Impacts of international tourism

Private companies and countries have developed aggressive marketing

practices to attract international tourists and as a result problems with over-
exploitation tourism have ensued.
A) Environmental impact
As soon as tourism activity takes place, the environment is inevitably changed
or modified either to facilitate tourism or during the tourism process. Many
countries offer their products to international tourists regardless of the damage
it can cause to the environment.
International tourism has been particularly violent with the environment in
various countries: urbanization of natural areas or integrated into the
landscape, overuse of water resources, problems related to the treatment of
waste, water pollution from runoff, destruction of historical monuments, air
pollution, landscape changes to promote leisure activities such as golf. These
processes are more incisive in southern countries, where environmental
regulations are often more lax to promote the tourism industry and natural
resources are easy prey to speculation. As an example we can point to the
ecological crisis that is hurting the coast of Quintana Roo in Mexico, due to
the excessive development of resorts like Cancun or Cozumel, such as the
impact of tourism on the wildlife of Africa or the pollution of water in the
Mediterranean.
B) Ethical problems
There are many ethical issues affecting international tourism, starting with the
types of tourism that are offered. Many underdevelopment countries, offer
unsustainable tourism with the country life. In countries like Bath or Bali, the
pools are full of water and the golf courses are watered every day, while the
local fields are dry and the native people drink water from wells.
Women in parts of India walk miles to get water because groundwater is
diverted to hotels. Farmers in Indonesia have been jailed for protesting the
loss of their land for tourism development, and a protest in Mexico for the
construction of a golf course on farmland led to clashes between farmers and
authorities.
International tourism also causes effects on the local population as the case of
Burma. In recent years, the government has forced thousands of Burmese to
work in tourism projects and millions more have been forced from their homes
to make way for highways, development of hotels and other tourism-related
infrastructure. The abuse of human rights in Burma is related to the
development of international tourism.
Another striking case about the ethical issues is the animal rights. Some
African countries offer animal hunting tourism, for example South Africa,
Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana are four countries that have not banned
the hunting of elephants. The activity is a source of income for these countries
and is strictly regulated in areas where the elephant population is not
particularly at risk. Developed countries also have ethical problems in tourism
promotion. Tour operators from different countries promote tourism by
advocating alcohol and sex. A very famous in this regard is the town of Salou
in Spain, where they celebrate the Saloufest that brings together young
people from around the world attracted by the offer of alcohol.
C) Socio-cultural issues
The impacts that tourism has on the social and cultural lives of communities is
one of the most important issues debated by tourism researchers. The socio-
cultural consequences of tourist activity have the potential to be more
damaging in the long term. This is a particularly in the developing nations of
the world, many of whose strong cultural identities and traditions are coming
to light through tourist travel for the first time in their history. Sadly, the same
concern for such serious consequences is seldom voiced in a concrete
fashion by tourist industry operators, although many do now include mentions
of tourisms negative social and cultural effects in their policies and mission
statements. International tourism also causes socio-cultural issues:
Loss of native language, the massive influx of tourists to a destination can
alter the native language.
Loss of traditional industries, traditional industries can be lost when workers
are tempted by jobs in tourism.
Alterations to religious codes, many international tourists are unaware of the
religion of the country they visit. This causes conflicts between tourists and
native people
Rise in social problems, tourism can be a catalyst for different social
problems. Tourism can accelerates and exacerbates many social ills.