Tourism in Alaska: Into the Wild, Movie Review Example

Abstract

The work of Bill Bonner states “Never before have we seen so much wealth disappear in such a short time. The latest report from MSCI shows the planet’s losses from the sell-off-of equities have now reached more than $30 trillion.’ (2008) This is reported to be just the losses from stocks. The total of write-downs, write-offs and credit losses is for one trillion with losses of housing prices in the United States reaching approximately $5 trillion. The movie entitled “Into the Wild” is reminiscent of what has been occurring on the global economic scale. The movie “Into the Wild” begins as a young man named McCandless is shown in an abandoned bus in Alaska. McCandless is portrayed as a young man who quit his job and gave away his savings in the amount of $24,000 and trekked to Alaska surviving 119 in the wilderness through eating roots, berries, and the game that he shot. How much better the trip would have been for McCandless if he had only had the benefit of a tour guide. This work examines tourism in Alaska and what economic theories and processes can be applied in this region to promote tourism.

Introduction

The work of Bill Bonner states “Never before have we seen so much wealth disappear in such a short time. The latest report from MSCI shows the planet’s losses from the sell-off-of equities have now reached more than $30 trillion.’ (2008) This is reported to be just the losses from stocks. The total of write-downs, write-offs and credit losses is for one trillion with losses of housing prices in the United States reaching approximately $5 trillion. The movie entitled “Into the Wild” is reminiscent of what has been occurring on the global economic scale. The movie “Into the Wild” begins as a young man named McCandless is shown in an abandoned bus in Alaska. McCandless is portrayed as a young man who quit his job and gave away his savings in the amount of $24,000 and trekked to Alaska surviving 119 in the wilderness through eating roots, berries, and the game that he shot. How much better the trip would have been for McCandless if he had only had the benefit of a tour guide.

Loss of Income, Life Savings and Home

Today’s economy is characterized by many losses. These losses may be in the form of income, life savings, and even of the home by many individuals. It is clear that McCandless was not a monetarist as monetarists are “a group of economists so named because of their preoccupation with money and its effects.” (Virtual Economy, 2011) Monetarism is stated to be “…very closely allied with the classical school of thought. It is essentially an extension of classical theory which was developed in the 1960s and 1970s to try to explain a new economic phenomenon – stagflation.” (Virtual Economy, 2011) Stagflation is a word used to describe a new phenomenon in economics or that of “two simultaneous economic problems – stagnation and inflation.” (Virtual Economy, 2011) Had McCandless been a material guy then he would have noted the vast wealth of Alaska not only in terms of its natural resources but in terms of its potential for lucrative tourism as well.

Tourism: The Theoretical Underpinnings

The work of Milne and Ateljevic (2001) entitled “Tourism, Economic Development and the Global –Local Nexus: Theory Embracing Complexity” it is reported that there “can be no denying that tourism is a major global economic force. Hardly  a  day  goes  by  without  a  new  pronouncement  about  the  wider significance  of what many  call  the world’s  largest  industry.  International tourism  has  grown  substantially  in  recent  decades,  with  technological improvements,  rising  living  standards  and  broader  processes  of  globalization  leading  to  rapid  increases  in  visitor  numbers.  Receipts from international tourism rose from US$2.1 billion in 1950 to US$445 billion in 1998. During the same period international tourist arrivals rose from 25.3 million to 625 million. In 1999, tourism generated some US$3.5 trillion of GDP and almost 200 million jobs across the world economy.” (Milne and Ateljevic, 2001)

In fact, the forecast for world tourism GDP is stated to “increase in real terms by 3.0 percent per annum in the decade to 2010. As a result, the industry’s share of world GDP will  rise  from  10.5  percent  in  1990  to  11.4  percent  by  the  end  of 2005. In the same period, employment is expected to grow at 2.6 percent per annum. This equates to creation of over 5.5 million jobs per year over the first decade of the new century.” (Milne and Ateljevic, 2001)

It is reported that a primary issues in the expansion of the processes of global tourism is that of “uneven development [and] “…retraction” which plays out “at the sub-national levels of regions and communities…” as to some degree both urban and rural communities are affected by tourism and play primary roles in structural shaping and the industry’s nature. (Milne and Ateljevic, 2001)  The argument stated in the work of Milne and Ateljevic (2001) is that it is important to “look carefully at how interactions between the global and the local shape development outcomes for individuals, households, communities and regions. Tourism,  in  simple terms, must  be  viewed  as  a  transaction  process which  is  at  once  driven by the global priorities of multi-national corporations, geo-political  forces and broader  forces of economic change, and  the complexities of  the  local – where  residents,  visitors,  workers,  governments  and  entrepreneurs interact  at  the  industry  ‘coal-face’.” (Milne and Ateljevic, 2001)

