The dynamics of tourism and people's expectations The contradictions within the tourism development process People's expectations and the realities of tourism : individual happiness and taking advantage of what the market has to offer Industrialisation has elevated tourism into one of life's basic necessities in the wealthier nations. Travel has been endowed with a high social value. Indeed it fulfils a large number of social functions such as the need for leisure, and for education. And as well as being one of the most popular leisure time activities and it is without question the most popular form of individual happiness. It is at the same time one of the privileges that distinguish the inhabitants of the industrialised world from the rest of humanity. The net travel intensity of the poorer countries is as low as ever, and moreover is limited to a small minority. Access to tourism for as many social classes as possible remains an unfulfilled socio-political objective in many regions of the world, and for the majority of the planet's population tourism is something that passes them by. There is thus a great void in the area of demand waiting to be filled. And it will have to wait a while yet, for a time when household budgets have a little extra fat in reserve for travel, and efforts are made to develop inexpensive tourism products of a more social nature. Without a flourishing economy to create the attractions and the infrastructure necessary for travel and local accommodation, tourism would not exist. The potential visitor, who usually has the excess funds necessary for tourism, in many cases bases his travel decision on a variety of idealised motives of a metaeconomic nature, which in turn influence his behaviour as a tourist. But he wants to benefit from all available resources, natural and tourism-related, with the least possible hindrance, seizing all the opportunities offered by a dynamic tourism market. He looks for a high standard of comfort and the most attractively packaged services possible, with lots of options. As his travels become more frequent, faster and of shorter duration, "last minute" offers, especially at favourable rates, play an ever greater role. Today both the suppliers and the consumers of services look on tourism above all as a business, whose stock in trade is dreams and novel experiences. Things that are outside the functional circle of supply and demand and that have no price tag are often of little or no interest to the visitor. Contacts with the local resident population are desirable only to the extent that they add spice to the holiday experience. To be sure, the more experienced and critical travellers are increasingly aware of the indigenous population and its needs, to the extent that they have to deal directly with local people and begin to feel concerned. First and foremost however they have come as tourists, and as such they above all want to enjoy the tourist experience. The dynamics of tourism and its effect on the public authorities : limiting the negative externalities of growth, creating prosperity and improving the quality of life Since travel is today recognised as a social need in many countries, more and more public and private sector institutions look on tourism's redistributive impact and its function as a mechanism of regional compensation as important. The spending of visitors should help develop local economies, creating prosperity and a better quality of life for local populations in such problem areas as deserted city centres, the classical industrial wastelands, remote areas of natural beauty, and in general for the world's poorer countries. To the extent that a location offers certain tourism-related advantages, and the necessary skills and networks can be developed, there are very real opportunities. In many places for example tourism has been instrumental in halting the migration of the rural population to the cities. There can be no such development however unless real changes are made in traditional economic and social structures. In countries with a low level of economic development that compete for cross-border or international tourism the changes can be great indeed, leading to a clash of cultures and "future shock". Tourists expect international standards of comfort and quality in all installations and equipment in the places visited, which for the developing countries means improving standards to a level far above that to which the local population is accustomed. This often leads to long-lasting imbalances in three areas : society, the economy and the environment. Development has its price in tourism too, for those who must put up with negative secondary effects are in many cases not the ones who reap the benefits of a tourism economy. Extra traffic problems, rising prices for accommodation and disturbances in the country's social and cultural life are in many cases unavoidable. As prosperity increases local communities are often more able to control the consequences of tourism growth more effectively. The development of a tourism service culture in many cases causes a renaissance of local customs and traditions and a strengthening of the cultural identity of the resident population. However the more highly developed tourism centres that focus single-mindedly on tourism find themselves a prey to economic pressures of a new kind. The ever greater demand for labour in service-oriented branches of tourism can no longer be met exclusively from the local pool of workers. During the high season additional workers must be brought in from the outside, and this leads to a segmented labour market and adjustment problems. It is the constant arrival of new competitors on the market due to the globalisation of competition that creates the main problems for the more developed tourism centres comes - problems that include the need to renew the life cycle of existing products, tourism's below average productivity compared with other sectors of the economy, and a related phenomenon which is the migration of managers and the most qualified staff to the urban agglomerations.