There are a lot of wonderful and fascinating places around the world.

Many of these place

are well-known while some are still hidden and waiting to be known. These places would not

look appealing without the help of nature and the environment. Aside from making the world a

beautiful place, the environment provides the needs (Kinhal) and materials to support and sustain

the life of every individual. Furthermore, the environment also helps in the development of the

economy. In the article of The Environmental Literacy Council, it was stated that the

environment and the economy are dependent to each other because the environment provides

“direct value and the raw material intended for economic activity.” Other than this, the

environment helps attract tourists, which greatly impacts the economy. Tourism involves people

who are travelling for “pleasure and recreation and exchange of culture” (IGI Global). Tourists

are not merely travelers who seek pleasure, but also travelers who patronize cultures. Indeed,

tourism has a lot of positive impact like promoting cultural heritage (Ahmad, et al. 18) and the

economy, but despite its good effects, tourism can also contribute to the unending problems of

the environment.

In the recent article of Roser, it was mentioned that The United Nations World Tourism

Organization reported that the number of tourist arrivals per year is 1.2 billion, a population huge

enough to cause environmental problems. Tourists usually travel during peak season, especially

holidays like Christmas and New Year. During these times, it is likely that people would travel to

beautiful places to relax, reflect, or enjoy. However, there is a disadvantage caused by these

tourists. It can be observed that plenty of litters, caused by tourists, were scattered all over the

place. Papers, foils, wrappers, and bottles are just some of the many trashes left by travelers.

These trashes thrown can lead to land pollution, or even water pollution. People might think that

the small pieces of trash they throw are nothing because in the first place, it is just a piece of
trash. If all people would be thinking this way, then the world is really in trouble. Little did these

people know that the small piece of trash they throw can greatly affect the environment. People

should bear in mind that the population of tourists is big, and if all tourists would throw at least

one trash, it would definitely result in pollution. These pieces of trash can clog canals, water

irrigation (Sulaeman et al. 1), and drainage that causes flood. It can also kill animals, particularly

those in the sea, as these trashes are mistaken to be foods. Moreover, these litters can make the

surroundings unhealthy and prone to illness, which can be a risk to both tourists and the local

people.

Another negative effect of tourism on environment is their unending necessities. The

economy had spent a lot of money to make sure that the quality of service given to the tourists is

excellent. Hotels, restaurants, business sectors, and even the local government (Local

Government NSW) provide and do everything to ensure that the tourists are comfortable and to

show their hospitality. Though people do these to welcome the tourists, it still has an effect to the

environment. As it was stated above, the economy gets its raw materials from the environment to

produce and sustain the needs of people. However, the effort of the economy to provide the

needs and demands of tourists is sometimes not reciprocated because some tourists are wasting

the materials provided for them. Even their usage of these materials is uncontrollable. Tourists

ask for a lot of things that they do not even need, and it just ends up to waste. They waste

without realizing where these materials are coming from. Koncul said that “tourism consumes

resources,” (158) and yet they easily put things into waste, in which will contribute to the

previous problem mentioned above, pollution. Everything they use comes from the environment

and everything they throw comes back to the environment. Thus, if the tourists will continue to
care less about the environment, then the cycle would just repeat again and again, from

consuming to wasting and from wasting to polluting the environment.

It is true that tourism is an important factor of the economy (Ahmad et al. 2). It greatly

affects the progress of a country’s economy. Tourism, however, contributes to some of the

cyclical problems of the environment in which the government and the non-government

organization try to solve. One way to help with the problem is by posting signage and banners to

remind people, especially the tourists, about the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Another old but effective way is by doing the 3R’s. It would surely help reduce the number of

trash being dump in the garbage dump sites. Doing these things will support the refinement of

the environment, but it will not guarantee the cleanliness of the whole world, not without

discipline. Tourists, including all individual, should be disciplined in consuming and using things.

Simple obedience to the rules and those written in signages, and the mere throwing of trash in

their proper places is an act of discipline and showing love for the environment. It is important

that people should be disciplined enough in keeping the environment clean because without the

environment, people would not be able to see and enjoy the wonders of this world.
 References

Ahmad, Fayyaz, et al. "Tourism and Environmental Pollution:Evidence from the One Belt One
Road Provinces of Western China." Sustainability (2018): 2-18. 4 April 2019.
<https://res.mdpi.com/sustainability/sustainability-10-
03520/article_deploy/sustainability-10-03520-v2.pdf?filename=&attachment=1>.

IGI Global. What is Tourist. 2019. 4 April 2019. <https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/a-

business-model-for-accessible-tourism/30292>.

Kinhal, Vijayalaxmi. Why Is Our Environment Important? n.d. 4 April 2019.

<https://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Why_is_Our_Environment_Important>.

Koncul, Niko. "Environmental Issues and Tourism." (2008): 158. 4 April 2019.
<https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/33523>.

Local Government NSW. Tourism. 2019. 4 April 2019. <https://lgnsw.org.au/policy/tourism>.

Roser, Max. Tourism. n.d. 4 April 2019. <https://ourworldindata.org/tourism>.

Sulaeman et al. "Trash-pollution irrigation characteristics and impact on agriculture." IOP

Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (2018): 1. 4 April 2019.
<https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755/148/1/012028/pdf>.

The Environmental Literacy Council. Environmental & Resource Economics. 2015. 4 April 2019.
<https://enviroliteracy.org/environment-society/environment-resource-economics/>.