Impacts of Tourism on Society: Positive and Negative Effects

This essay explores the positive and negative impacts of tourism on society, including socio-cultural, economic, political, and environmental effects. It also discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry and the behavior and motivation of tourists.

Tourism and Society

Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Tourism is one of the most vital element of global economy. It helps in generating billions of
dollar revenue and enormous number of jobs worldwide. It is considered as a framework by
which the host and tourists gets to know about each other, their cultures, norms and beliefs. This
communication between two parts of the globe generates the emergence of new ideas, new point
of views, values and motivation that facilitates the economic and social growth of country.
Understanding the impact of tourism on society is vital to ensure sustainable management of the
resources (Hall, 2019). There are several benefits that tourism provides to both the hosts and the
guests, but there are also some negative impacts. This essay will observe the positive and
negative impact of tourism on society by considering four societal segments: socio-cultural,
economic, political and environmental. From the socio-cultural viewpoint, the tourism helps the
society by bringing different cultures and backgrounds together. It boosts the generation of jobs,
thus improving the lifestyle of local people. But at the same time, it can lead to increase in
traffic, overcrowding, pollution and the intrusion of outsiders can disturb the local culture of a
particular area. From the economic perspective, the tourism industry contributes the economic
growth of a country through advanced technology, industrialization, increasing employment rate,
opening foreign market, increasing foreign exchange and foreign investment. But tourism also
leads to decline in traditional jobs and increase in prices of goods and services. From the political
viewpoint, increasing number of tourists have forced governments to make policies and laws in
order to ensure safety and security of tourists, this will also enhance the political relation
between the two countries. From environmental perspective, the increase in tourism encourages
the government and agencies to conserve the natural habitat and environment, but the tourism
puts huge stress on environment and can lead to increase in pollution, deforestation, soil erosion
etc.
MAIN BODY
Earlier, tourism and culture were viewed as two different aspects. Cultural resources were
considered as a part of heritage of destination, the behavior of local population, their education
level etc. and tourism was considered as a leisure activity to get relief from everyday life and
social culture. But this has changed with time, now the cultural differences attract and motivates

the tourists to explore the different parts of globe. The culture of a particular destination,
decides the attractiveness as compared to other destinations, as well as increase the
competitiveness as a location to work, live, and to invest in.
Variation in tourism sector’s performance can be analyzed by Push and Pull motivation theory.
This theory explains why tourists are choosing a destination by eliminating other choices, in
simple words, this theory results the reason of choosing a destination to travel (Michael, et.al.,
2020). The reason can be the experience that a tourist wants to get and type of activity a tourist
wants to do. The push motivation means the inner motives to visit a place like to enjoy a service,
explore a place, relaxation etc. While pull motivation means uniqueness of a place that attracts
and pull people to visit there (Motivation and Perception of Tourists as Push and Pull Factors,
2018).
Nowadays, people are always eager to travel, in need to explore new places and to enjoy the
leisure. The concept of “tourism” was originated in 17th century (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie,
2019). By the 18th century, this trend was widespread among the wealthier classes of society. In
the second half of century, the Industrial Revolution accelerated the tourism as need of labor
leads to travel from one destination to another. The 19th century introduced the trend and a new
business of travel agencies, which resulted in easing the travel from one part to another. By the
end of 20th century, the tourism industry noticed a boom because of mass production of buses
and cars.
Today, the tourism industry is a vital part of global economy, but the COVID-19 pandemic has
severely impacted the tourism and hospitality industry (Grum, 2021). Prior to the pandemic, the
industry had generated around 10.3% (around 330 million) of all jobs, and around 10.3% (10
trillion USD) of global GDP. According to the WTTC’s latest report, the industry lost almost 4.9
trillion US$ in 2020, because of pandemic. But in 2021, the GDP contribution of industry
increased by around 22% (1 trillion US$). In 2019, the industry contributed 10.3% to global
economy, later, because of pandemic restrictions this share dropped to 5.3%. But in 2021, this
share jumped to 6.1%. After a drop of 47% in 2020, the spending of domestic visitor rose by
31% in 2021. And after a decline of 70% in 2020, the spending of international visitor rose by
4% in 2021 (Economic Impact Reports, 2022).

