Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Tourism’s Impacts
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization and self-transcendence at the top.[1][6]
The four most fundamental and basic layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called “deficiency needs” or “d-needs”: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these “deficiency needs” are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher-level needs. Maslow also coined the term “metamotivation” to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment.
Impacts of Tourism
On one hand, tourism wields tremendous positive economic outcomes: it is one of the world’s most significant sources of economic outcomes and employment. However, tourism is a very complex industry involving numerous stakeholders (sometimes with opposite interests) and requiring a significant amount of resources. As such, tourism can have very different effects according to the way activities are managed. Managed well, tourism can play a positive role in the socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and political development of the destination and as such represents a significant development opportunity for many countries and communities. On the contrary, unchecked tourism development can lead to very damaging impacts.
Environmental Impacts
Tourism involves many activities that can have adverse environmental effects. Many of these impacts are linked with the construction of general infrastructure such as roads and airports, and of tourism facilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses, and marinas. The negative impacts of tourism development can gradually destroy the environmental resources on which it depends.
Economic Impacts
The tourism industry generates substantial economic benefits to both host countries and tourists’ home countries. Especially in developing countries, one of the primary motivations for a region to promote itself as a tourism destination is the expected economic improvement.
As with other impacts, this massive economic development brings along both positive and negative consequences.
Social and Cultural Impacts
Social and cultural impacts of tourism are the ways in which tourism is contributing to changes in value systems, individual behavior, family relationships, collective lifestyles, moral conduct, creative expressions, traditional ceremonies, and community organization. In other words, they are the effects on the people of host communities of their direct and indirect associations with tourists.
The socio-cultural effects of tourism are difficult to measure, and to a large extent are indirect, or even unknown. The majority of the studies undertaken until now in this area were mainly concerned with understanding the social impacts on the host societies rather than the impacts on the tourists themselves. In general, attitudes and perceptions of the host population vary on a continuous scale between negative, through no impact at all, to positive.