All-inclusives remain all-exclusive

A high dependency on tourism means power relations between local entrepreneurs and residents, and international tour operators are hugely unequal.

All-inclusive holidays - Excluding local people in tourist destinations
What does the resurgence of the all-inclusive model, where tourists are invited to ‘leave their wallets at home’, mean for the destinations we visit?......
This summer, tour operator First Choice, part of TUI, switches all its holidays to all-inclusive. Thomas Cook is reportedly increasing the number of all inclusives holidays it offers by 10 per cent. But what does the resurgence of the all-inclusive model, where tourists are invited to ‘leave their wallets at home’, mean for the destinations we visit?

• Majorica – all-inclusive holidays blamed for loss of local businesses. In September 2011 local businesses organised a day of protest against the all-inclusive hotels
• Turkey – research found only 10% of tourist spend from all-inclusive holidays found its way into local economy
• Mombasa, Kenya – World Bank states all-inclusive beach holidays contributed the least economic benefit
• Kenya – 87% of tourists go on all-inclusive holidays and yet over half of local people live on less than 1$ a day
• Jamaica – all-inclusive hotels attracted tourists in the short term but blocked development of other types of tourism, leading to increased tourist harassment (vi)
• Dominican Republic – all-inclusive holidays blamed for restaurant closures and increased negative attitude towards tourists
• Goa, India – ‘enclave tourism’, local taxis and guides losing business to all-inclusive resorts

Clearly, there is market demand for all inclusives: we all want holidays and in the current difficult economic times, all-inclusives offer us the opportunity to feel assured that we can afford such a holiday. When evaluated from the customers’ perspective, the guarantee of a fixed travel budget is understandable. By choosing all-inclusive travel packages, tourists know they are in safe hands and there will be a quality product for a manageable price. Operators can enhance their control over the quality of the end product, and hotels can increase their efficiency and predictability of demand.
However, the implications for employees, other local businesses, the destination economy, and the tourist experience in terms of meaningful cultural exchange, throws up some serious questions about the sustainability and ethics of this tourism model.
Our arguments are simple:

1. Tourism Concern has researched into labour conditions in mainstream all-inclusive hotels that are used by all the mainstream tour operators in five different popular destinations (see: Labour standards, social responsibility and tourism). The results include failure to recognise workers’ rights to join a trade union; lack of training; being pressurised into working a considerable amount of unpaid overtime; and not earning a living wage. Tipping is an important source of revenue for people working in the hospitality business but the All Inclusive model results in fewer tips and therefore reduced income for many workers.
2. A high dependency on tourism means power relations between local entrepreneurs and residents, and international tour operators are hugely unequal. Tourism Concern has received reports conveying anger, frustration and distress from mayors and hotel associations in Turkey in describing how they had to succumb to pressure from UK operators to transform their hotels into all-inclusives.
3. Other local businesses, such as restaurants, shops, taxi drivers and small guest houses, all lose out to the all-inclusive model, as guests are deterred from leaving the hotel grounds. In some destinations, countless businesses have been forced to close, which in turn deters tourists holidaying on bed and breakfast packages, as the destination has less to offer. Local entrepreneurs from Spain, Crete and Cyprus, from The Gambia to Kenya, and from St. Lucia to Jamaica have all complained of being unable to run their businesses any longer because the footfall of tourists coming out of the all-inclusives is so low.
4. In Fethiye, Turkey, just 10% of all-inclusive tourism receipts stay in local economy (i). In Kenya, the figure is placed at 22.8% (ii). This includes in Mombasa, where the vast majority of holidays sold are all-inclusive, but where half the population live on less than a dollar a day (iii).
5. Competition between the operators is so intense that margins are pushed all down throughout the supply chain. This means hotels are paid very little for each room, which means leaves them with little to pay their staff. One hotel association contact in Turkey told us that they receive €20 a night for the whole package per person. How is this sustainable?
6. All-inclusives can alienate tourists from the destination they are visiting and the people who live there. This can hamper positive cultural exchange, while allowing resentment to build amongst local people who are blocked from being able to benefit from the tourism economy. This can lead to a vicious circle, in which tourism harassment levels increase (an issue frequently capitalised upon by the hotels themselves), which in turn deters people from leaving the hotels (iv).

It is true that all forms of tourism can be made more socially, economically and environmentally responsible. But these efforts need to start with the rights of workers and communities in destinations. The current mainstream all-inclusive model is perpetuating social and economic exclusion and inequality, while threatening the very character of the destination that tourists pay to see. This does not make for sustainable tourism.
Addressing these issues requires tour operators and hotels to take a rights-based approach to sustainability, and to undertake due diligence throughout their supply chains in order to identify and address the negative impacts of the all-inclusives power play, and race to the bottom that this entails (see our latest industry human rights briefing).
Tourists can also make a difference by opting for holidays that offer a fair deal for local businesses and people.
Watch out for Tourism Concern’s forthcoming briefing on all-inclusives in the coming weeks.
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(i) BBC Fast Track, 02/09/2011. Link
(ii) World Bank, 2010, Kenya's tourism: polishing the Jewel
(iii) Akama J.S., Kieti D., 2007 'Tourism and socio-economic development in developing countries: a case study of Mombasa resort in Kenya', Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol.15, No.6.
(iv) McElroy J. L., Tarlow P., Carlisle K., 2007 'Tourist harassment: review of the literature and destination responses', Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol.1 No.4 pp. 305-314 
Πηγή : tourismconcern.org.uk

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