The document summarizes research into the effects of tourism on the village of Grasmere in Cumbria. Through questionnaires with local people, the author found that most felt tourism benefited the local economy by providing jobs and income. However, some cited issues like increased traffic, rising housing prices pushing out locals, and damage to hiking trails. Statistical data showed tourism generated £2 billion for Cumbria's economy and supported over 50,000 jobs. However, tourism also caused problems like congestion, overcrowding reducing visitors' enjoyment, and a high percentage of homes used as holiday homes rather than for locals.

1. Literature Review
• Tourism is defined by the WTO (cited in Gregory
et al, 2009) as ‘as ‘the activities of persons
traveling to and staying in places outside of their
usual environment for not more than one
consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes’
• Leslie demonstrates the extent to which
Grasmere via Cumbria depends on tourism; ‘in
addition to direct employment, tourism supports
local services’ such as ‘the bus and rail
network, village shops and public houses’ (
2002:134)

2. Primary Results
• The purpose of my investigation was to focus on the
varying effects of tourism in the area.
• Through a questionnaire I asked multiple local people
their opinions on the influx of tourists.
• There seemed to be a consensus that tourism was
beneficial as it was the main source of income within
the village; indeed one person said the village could
not survive without the tourists.
• They were grateful that there were lots of businesses
and jobs created by the industry through hotels, cafes
and specialist shops (e.g. souvenir shops, outdoor
clothing retailers for hikers)

3. Primary Results continued
• However a few minority of people asked had some problems with tourists.
• The second person I questioned said there were hardly any local services
left (majority of businesses’ services are aimed at tourists). He also said
that local people have been forced out of the area as property prices have
risen. I also did notice a lot of holiday homes throughout the village.
• There were some concerns about increased traffic levels (especially in the
summer) with problems that this creates (such as noise and air pollution).
It is especially worse in Grasmere as some people said the infrastructure
cannot cope with increased traffic levels.
• Apart issues on the village/people two people also expressed concerns
about damage to the fells caused by large amounts of hikers.
• Apart from the questionnaire I also carried out data collection via a land
use survey, a few field sketches, photographs and general observation.

4. Secondary Results
Table showing tourism revenue, tourist days, tourist numbers and tourism employment during 2010 for each of
Cumbria's sub-areas and the county as a whole (LDNPA is not an additional component of the total)
Source http://www.cumbriatourism.org/research/surveys-data.aspx
• The above table shows tourism is highly beneficial to the local economy in
Cumbria
• In 2010 Cumbria had a total of 40 million visitors (35 million day trippers
and 5 million overnight) who brought in £2billion for the local economy
• This also provided full time employment for 32,573 people. However
most tourism jobs are part time or seasonal so ‘the total number of
people in tourism jobs is estimated at 56,011 - 19% of all employment in
the county.’

5. Secondary Results
• Research on negative issues associated with tourism found results
similar to those gathered in my questionnaire (e.g. traffic, air
pollution)
• Traffic can negatively affect local businesses (e.g. congestion can
increase transportation costs for famers due to delays)
• 25% of tourists reported that overcrowding spoiled their visit which
could stop them returning in the future (Slideshare, 2008)
• 20% of homes within the Lake District are holiday homes which can
force up property prices and drive local people out of the area as
they cannot afford to live there (Slideshare, 2008)
• This can cause several more negative effects experienced in
Grasmere such as the lack of local services (e.g.
shops, schools, buses)

6. Bibliography
• Gregory D., Johnston R., Pratt G., Watts M. J., and Whatmore S,. (2009) The Dictionary of
Human Geography, Credo Reference
http://0www.credoreference.com.library.edgehill.ac.uk/book/bkhumgeo#C_2
• Leslie D., (2002) ‘Serviced Accommodation, Environmental Preformance and Benchmarks’ in
Pyo, S. (ed.) Benchmarks in Hospitality and Tourism, The Haworth Hospitality
Press, Binghampton, NY, USA
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YLhvlHcfMPEC&pg=PA134&dq=tourism+in+Cumbria&hl
=en&sa=X&ei=v9-
jT5jKK9Ts8QPGtOS8CQ&ved=0CG0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=tourism%20in%20Cumbria&f=fa
lse
• Cumbria Tourism (2010) ‘Research in Cumbria’ Cumbria Tourism: At the heart of our visitor
economy http://www.cumbriatourism.org/research/surveys-data.aspx
• Slideshare (2008) ‘Tourism in Lake District’ Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/tudorgeog/tourism-in-lake-district