Main Types of Health Scares That Can Affect Businesses in the Hospitality - Essay Example

Analyse the main types of health scares/crises which can affect businesses in the hospitality, tourism and events industries. Human beings have an innate inclination towards exploration. They want to know new things, they want see different lands, and they want to experience life in a different way. All these exploratory human desires are exploited by the tourism industry. When tourists enter into foreign lands they have to come across several challenges, they might not know the language of the natives, they might have issues in locating their destination, they may find hard to adjust with the lifestyle of the people, but all these things are pretty obvious, and they at least know that things will be different out there. The greatest of all the concerns in moving to some foreign land for the sake of leisure is that of health. There must be no compromise on health and everyone knows that. There is nothing wrong in evaluating the health conditions of an area before moving out. However, this does not mean that due to numerous unknown pathogens out in the environment, one should restrict oneself indoors, and overlook the innate desire to learn more about life. In the recent times, though there has been an increase in the tourists, but the tourist of today is more cautious, rather confused in deciding whether to go out or not (Phakdisoth and Kim, 2007). There are several strings attached with planning a tour, it includes finance, time, personal likings, and health. All these factors are imperative to planning, one must be aware of his pocket size, he must know how much time he can afford to spend, what are his likings, and does his health offer him the margin to take on adventure. Tourism industry may not be the most rapidly expanding field, but it still holds the potential to generate loads of revenue. In some parts of the world tourism industry is the major contributor towards annual GDP. Therefore, such countries get to share a great deal of developmental budget for improving recreational facilities, but those countries which are poor, and lack resources do not invest much elevating the standards of tourism (Phakdisoth and Kim, 2007). The lack of investment in this sector has resulted into several health associated matters, for instance poor hygiene, improper sanitation, and absence sewage system ; as a result of which tourists avoid visiting such places that do not offer them safety and security. In the following text issues related to human health, and fears associated with tourism will be discussed briefly. Climate Climate is a natural determinant that modifies the life style of the people living in a particular region, and enjoying a specific climate. It changes the human habits, and also controls the economic activities of a region (Hamilton, Maddison and Tol, 2005). For instance people living in the coastal areas are often occupied by fish mongering, and their staple diet is sea food, which is treated as a delicacy in the mountainous regions or straits. Weather and topography of a place are often the two key features that determine the climate of a place, and they are also key factors in attracting tourists. Though, human physiology is generally treated to be same, but the human body needs some time to assimilate itself to the changes in the climate. Natives of a land are always more accustomed than the foreigners. When tourists are encountered by the climatic variations, there are chances for them to suffer from some physiological anomalies. For instance when the inhabitants of lowlands, visit mountainous regions they often have to problems in breathing, as their blood is insufficient in red blood cells to utilize oxygen at a low pressure. Environment and pollution Environmental pollution has several strings attached to it, it directly affects the ecology of an area, and it also leads to causing some detrimental effects on lives of people. Definitely tourism is not restricted to site seeing or going out into the wild, it also involves visiting metropolitans and their busy roads, with over crowded malls. Urban centers usually possess extensive infrastructure to carry the load, but still it is often noted that cities like Mumbai and Shanghai are hazardous to human health considering the amount of fuel combustion, industrial activity, and over-crowdedness of the places (Gómez Martín, 2005). Moreover their climates are favorable for the multiplication of pathogens, and there is a serious threat for the foreigners to acquire some sort of contagious disease from the natives. Tourist resorts are often not managed properly, and the management of these places is usually negligent about the environmental issues prevalent in the area. There are so many contaminants in the environment, and most of them are undetectable by naked eye or other senses, but their prevalence in the environment continues to build up. The accumulation of invisible contaminants can affect the human health in many ways, for instance trace amounts of heavy metals in the water supply can result in causing bone diseases or even lead to causing cancer. Similarly the presence of organic pollutants may become a part of food chain, and they can accumulate into human body as well. Hygiene and sanitation system Tourist resorts are often found inactive during most part of the years, and their economic activity is restricted to holiday or tourist season. Therefore, most of the times the developmental authorities ignore the infrastructural development in tourist resorts. For instance, the absence of proper sanitation system and unregulated sewage disposal, are among the top of the list issues that are often reported for creating health scare (Sharpley and Sundaram, 2005). The tourism industry which is nonfunctional for most part of the year does not have the revenue to mend these problems, while the governments are burdened with the development of urban centers. Poor sewage and inefficient sanitation are perhaps the two most common sources of water borne and food borne diseases. Pathogens Pathogens are disease causing agents; they are usually organisms that produce antigens which may affect the wellbeing of a person. There are a countless number of pathogens found all around the globe; they may have viral, bacterial, fungal or any other origin. The prevalence of pathogens is determined by the climatic and