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Tourism can bring many economic and social benefits, particularly in rural areas and developing
countries, but mass tourism is also associated with negative effects. Tourism can only be
sustainable if it is carefully managed so that potential negative effects on the host community and
the environment are not permitted to outweigh the financial benefits.
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their land to make way for new hotels or barred from beaches. Interaction with tourists can also
lead to an erosion of traditional cultures and values.
Water resources
Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources. The
tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf
courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and
degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water..
In dryer regions like the Mediterranean, the issue of water scarcity is of particular
concern. Because of the hot climate and the tendency of tourists to consume more water
when on holiday than they do at home, the amount used can run up to 440 liters a day.
This is almost double what the inhabitants of an average Spanish city use.
Golf course maintenance can also deplete fresh water resources. In recent years golf
tourism has increased in popularity and the number of golf courses has grown rapidly.
Golf courses require an enormous amount of water every day and, as with other causes
of excessive extraction of water, this can result in water scarcity. If the water comes from
wells, overpumping can cause saline intrusion into groundwater. Golf resorts are more
and more often situated in or near protected areas or areas where resources are limited,
exacerbating their impacts.
An average golf course in a tropical country such as Thailand needs 1500kg of chemical
fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides per year and uses as much water as 60,000 rural
villagers.
Source: Tourism Concern
Local resources
Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw
materials that may already be in short supply. Greater extraction and transport of these
resources exacerbates the physical impacts associated with their exploitation. Because of
the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more
inhabitants in the high season as in the low season. A high demand is placed upon these
resources to meet the high expectations tourists often have (proper heating, hot water,
etc.).
Land degradation
Important land resources include minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and
wildlife. Increased construction of tourism and recreational facilities has increased the
pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Direct impact on natural
resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, in the provision of tourist facilities can be
caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the
use of building materials.
Forests often suffer negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by
fuel wood collection and land clearing. For example, one trekking tourist in Nepal - and
area already suffering the effects of deforestation - can use four to five kilograms of wood
a day.
Pollution
Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise,
solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual
pollution.
Sewage
Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities often leads to increased sewage
pollution. Wastewater has polluted seas and lakes surrounding tourist attractions,
damaging the flora and fauna. Sewage runoff causes serious damage to coral reefs
because it stimulates the growth of algae, which cover the filter-feeding corals, hindering
their ability to survive. Changes in salinity and siltation can have wide-ranging impacts
on coastal environments. And sewage pollution can threaten the health of humans and
animals.
Aesthetic Pollution
Often tourism fails to integrate its structures with the natural features and indigenous
architectural of the destination. Large, dominating resorts of disparate design can look
out of place in any natural environment and may clash with the indigenous structural
design.
A lack of land-use planning and building regulations in many destinations has facilitated
sprawling developments along coastlines, valleys and scenic routes. The sprawl includes
tourism facilities themselves and supporting infrastructure such as roads, employee
housing, parking, service areas, and waste disposal.
Physical Impacts
Attractive landscape sites, such as sandy beaches, lakes, riversides, and mountain tops
and slopes, are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems.
Typical physical impacts include the degradation of such ecosystems.
An ecosystem is a geographic area including all the living organisms (people, plants,
animals, and microorganisms), their physical surroundings (such as soil, water, and air),
and the natural cycles that sustain them. The ecosystems most threatened with
degradation are ecologically fragile areas such as alpine regions, rain forests, wetlands,
mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. The threats to and pressures on these
ecosystems are often severe because such places are very attractive to both tourists and
developers.
In industrial countries, mass tourism and recreation are now fast overtaking the
extractive industries as the largest threat to mountain communities and environments.
Since 1945, visits to the 10 most popular mountainous national parks in the United
States have increased twelve-fold. In the European Alps, tourism now exceeds 100
million visitor-days. Every year in the Indian Himalaya, more than 250,000 Hindu
pilgrims, 25,000 trekkers, and 75 mountaineering expeditions climb to the sacred source
of the Ganges River, the Gangotri Glacier. They deplete local forests for firewood,
trample riparian vegetation, and strew litter. Even worse, this tourism frequently induces
poorly
planned,
land-intensive
development.
