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Although numerous potential economic benefits associated with tourism development are described in the literature, upon further investigation, many of these benefits are never realized.The most pervasive problem with tourism development, regardless of the country, is repatriation of tourist revenue (industry leakage). In fact, it is estimated that the majority of tourism revenue generated in Third World countries is repatriated to developed countries. Many hotels, resorts, restaurants, tour operators, airlines, car rentals, etc. utilized by "Western" tourists in Third World countries are owned by corporations in North America and Western Europe." In addition to repatriation of money generated through the above mentioned business activities, host countries experience additional revenue leakages in the form of higher salaries for expatriate employees, employment of foreign construction crews to build hotels and infrastructure supports, food and beverage imports, interest on loans, et~.*~Tehxete nt to which tourism revenue is repatriated is graphically shown in Table 2.
Transnational corporations have a tendency to import a great deal of personnel and products (equipment, foodstuffs, supplies). Thus, the majority of the profit derived from tourism actually benefits the transnational corporations and developed countries, not the host country. Small island countries tend to rely more on imports than larger, more developed countries which leads to greater industry leakages. In Fiji, it is estimated that leakages constitute 75% of gross tourist expenditure."' Proponents of tourism would argue that regardless of where tourism money ends up, natives benefit through employment opportunities. However, tourism development's impact on local employment is questionable. International tourists visiting developing countries have higher purchasing power than natives.This leads to inflation and devaluation of local currency. Even if employees in a hotel or resort are making more money than if they worked in another industry, they still may be faced with inadequate salaries.' Also problematic is the type of eniploynient offered to natives. Usually jobs of key importance (managerial, working directly with tourists) are given to foreigners.20 In the Caribbean, it has been estimated that 30% ofjobs are held by foreigners, but they account for 43% of the payroll,' and this problem is not unique to the Caribbean.'"
Natives are relegated to menial jobs, which require few skills, such as maids and restaurant workers. Employment in the tourist sector encourages urban migration as poor peasants migrate to the tourist cities in search of work, leaving farms and families behind. And there is no guarantee of work for this artificially increased labor.
Let us consider the case ofJamaica once again. As was stated earlier, tourism development had positive effects on Jamaicans' health. However, even after Jamaicmization policies were implemented, high rates of unemployment persisted. The gap between rich and poor actually increased,I7 and the agricultural production contribution fell to only 10% of the GDP, and it continued to decline." Seasonality of employment is also problematic. The tourism industry in every region of the world has seasonal variations and fluctuations. English estimates that approximately 25% of hotel workers are laid off during the off-season.2xW hile more diversified economies may
be able to deal with seasonal employment, natives in the Bahamas (completely dependent on tourism) have few employment alternatives. Depending on tourism for the majority of a nation's foreign revenue is risky. The tourism industry is subject to disruption due to political instability, natural disasters (e.g., recent hurricane activity in the Caribbean), environmental degradation, worldwide economic situations (recessions, depressions), threat of terrorism or crime, etc.'.'' A country which is faced with any, or all, of the above situations has serious political and/or infrastructure problems. Even if planned and implemented properly, tourism development offers only partial solutions to complex problems.
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