Disadvantages of Tourism
Tourists often cause environmental damage, with things like pollution and forest fires. Even if tourists behave responsibly, the sheer number of the them can cause problems. Things like ancient buildings, monuments and temples often struggle to cope with the vast amounts of tourist traffic and suffer wear and tear, or damage.
The commercialization of culture can undermine the soul of a tourist destination. Local traditions that have a rich cultural heritage are reduced to wearing costumes and putting on acts for the tourists in return for money.
Tourists can often lack respect for local traditions and culture, not following local dress standards, for example, or getting drunk in public, or behaving rudely or inappropriately towards locals.
Although often jobs are created by tourism, most are relatively low level, such as bar work, hotel service, restaurant serving, etc. with little prospect for promotion.
Tourism jobs are quite commonly seasonal and insecure with no extra benefits, such as pensions, sick pay, or health care. Some areas can be inundated with visitors during busy times, and then virtually deserted for many months.
Money can end up being directed to tourist areas when it could be used more effectively elsewhere in a country – the locals who don’t live in specific tourist areas miss out and suffer relative decline.
Often much of the tourism industry (travel companies, hotels, etc.) in a developing country is actually owned by big foreign companies, who make the major profits, leaving local businesses with relatively little benefit.
Tourism can create an imbalance where it becomes so successful that other forms of income generation are neglected and an economic dependence on tourism forms. This is fine in the good times, but can leave the country vulnerable to economic ruin, if it suffers political upheaval, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters, and tourism consequently dips or dries up altogether
PROSPECTIVE SOLUTIONS
Are there solutions to such problems? Or is tourism an impact generator advancing to disaster?
A global entity that is attaching attention to such problems and attempting to fulfil objectives for a sustainable tourism is the European Union.The EU with its agenda 21 has invited the local administrations to act.It recommends the following:Promotion of local production,offering ecological foods of the region containing no additives.Reduction of waste garbage and separation of the various categories for possible recycling.Usage of various technologies to save water.Purification of residual waters for irrigation and agriculture.The saving of energy with efficient washing machines,heat insulation.Respecting the environment and landscape.Promotion of public transport and bicycling.Establishment of pedestrian zones in areas of historic value.The promotion of local tourism and the support to reduce air schedules of the flight industry thereby reducing carbon emissions.Planning to facilitate contact between the visiting tourists and the local inhabitants but to deter the formation of any tourism ghettos.Planning to benefit all the local population.
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