Source: People & the Planet
Physical impacts are caused not only by tourism-related land clearing and construction,
but by continuing tourist activities and long-term changes in local economies and
ecologies.
Valley could not be seen from airplanes". This occasional smog is harmful to all species
and vegetation inside the Park. (Source:Trade and Environment Database)
Marina development
Development of marinas and breakwaters can cause changes in currents and coastlines.
Furthermore, extraction of building materials such as sand affects coral reefs,
mangroves, and hinterland forests, leading to erosion and destruction of habitats. In the
Philippines and the Maldives, dynamiting and mining of coral for resort building materials
has damaged fragile coral reefs and depleted the fisheries that sustain local people and
attract tourists.
Overbuilding and extensive paving of shorelines can result in destruction of habitats and
disruption of land-sea connections (such as sea-turtle nesting spots). Coral reefs are
especially fragile marine ecosystems and are suffering worldwide from reef-based
tourism developments. Evidence suggests a variety of impacts to coral result from
shoreline development, increased sediments in the water, trampling by tourists and
divers, ship groundings, pollution from sewage, overfishing, and fishing with poisons and
explosives that destroy coral habitat.
Trampling
Tourists using the same trail over and over again trample the vegetation and soil,
eventually causing damage that can lead to loss of biodiversity and other impacts. Such
damage can be even more extensive when visitors frequently stray off established trails.
Reduced regeneration
Accelerated erosion
the activities that can cause direct degradation of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs,
and subsequent impacts on coastal protection and fisheries.
It threatens our food supplies, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and
sources of wood, medicines and energy.
It destabilizes ecosystems and weakens their ability to deal with natural disasters
such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, and with human-caused stresses, such as
pollution and climate change.
Tourism, especially nature tourism, is closely linked to biodiversity and the attractions
created by a rich and varied environment. It can also cause loss of biodiversity when land
and resources are strained by excessive use, and when impacts on vegetation, wildlife,
mountain, marine and coastal environments and water resources exceed the carrying
capacity. This loss of biodiversity in fact means loss of tourism potential.
Introduction
of
exotic
species
Tourists and suppliers - often unwittingly - can bring in species (insects, wild and
cultivated plants and diseases) that are not native to the local environment and that can
cause enormous disruption and even destruction of ecosystems.
Climate Change
Climate scientists now generally agree that the Earth's surface temperatures have risen
steadily in recent years because of an increase in the so-called greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, which trap heat from the sun. One of the most significant of these gases is
carbon dioxide (CO2), which is generated when fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural
gas are burned (e.g. in industry, electricity generation, and automobiles) and when there
are changes in land use, such as deforestation. In the long run, the accumulation of CO2
and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can cause global climate change - a
process that may already be occurring.
Global tourism is closely linked to climate change. Tourism involves the movement of
people from their homes to other destinations and accounts for about 50% of traffic
movements; rapidly expanding air traffic contributes about 2.5% of the production of
CO2. Tourism is thus a significant contributor to the increasing concentrations of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (Source: Mountain Forum)
Air travel itself is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. Passenger jets are the
fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. The number of international
travelers is expected to increase from 594 million in 1996 to 1.6 billion by 2020, adding
greatly to the problem unless steps are taken to reduce emissions. (Source: WWF)
For more information on the relationship between energy and the environment, see
UNEP's Energy Programme, which provides information and publications on energy
efficiency and alternative energy sources to reduce the environmental impacts of energy
use and of transportation.
Malaria, the world's largest killer, has resurfaced in Spain, and it is estimated that
changes in climate will result in parts of the country becoming a suitable habitat for
malaria-carrying
species
of
mosquito
by
the
2020s.
Source: WWF [PDF]
These negative impacts can keep tourists away from the holiday destinations. Global
warming may cause:
Less snowfall at ski resorts, meaning a shorter skiing seasons in the Alpine region.
In already hot areas like Asia and the Mediterranean, tourists will stay away because of
immense heat, and out of fear of diseases and water shortages.
