When we take a holiday, we are mainly thinking of the good it will do to us. A break, we call it, a change of scenery. Rarely are we conscious that our indulgence in our own wellbeing might also be a priceless investment in someone else’s livelihood. Or that it might do the opposite.

In this issue of Developments, we ask whether the global mega-business that is modern tourism is really making the contribution it might to the fight against poverty. In theory its role should be colossal… in practice, the results are mixed. Every year sees 700 million international journeys, a figure set to double within 15 years. Tourism generates a staggering 10 per cent of Global Domestic Product, employing 200 million people.

And as many of us increasingly jump continents for fun, developing countries are capturing a growing share of the market – now accounting for 14 of the top 20 long-haul destinations. Tourism is the main money earner for a third of developing nations, a powerful engine driving revenue, investment and jobs. And, as our report by Harold Goodwin and Adama Bah from The Gambia shows, tourism can provide huge benefits for small countries.

And yet the benefits can be cancelled out by the impact on the environment and local communities. Jobs created, for example, can be crudely exploitative. “When you get a job in a tour company,” says Ashraf el Sayad on page 16. “They give you two papers, a contract and a resignation letter. You have to sign both.” A report from Tourism Concern reveals that many of the world’s 200 million tourism workers suffer unpredictable pay, treacherous safety conditions, serious health risks, sexual harassment, long hours and casual employment. “Of course tourists don’t know any of this,” says a waiter in Gran Canaria, “We are trained to smile and only speak to ask how they are and how we can help them”. If you want do more than smile back when you’re on holiday, then why not follow the eminently sensible advice of travel writer Richard Hammond on page 12 and make a positive difference abroad?

Our next issue of Developments will look at Africa in light of the Commission for Africa, and growing hopes that 2005 will herald a new era in the relationship between the richest and poorest countries. Even if all next year does is to get more people to recognise that international development is part of their own lives, then it will have achieved something significant. And that is the theme of an exciting new publication from the team that brings you Developments. The Rough Guide to A Better World offers an accessible introduction to what development is – and the way ‘ordinary’ people can take part in banishing poverty to the footnotes of history. Heroism, says Nelson Mandela, “does not depend on the position a person occupies. My heroes are those simple men and women who have committed themselves to fighting poverty wherever that is to be found in the world.”

The Rough Guide to a Better World is available free from UK Post Offices from 29 November 2004. See Rough and ready for more details.

Martin Wroe, Malcolm Doney
Editors