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TOURISM AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Robertico Croes, Manuel Rivera
Number of views: 433
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between tourism and human development. Human development is defined as “…a process of enlarging people’s choices.” (UNDP, 1990, p.10). This definition includes material and non-material aspects, such as the many dimensions of political, economic, cultural, and social freedoms. Considering the construct of human development from a multi-dimensional perspective reveals a shift in the more traditional unidirectional perspective, which defines human development only from a material aspect. The latter view of human development is grounded in an instrumental perspective with income as its most important hallmark (Croes, 2012; Stiglitz, Sen, and Fitoussi, 2009). Surely, income is important in supporting life conditions. However, this perspective is narrow in accurately gauging living standards and in providing evidence of progress in human conditions, enlarging choices, and in staging access to opportunities that enable individuals to achieve their life aspirations (Sen, 1999; Stiglitz, Sen, and Fitoussi, 2009).