The academic literature provides clues as to how the backpacker segment can be described. This sub market is characterized by budget consciousness and a flexible tourism style, with most participants traveling alone or in small groups. Clear evidence has been provided as to the potential benefits backpackers can bring in terms of promoting local development in the Third World.

Photo: www.bushvillage.com.au

Communities can provide services and products demanded by these tourists without the need for large amounts of start-up capital or sophisticated infrastructure, and they can retain control over such enterprises. In addition, the foreign exchange brought in by backpackers often surpasses that provided by other international tourists who stay for shorter periods of time, and these expenditures are spread far more widely than most, both geographically and to marginalized social groups. This is not to suggest that this sub market should be the main form of international tourism pursued by Third World governments. At the same time, for too long, Third World governments have overlooked the ways in which backpacker tourism may bring numerous local economic benefits to small-scale entrepreneurs and informal sectors actors. There are also significant non-economic benefits which can come to communities from this form of tourism (Scheyvens, 2002).

Photo: www.eggie.files.wordpress.com

International tourism is often perceived by less developed country government tourism planners as an engine of economic growth, but the focus is commonly upon mass tourism while ignoring the sub sector of backpacker tourism. There are benefits that can accrue to the local economy and poorer people in the area. Backpacker tourism could increase the local participation in real development, part of a more sustainable long term strategy which attempts to balance local economic development needs against powerful wishing to build large international tourism resorts. The potential of backpacker as a tool for real economic development and poverty alleviation requires thorough evaluation by less developed country government planners (both central or regional) and international development agencies and donors (Hampton, 1995).

Arguments in the literature supporting the economic significance of backpackers versus other travelers focus on the fact that their relatively low daily expenditures are more than compensated for by their extended length of stay and the fact that they distribute their spending further throughout the country they are visiting. The proposition that backpackers travel more extensively than the average tourist, in terms of the area covered and the number of regions visited. Not only were backpackers more frequent and bigger spenders, they were more likely to disperse expenditure to areas outside the main capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Given that backpackers account for up to 8% of visitors to Australia, that they have an overall trip expenditure greater than the average visitor, and that they are more likely to travel extensively throughout Australia, especially outside the capital cities, it is evident that backpackers are important to Australia’s tourism industry. Whether or not backpacker can be defined as alternative tourism is debatable, given the existence of transport, accommodation, and tour infrastructure in Australia which caters to this market.