2. Tourism and economic development
Immediately After the Second World War, tourism was considered to be an alternative industry for
foreign exchange earnings to developed countries. Later, it became a tool of economic development for
developing countries. It was only after 1970s when tourism started gaining recognition as a panacea for
the developing Southeast Asian countries to mitigate their macroeconomic disparities. According to Erbes
(1973), developing countries are increasingly giving emphasis on the earnings from tourism as the sector
becomes a cushion and contributes to lessen the burden of foreign currency disputes. To a large extent,
this view has widely supported by the respective stakeholders of tourism. Though the outcome of this
particular debate was a matter of concern, since then, Erbes’ point of view and research accrued attention
of researchers (Mazumder et al., 2011; Sinclair, 1998; Jenkins, 1994; De Kadt, 1979; Archer, 1976;
Armstrong et al., 1974; Archer et al., 1974; Archer & Owen, 1971) who emphasized on the extensive