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Unlock This CourseNot every place becomes a tourist hotspot. Some destinations attract millions of visitors every year, while others with equally stunning scenery or fascinating culture barely make it onto the map. Why? The answer lies in a mix of factors that either encourage or hold back tourism development.
In your iGCSE exam, you won't just be asked to list these factors you'll need to analyse them. That means explaining how and why they matter, using real examples and case studies as evidence.
Key Definitions:
A student who says "The Maldives has good weather" gets basic marks. A student who says "The Maldives has a tropical climate with warm temperatures year-round, which enables it to attract high-spending tourists seeking beach holidays, generating significant foreign exchange earnings" that student gets top marks. Analysis means making connections.
When analysing tourism development, it helps to group factors into five categories. These don't work in isolation they interact with each other and the strongest exam answers will show that.
Climate, landscapes, wildlife, coastlines and natural resources. These form the foundation of most tourism destinations. A tropical beach, a mountain range or a wildlife-rich savanna can be the primary pull factor for millions of tourists.
Example: Kenya's savanna and wildlife make it a world-class safari destination.
Transport links, accommodation, investment, affordability and economic stability. Even the most beautiful destination will struggle without airports, roads and hotels. Investment from governments or private companies is essential.
Example: Dubai invested billions in airports and luxury hotels, transforming a desert into a global hub.
Government policy, political stability, visa rules and international relations. A stable government that actively promotes tourism can transform a destination. Conflict or instability can destroy one almost overnight.
Example: Rwanda's government actively rebuilt its tourism industry after the 1994 genocide, focusing on gorilla trekking.
Local attitudes to tourists, cultural attractions, language, safety perceptions and the quality of the visitor experience. Tourists want to feel welcome, safe and engaged. Destinations with rich cultural heritage or unique traditions have a strong advantage.
Example: Japan's unique blend of ancient temples, food culture and modern technology attracts a wide range of tourists.
The internet, social media, online booking platforms and transport technology have transformed how tourism develops. A destination that goes viral on Instagram can see visitor numbers surge. Low-cost airlines have opened up destinations that were previously too expensive to reach.
Example: Iceland's tourism boom from 2010 onwards was partly driven by social media sharing images of the Northern Lights and dramatic landscapes, combined with the growth of budget airlines flying into Reykjavik.
The Maldives is a chain of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. Its tourism industry is almost entirely built on its physical environment crystal-clear warm water, white sand beaches, coral reefs and year-round sunshine.
Warm tropical climate (27–30°C) year-round. Two seasons: dry (November–April) and wet (May–October). The dry season is the peak tourism period, attracting sun-seekers from Europe and Asia.
Over 1,000 species of fish and 200 coral species. World-class diving and snorkelling. The natural marine environment is the core product that tourists pay premium prices for.
The government developed a "one island, one resort" model each resort occupies its own island. This keeps tourism controlled, exclusive and high-value. Average spend per tourist is among the highest in the world.
Nepal is home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Everest. It has extraordinary potential for adventure tourism, trekking and cultural tourism. Yet its development has been uneven and complicated by competing factors.
Nepal shows how factors interact. The physical landscape is a huge opportunity, but poor infrastructure (economic factor) limits how many tourists can access it comfortably. Political instability (political factor) has repeatedly undermined investment. Natural hazards (physical factor) can undo years of development in days. This is exactly the kind of multi-factor analysis that earns top marks.
Cuba is a fascinating case study because its tourism development has been almost entirely shaped by political factors rather than physical or economic ones. The island has beautiful beaches, warm climate, vibrant culture and colonial architecture all the ingredients for a thriving tourism industry. Yet for decades, political decisions kept it largely isolated from global tourism.
Since 1962, the USA has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba. For decades, American tourists were banned from visiting. Since the USA is the world's largest source of outbound tourists and Cuba is just 145 km from Florida, this was a massive constraint on development. Without American visitors, Cuba missed out on billions of dollars of potential tourism revenue.
When President Obama began normalising US-Cuba relations in 2015, tourist numbers surged. American visitors increased by over 70% in 2016. Hotels, airlines and tour operators rushed to invest. However, when the Trump administration reversed many of these changes after 2017, growth stalled again demonstrating how quickly political decisions can alter tourism development.
Cuba's story shows that political stability and international relations can be more powerful than any physical advantage in determining whether tourism develops.
Botswana has made a deliberate political and economic choice: attract fewer, higher-spending tourists rather than mass tourism. This strategy is designed to protect the environment while maximising economic benefit.
When the exam asks you to compare how factors affect tourism development in different places, use this framework to structure your thinking:
Name the specific factor. Don't just say "the environment" say "the tropical marine environment with coral reefs and warm water temperatures."
Explain how this factor affects development. Does it attract tourists? Does it enable investment? Does it create a barrier?
How significant is this factor compared to others? Is it the main reason for success or struggle, or just one of several? Are there tensions between factors?
The most important skill in this topic is understanding that factors don't work alone. Here are some key interactions to understand:
After every point you make in an exam answer, ask yourself: "So what? Why does this matter for tourism development?" If you can answer that question, you're analysing. If you can't, you're just describing. For example: "Nepal has the Himalayas [fact] so what? this attracts adventure tourists and trekkers from around the world, generating significant income for local communities and the national economy [analysis]."