensure that the increase in the local economy has a lasting effect and does not put local business out of the market. Hotels are also thinking more and more about the longevity of their resorts, which is something that perhaps has not always been the case. This makes development of the areas more financially sound as hotels are no longer just building giant monstrosities. These spoil the natural beauty as they realise people are no longer willing to sit in a huge resort, and they wish to get out and explore the area. It is also in part because many holiday makers have changed their habits while travelling, and the hotels need to show that they are not over developing the areas and that they are adhering to the eco-friendly guidelines to make sure the impact on the environment is not too great. Through investment and education in the tourist destinations, the hotels have a beneficial effect for the local businesses, economy and the environment.

Author-Bio:

Through her many years of travelling around Europe and Asia,  Ariana Louis has followed the increased role that hotels and resorts play in the local economies at the tourist destinations and the environment. Ariana wrote this article on behalf of Travel Republic to help inform others of how large hotels and resorts benefit the world’s top destinations.