However, there are certain destinations where the problem of over tourism is prominent and are
restricting the tourists to visit there. For instance, Boracay, an island in Philippines famous for its
white sand and crystal clear sea water, was losing its image as the overcrowding resulted in
increase in illegal fishing, pollution and sanitary problems. So, the President of Philippines
demanded a six-month closure of island to deal with infrastructure problems like sewage,
sanitation, pollution and garbage. The government also banned single use plastic, bulldozed
illegal constructions and asked hotels to apply for new permits (Places Struggling with Over
tourism, 2018).
The tourism industry is an ever-expanding industry and shows no sign of stopping. This industry
is impacting every section of the society both positively and negatively. Tourism industry is
extensively impacting the global environment (Wang and Wang, 2018). Positive environmental
impacts include that the industry is supporting the conservation and restoration of biodiversity as
majority of countries’ government is aiming to attract more tourists by improving the
conservation and protection activities to maintain and protect the flora and fauna. Government of
some countries are aiming to make their country’s tourism industry with net zero carbon
emission. But, development comes with the cost of nature, to improve the tourism infrastructure
and facilities, a large forest cover is removed, building had replaced agricultural land and use of
land is altered. Increase in tourism is increasing the pollution level, improper waste disposal,
more noise and these all results to disturbance in ecological balance of the area.
The tourism directly impacts the lives of local people of destination areas. These impact can
either enhance the lifestyle or can degrade it (Brauer, Dymitrow and Tribe, 2019). Positive
impacts of tourism on socio-culture includes income generation, employment generation,
upgradation in lifestyle, infrastructure development etc. Tourism facilitates the multiplier effect
in economy as the money revolves and circulates in whole economy of country, it not only
impacts the tertiary sector of economy, but it also generates income and jobs in primary and
secondary sectors too. Negative impacts include rise in racism, crime, prostitution etc. In some
places, increase in tourists had resulted in loss of cultural identity and breaking the traditional
practices of locals.
Tourism is one of the largest and rapidly growing industry, the influence of tourism on economy
of a country can be judged on the basis of income generated and total number of people involved
in it (Figini and Patuelli, 2022). Tourism encourages the generation of employment in host

country, thus decreasing the unemployment level. Attracting foreign tourists fetches foreign
currency, and more foreign currency reserve helps the nation in maintaining balance of trade.
Increase in tourism also encourages the government to invest on infrastructure to provide better
facilities to the visitors as well as the local people. But it also increases the prices of goods and
services, because in order to earn more profit from tourist, local traders increase the prices and
this impacts the local people too. Another negative impact of tourism is that the locals are
provided with low paying jobs and traditional employment like fishing, farming etc. had
decreased.
Tourism also impacts the political environment of a country, every point of tourism whether it is
cross border movement, currency exchange, international communication, airlines, hospitality,
etc. is governed by political decisions (Vogler, 2022). Increase in tourists will increase the
revenue for government, so to attract more tourists the government of a particular country tries to
provide safety and security to tourists. This will also help the local resident as the law and order,
legal infrastructure, and legal policies will improve. Tourism will also enhance the political
relation with other countries. Tourism industry is the primary source of revenue for government.
In 2021, the industry directly contributed approximately 5.8 billion U.S. dollar to the global GDP
(Global tourism industry - statistics & facts, 2022). But, it also leads to a rise in corruption, the
leaders and agencies of many countries involved in this industry tries to fill their pockets by
unethical ways. In result, the tourists have to pay bribes to enjoy the services.
Before the pandemic, people used to travel without any fear and restriction. They could do
whatever they want, participate in any activity, travel to various places. But the COVID-19
pandemic had altered the whole situation and this impacted the behavior of the tourists (Yeh,
2021). The behavior and typologies of tourists can be understood by following Smith’s Tourist
Typology model. This model divides tourists in seven categories. Explorer are those tourists who
lusts for a new destination and tries to experience lifestyles of their hosts and travels in small
groups as anthropologists. Elites are rarely seen tourists, they fully adopt themselves to local
norms and beliefs but for a temporary period. Next category is, Off-beat Tourists, they always try
to do something beyond the norms and beliefs and always avoid crowds. Unusual tourists are
occasional in number and prefers side trips with everything organized. They try to explore local
culture. Another typology of tourists is Incipient mass tourists; they try to explore such places
where tourism is not yet dominant. They seek western amenities and comfort. Mass Tourists are