Application of Supply – Side Economics to Tourism

Another economic theory is that of supply-side economics which has as its goal the reduction of market imperfections. Supply side policies include such as: (1) improvement of education and training resulting in a workforce that is more mobile occupationally; (2) policies that make individuals more mobile on the geographics level; (3) reduction in the power of trade unions enabling more flexible wages; (4) removing capital controls; and (5) removal of regulations that are not necessary. (Virtual Economy, 2011)

These policies are specifically applicable to Alaska tourism goals as improvement of education and training in the Alaskan workforce makes this workforce more employable increasing the mobility of workers. As noted earlier in this work tourism requires interaction of local residents, visitors and workers as well as involving interaction on the part of governance entities and entrepreneurs. For this to take place local individuals must be educated and trained in their roles in the tourism industry.

Identification of Needs of Alaska for Successful Tourism Exploration

In the move “Into the Wild” McCandless had planned to hike extensively however, he finds that the summer terrain is boggy and non-navigable however, had local tourism representatives and guides been available and naturally if McCandless had brought along enough money to pay the tour guides then he could have fulfilled his desire to hike in the Alaskan wild. Not only would a tourist guide have come in handy for McCandless in terms of his desire to hike through the Alaskan wild but the tourist guide would have also been able to impart upon McCandless information about which berries and plants were edible informing McCandless in his foraging for food on which to survive his 119 days trekking the Alaskan wilderness.

Process of Economic Impacts Assessment

The work of Stynes (nd) reports that the economic impacts of tourism at local, state and national levels are increasingly at focus of both business and public organizations. Businesses depend greatly upon one another in the tourism industry and the economic benefits of tourism are realized by practically everyone in the area of region. It is critical that a tourism impact analysis be conducted prior to implementation of tourism initiatives. According to Stynes “Tourism’s economic impacts are therefore an important consideration in state, regional and community planning and economic development. Economic impacts are also important factors in marketing and management decisions.  Communities therefore need to understand the relative importance of tourism to their region, including tourism’s contribution to economic activity in the area.” (Stynes, nd) There are various methods for conducting tourism economic impacts including the use of “pure guesswork to complex mathematical models.” (Stynes, nd)

Applicable Analyses for Assessing Tourism Economy

There are various applicable analyses that can be conducted in the tourism economic impact analysis process. Included are those stated as follows: (1) Economic impact analysis which asks what the contribution of the activity of tourism is to the region’s economy; (2) Financial impact analysis which focuses on the profit available from the tourism initiative; (3) Fiscal impact analysis which questions whether revenues of the government from the tourism activity will cover the additional infrastructure and governance costs?; (4) Demand analysis  which focuses on how the tourist number to the area will be modified by price changes;  (5) Benefit Cost Analysis which examines which alternative policy has the potential for generation of the highest net benefit to the region over the course of time; (6) Feasibility study which questions whether the tourism initiative should be implemented based on the political, physical, social and economic feasibility of the initiative; and (7) Environmental Impact Assessment which examines the impacts of the action on the surrounding environment. (Stynes, nd)

Summary and Conclusion

McCandless failed to conducted an impact assessment on his situation in light of having quit his work and given away his savings and this resulted in negative impacts for McCandless. Tourism is Alaska holds great potential however, it is necessary that a impact needs assessment be conducted in determining precisely how a new tourism initiative in Alaska should most effectively and lucratively realize successful implementation and reap optimal economic benefits for the region.

References

Milne, Simon and Ateljevic, Irena (2001) Tourism, Economic Development and the Global-Local Nexus: Theory Embracing Complexity. Tourism Geographics 3(4), 2001, 369-292. Retrieved from: http://fama2.us.es:8080/turismo/turismonet1/economia%20del%20turismo/economia%20del%20turismo/TOURISM%20ECONOMIC%20DEVELOPMENT%20AND%20GLOBAL%20LOCAL%20NEXUS.PDF

Monetarists (2011) Virtual Economy. Retrieved from: http://www.interzone.com/~cheung/SUM.dir/econthym1.html

Stynes, Daniel J. (nd) Economic Impacts of Tourism. MSU. Retrieved from: https://www.msu.edu/course/prr/840/econimpact/pdf/ecimpvol1.pdf

Supply-Side Economy (2011) Virtual Economy. Retrieved from: http://www.interzone.com/~cheung/SUM.dir/econthym1.html