Rising sea levels, the result of melting glaciers and polar ice. Higher sea levels will
threaten coastal and marine areas with widespread floods in low-lying countries and
island states, increasing the loss of coastal land. Beaches and islands that are major
tourism attractions may be the first areas to be affected.
and South East Asia. Hurricane Mitch in 1998, for instance, heavily affected tourism in
the Caribbean. Wind damage, storm waves, heavy rains and flooding caused major losses
in the local tourism sector.
According to the Spanish Forestry Service ICONA, between 1985 and 1994 almost
250,000 hectares of forest burned. In recent years the number of forest fires has
increased following periods of extreme dryness. Now, large areas of forest and parkland
may be closed off to visitors.
Socio-Cultural Impacts
The socio-cultural impacts of tourism described here are the effects on host communities
of direct and indirect relations with tourists, and of interaction with the tourism industry.
For a variety of reasons, host communities often are the weaker party in interactions with
their guests and service providers, leveraging any influence they might have. These
influences are not always apparent, as they are difficult to measure, depend on value
judgments and are often indirect or hard to identify.
The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems and behaviour
and thereby threatens indigenous identity. Furthermore, changes often occur in
community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies
and morality. But tourism can also generate positive impacts as it can serve as a
supportive force for peace, foster pride in cultural traditions and help avoid urban
relocation by creating local jobs. As often happens when different cultures meet, sociocultural impacts are ambiguous: the same objectively described impacts are seen as
beneficial by some groups, and are perceived as negative - or as having negative aspects
- by other stakeholde
Commodification
Tourism can turn local cultures into commodities when religious rituals, traditional ethnic
rites and festivals are reduced and sanitized to conform to tourist expectations, resulting
in what has been called "reconstructed ethnicity." Once a destination is sold as a tourism
product, and the tourism demand for souvenirs, arts, entertainment and other
commodities begins to exert influence, basic changes in human values may occur. Sacred
sites and objects may not be respected when they are perceived as goods to trade.
Standardization
Destinations risk standardization in the process of satisfying tourists' desires for familiar
facilities. While landscape, accommodation, food and drinks, etc., must meet the tourists'
desire for the new and unfamiliar, they must at the same time not be too new or strange
because few tourists are actually looking for completely new things. Tourists often look
Creating molas, which are the blouses worn by Kuna women in Colombia, is an art that
began with designs that reflected the conception of the world, of nature, and of the
spiritual life of the Kuna Nation. Now it is increasingly being transformed, through
tourism, into a commercial trade which causes loss of its spiritual value and quality. This
is changing the designs of the molas to correspond to the interests of the tourists, while
at the same time the Kuna women are losing their knowledge of the old designs and the
interpretations
and
meanings
of
the
mola
designs.
Source: Eco-index
Culture clashes
Because tourism involves movement of people to different geographical locations, and
establishment of social relations between people who would otherwise not meet, cultural
clashes can take place as a result of differences in cultures, ethnic and religious groups,
values and lifestyles, languages, and levels of prosperity.
The result can be an overexploitation of the social carrying capacity (limits of acceptable
change in the social system inside or around the destination) and cultural carrying
capacity (limits of acceptable change in the culture of the host population) of the local
community.
The attitude of local residents towards tourism development may unfold through the
stages of euphoria, where visitors are very welcome, through apathy, irritation and
potentially antagonism, when anti-tourist attitudes begin growing among local people.
Cultural clashes may further arise through:
Economic inequality
Many tourists come from societies with different consumption patterns and lifestyles than
what is current at the destination, seeking pleasure, spending large amounts of money
and sometimes behaving in ways that even they would not accept at home. One effect is
that local people that come in contact with these tourists may develop a sort of copying
behavior, as they want to live and behave in the same way. Especially in less developed
countries, there is likely to be a growing distinction between the 'haves' and 'have-nots',
which may increase social and sometimes ethnic tensions. In resorts in destination
countries such as Jamaica, Indonesia or Brazil, tourism employees with average yearly
salaries of US$ 1,200 to 3,000 spend their working hours in close contact with guests
whose yearly income is well over US$ 80,000.
