The purely academic pro-tourism growth argument makes a lot of sense. Tourism provides foreign currency that can alleviate balance of trade deficits, has strong backward and forward linkages, offsets ignorance of foreign cultures and according to some, 'is a vital force for peace'. Tourists create expenditure, they demand goods and create a useful multiplier effect. Tourism also comes to the producers and is relatively unprotected. Thus, a country can benefit through tax revenue and increased foreign exchange earnings in addition to capital investment from domestic and foreign sources.
Tourism also creates jobs and offers opportunities to expand an economy at a relatively low cost.
In some areas of the world, it is claimed that there is a significant correlation between tourism earnings and per capita income increases. Even environmentally, tourism has its benefits. It is a clean industry and can be a means of advancing development. After all, for aesthetic and cultural purposes, tourism seeks to preserve the environment. It is also now the world's fastest growing industry.