the environmental conditions (Hooker, 2010). Pathogens prevalent in tropical regions are almost nonexistent in frigid climates, and vice versa. Natives often develop immunity against the prevalent pathogens, but for the foreigners it may become a serious concern. Tourism is often affected by such issues where the native pathogen is reported to affect the foreigners or the tourists, because when people leave for tours they want to get rid of the worries, but a pathogen unknown to them is not welcome by them. STDs Prostitution is one of the illegal businesses that are related to tourism. People with promiscuous appetite, or having lust for flesh, often leave their homes with the intention of exploiting the native flesh of a tourist resort. Prostitution is a crime in most of the countries; however, due market needs and economic disparity some countries have legalized the inhuman occupation of selling oneself. Tourists who indulge in such activities often do not care much about morals and ethics, and their careless attitude towards life is not limited to values, they often compromise their health and hygiene. Unsafe sex may lead to some of the most notorious ailments; they include HIV/ AIDs, herpes, syphilis, and other STDs. A lot of work has been conducted in controlling STDs, at managerial, when such diseases become prevalent within the population, it hurts the tourism industry. The outbreak of STDs prevents tourists from visiting these areas. A single reported incident of HIV in a sex worker may turn on a crisis situation for the whole industry. Drugs Apart from nature and history, another attracting force but with minor appeal is the availability of drugs. Drugs like cocaine, hashish, opium, and marijuana are illegal for vocational use but, anti-narcotic enforcement has not been same in all the countries. Tourists often want to enjoy new things that are not available in their hometowns. In doing so they forget about the reservations, and they are ready to try almost everything that new for them. There is no need to explain that drugs can induce addiction into people, even after minimum exposure. Drugs are not good for health, and they are among some of those ill-practices that not only affect the individuals but it also affects society as a whole. They also act as vectors for the transfer of diseases. In certain cultures the use of drugs is a norm, and foreigners are often attracted by it. However, on a larger scale when these cultural elixirs are left untamed they may bring a bad name to that community or the whole country and affect the tourism industry seriously. Apart from the notoriety gained by drug abuse, another issue associated with area specific drugs is that they are prepared illegally without following any standard protocol, and their entry into human body may instigate an allergic reaction, which may also prove lethal. On the other hand if the person gets addicted to this drug, his whole physiology is altered, and to keep himself calm he might look for other alternates or even start drug trafficking, and definitely no one wants to have such life changing tours. Improper health facilities Health facilities of a tourist resort are often found to be compromised. When talking about remote areas that are very close to nature, one often finds insufficient human interruption; however, one must accept that building a hospital and providing it all the basic facilities does not affect the environment of a beautiful landscape, rather it increases the number of visitors to the place, and it opens new venues for business. Tourists are often afraid of visiting the places where they know that there is a risk of an injury or chance of conceiving some illness. Their worries become more evident when they come know that there no proper medical centers to help them out in case of emergency situations (Solarin, 2015; Tang and Wong, 2009). Health Insurance Health insurance usually does not cover for the charges across borders, especially when the tourist is a first world national, and he is on vacations in the third world. The strictness in health insurance is also one of the factors that prevent people from planning an overseas tour for the sake of leisure. False news and media hype Even though media promotes tourism and its associated events by providing coverage and advertisements, but contrary to this it also exaggerates small issues and turn them into giants. The exaggeration of news may get these channels some PR rating, but it backstabs the tourism industry by putting the tourists into a second thought, or to change their plans for the vacations. This is obviously not a healthy sign for the tourism industry, therefore, it is recommended that What needs to be done? In the light of all the issues discussed above, one must try to find out solutions for ensuring growth and expansion of tourism and hoteling industries. As mentioned earlier, the kind of risks and pathogens affecting the tourists vary with environmental and climatic variations. Therefore, the planning for fighting these issues must be performed in accordance with the prevalent conditions. Moreover, strict regulatory and monitoring methodologies are needed. Governments must also be asked to support the industry by improving its infrastructural requirements, because at the end of the day investment in tourism industry will bring good name for the country’s leadership for being open and hospitable towards its foreign guests. References Gómez Martín, M. (2005). Weather, climate and tourism a geographical perspective. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), pp.571-591. Hamilton, J., Maddison, D. and Tol, R. (2005). Effects of climate change on international tourism. Clim. Res., 29, pp.245-254. Hooker, C. (2010). Health scares: Professional priorities. Health:, 14(1), pp.3-21. Phakdisoth, L. and Kim, D. (2007). The Determinants of Inbound Tourism in Laos. Asean Economic Bulletin, 24(2), pp.225-237. Sharpley, R. and Sundaram, P. (2005). Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of ashram tourism, India. International Journal of Tourism Research, 7(3), pp.161-171. Solarin, S. (2015). September 11 attacks, H1N1 influenza, global financial crisis and tourist arrivals in Sarawak. Anatolia, pp.1-3. Tang, T. and Wong, K. (2009). The SARS epidemic and international visitor arrivals to Cambodia: is the impact permanent or transitory?. Tourism Economics, 15(4), pp.883-890. Read More