those type of tourists who prefers to travel in groups and are middle income people. Last
category is of charter tourists, they have little or no interest in destination, they just try to enjoy
the facilities, standard of foods and accommodation.
The motivation of tourists also plays a critical part in driving them to make decisions regarding
the travel and to initiate their vacation by finding appropriate destinations that fit with their needs
(Ongsakul, et.al., 2022). There are two types of motivation, first is Intrinsic motivation, wherein
the motive to travel develops from within the individuals in order to satisfy self. Some intrinsic
factors of motivation include the attitude and perception of tourist, cultural differences, values
and beliefs, personality and behavior. Another type of motivation is Extrinsic motivation, that
involves the motives generated from external rewards like fame, respect, money etc.
The variation in behavior, personality and motivation of tourists results in rise and fall of tourist
destinations (Agyeiwaah, et.al, 2019). The pandemic has impacted the tourism sector of every
country, but there are certain other factors that can lead to rise and decline in popularity of a
certain destination. For instance, Paris’ “love lock” bridge lost its popularity after the official
removed over 9000 padlock and promotes to use it as a normal bridge, this resulted massive drop
in tourist numbers. Similarly, places like Amsterdam is facing problem of over tourism. As per
the figure of 2018, Amsterdam hosted around 20 million tourists- as compared to its population
of less than a million (per NPR). To overcome this issue, agencies of Amsterdam has taken
multiple measures like banning new tourists shop in city center, limiting Airbnb rentals etc.
(Places Struggling with Over tourism, 2018).
CONCLUSION
After considering the above details, the essay concludes that the Coronavirus pandemic has
heavily affected the global tourism industry. But now the situation is normalizing again, tourism
statistics are showing that the industry is back on track again as the international and domestic
travel had restarted and helping to overcome the loss of jobs and businesses. Tourism sector
impacts every section of the society both positively and negatively, it helps in generating jobs,
improving the lifestyle of local people and increasing environmental awareness among people.
But also leads to problems like pollution, overcrowding, crime, corruption, etc. Now, the tourism
agencies and government are focused towards implementing sustainable measures to ensure a

suitable balance between the environment, socio-culture and economic aspects of tourism
development and also to ensure a positive impact of these three dimensions on society. Meeting
the tourists’ expectations is also a challenge for industry as the needs and motivation of tourists
keeps changing. A tourist’s major needs involves factors like safe accommodation and food,
value of their spending and time, proper hospitality and amenities etc. Image of a destination also
increases the tourists’ expectations and there are many false data of a destination available on
internet. This also drives the expectations of guests, and meeting those expectations is a difficult
task for the host. To avoid such issues, the agencies of destinations have to regularly monitor the
websites and take precautionary measure to remove any false pictures and data.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Agyeiwaah, E., Otoo, F.E., Suntikul, W. and Huang, W.J., 2019. Understanding culinary tourist
motivation, experience, satisfaction, and loyalty using a structural approach. Journal of
Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(3), pp.295-313.
Brauer, R., Dymitrow, M. and Tribe, J., 2019. The impact of tourism research. Annals of
Tourism Research, 77, pp.64-78.
Figini, P. and Patuelli, R., 2022. Estimating the economic impact of tourism in the European
Union: Review and computation. Journal of Travel Research, 61(6), pp.1409-1423.
Grum, D.K., 2021. Psychological Characteristics of Tourist Behavior During a Pandemic and
Expectations of Future Tourists. In Handbook of Research on the Impacts and
Implications of COVID-19 on the Tourism Industry (pp. 393-415). IGI Global.
Hall, C.M., 2019. Constructing sustainable tourism development: The 2030 agenda and the
managerial ecology of sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7),
pp.1044-1060.
Michael, N., Nyadzayo, M.W., Michael, I. and Balasubramanian, S., 2020. Differential roles of
push and pull factors on escape for travel: personal and social identity
perspectives. International Journal of Tourism Research, 22(4), pp.464-478.
Ongsakul, V., Kajla, T., Raj, S., Khoa, T.T. and Ahmed, Z.U., 2022. Changing tourists’
preferences in the hotel industry amid COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Hospitality and
Tourism Technology.
Vogler, R., 2022. Tourism Policy and Politics. In Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and
Marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wang, M.C. and Wang, C.S., 2018. Tourism, the environment, and energy policies. Tourism
Economics, 24(7), pp.821-838.
Yeh, S.S., 2021. Tourism recovery strategy against COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism Recreation
Research, 46(2), pp.188-194.
Yeoman, I. and McMahon-Beattie, U. eds., 2019. The future past of tourism: Historical
perspectives and future evolutions. Channel View Publications.
Online
Global tourism industry - statistics & facts, 2022. [Online] Available through:
https://www.statista.com/topics/962/global-tourism/?#dossierKeyfigures
Motivation and Perception of Tourists as Push and Pull Factors, 2018. [Online] Available
through:https://www.e3sconferences.org/articles/e3sconf/abs/2018/06/
e3sconf_icenis2018_08022/e3sconf_icenis2018_08022.html

Economic Impact Reports, 2022. [Online] Available through:
https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact
Places Struggling with Over tourism, 2018. [Online] Available through:
https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-06-19/barcelona-bhutan-places-that-limit-
touristnumbers