In many Muslim countries, strict standards exist regarding the appearance and
behaviour of Muslim women, who must carefully cover themselves in public. Tourists in
these countries often disregard or are unaware of these standards, ignoring the
prevalent dress code, appearing half-dressed (by local standards) in revealing shorts,
skirts or even bikinis, sunbathing topless at the beach or consuming large quantities of
alcohol openly. Besides creating ill-will, this kind of behavior can be an incentive for
locals not to respect their own traditions and religion anymore, leading to tensions within
the local community. The same types of culture clashes happen in conservative Christian
communities in Polynesia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
Income
Inequality
in
Taman
Negara
National
Park,
Malaysia
In Western Malaysia, the Taman Negara National Park is a privately owned park and
resort which can house 260 visitors at a time. The park employs 270 people and 60% of
the staff in the administrative headquarters are locals. In 1999 these local staff earned
about US$ 120 a month; for comparison, Malaysians living off the land at that time were
earning on average about US$ 40 a month.
Despite the positive effects of increased park employment, the difference in income
between the two local groups has led to social tension and driven up boat fares and the
cost of everyday goods. Little of the tourism money generated by the park stays in
Malaysia, and park employees spend almost 90% of their income outside the region or
on imported goods. Thus local inhabitants, whose culture has been marketed to attract
tourists, benefit only to a very limited extent. Indeed, many have taken to illegal hunting
and
fishing
in
the
park,
contrary
to
its
protective
regulations.
Source: ILO report on human resources development, employment and globalization in
the hotel, catering and tourism sector, 2001
supply. Stress to local communities can also result from environmental degradation and
increased infrastructure costs for the local community - for example, higher taxes to pay
for improvements to the water supply or sanitation facilities.
Depriving
local
people
of
access
There are numerous examples where local residents have lost access to local natural
resources because of tourism development. On Boracay Island in the Philippines, one
quarter of the island has been bought by outside corporations, generating a crisis in
water supply and only limited infrastructure benefits for residents. Similarly, in Bali,
Indonesia, prime agricultural land and water supplies have been diverted for large hotels
and golf courses, while at Pangandaran (Java, Indonesia), village beach land, traditionally
used for grazing, repairing boats and nets, and festivals, was sold to entrepreneurs for
construction
of
a
five-star
hotel
(Shah,
2000).
Source: Overseas Development Institute
Ethical issues
Partly due to the above impacts, tourism can create more serious situations where ethical
and even criminal issues are involved.
Crime generation
Crime rates typically increase with the growth and urbanization of an area, and growth of
mass tourism is often accompanied by increased crime. The presence of a large number
of tourists with a lot of money to spend, and often carrying valuables such as cameras
and jewelry, increases the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities like robbery
and drug dealing. Repression of these phenomena often exacerbates social tension. In
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tourists staying in beachside five star resorts close to extremely
poor communities in hillside "favelas" (shantytowns) are at risk of pickpockets and stickups. Security agents, often armed with machine guns, stand guard nearby in full sight,
and face aggressive reactions from locals who are often their neighbors when they go
home. Tourism can also drive the development of gambling, which may cause negative
changes in social behavior.
Child labour
ILO studies show that many jobs in the tourism sector have working and employment
conditions that leave much to be desired: long hours, unstable employment, low pay,
little training and poor chances for qualification. In addition, recent developments in the
travel and tourism trade (liberalization, competition, concentration, drop in travel fares,
growth of subcontracting) and introduction of new technologies seem to reinforce the
trend towards more precarious, flexible employment conditions. For many such jobs
young children are recruited, as they are cheap and flexible employees.
An estimated 13-19 million children and young people below 18 years of age (10-15 per
cent of all employees in tourism) are employed in the industry worldwide. However,
these figures take no account of the number of children working in the informal sector in
ancillary activities.
Child labour in tourism is common in both developing and in developed countries. Many
boys and girls below 12 years of age are engaged in small business activities related to
hotels and restaurants, the entertainment sector or the souvenir trade, often as porters
or street or beach vendors. They are frequently subjected to harsh working and
employment
conditions.
Source: ILO
For more information on child labour in the tourism industry, see Quick Money - Easy
Money? A Report on Child Labour in Tourism by Christine Plss.