The Unsustainability of Tourism in Developing Countries: Environmental Concerns

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THE SUSTAINABLE HOTEL ENVIRONMENT
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Introduction
Tourism is the activities of providing services like travel, hotels, accommodation,and
entertainment for people who want to enjoy themselves more especially those on holiday. People
on holiday are known as tourists(Bramwell and Lane, 2011). There are more disadvantages than
advantages that accrue from tourism within developing worlds. Since the 1950s, tourism
international traveling has risen from 25 million to over one billion around the world as per 2012
data. This report explains in details why tourism is unsustainable in the developing countries
given the environmental concerns that come with it(Lakoff, 2010). It seeks to agree that, tourism
is unsustainable in thedeveloping world through the following view points;
1. Developing countries usually have issues with water quality, infrastructure and there is
already pressure on scarce resources such as energy, food etc.
This is true in that, several countries living in tropics have been focusing on tourism with an
aim of generating extra income sources and diversify the economy. Tourism infrastructure
development has been greatly experienced in coastlines(Gössling et al. 2012). The presence of
tourist in those particular regions has brought negative consequences in sustaining the available
resources which in turn has led to the destruction of the integrity of the ecosystem(Feng, and
Miao, 2009). The good example is fresh water usage in the easterncoastal regions of Zanzibar,
Tanzania(Shiva, 2016). East coast of Zanzibar has very water poor and relies on freshwater
trapped in rainy seasons and store in insufficient aquifers consisting of fresh water lenses which
float on the underlying seawater(Darcy, Cameron,and Pegg, 2010). In recent times the area has
experienced growth in tourism and expects to grow further in near future putting additional
pressure on the east coast freshwater resources which have already shown signs of over-

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use(Bramwell and Lane, 2011). The exploitation of fresh waters negative consequences will be
the saltwater intrusion, lower groundwater table, deteriorating groundwater quality, and land
subsidence(Gössling et al. 2012). This means living conditions in the areas will be negative and
will be felt by both the tourism industry and the local community(Darcy, Cameron,and Pegg,
2010). Studies show that in the future, an increase of tourism in these areas will be fatal as water
deficit will rise to dangerous levels as today some locals have started experiencing the deficit.In
the future, these regions will not be able to sustain tourism in general with the destruction
reaching unsustainable levels leading to negative consequences on the environment,
population,and the country’s economy. I therefore, agree that developing countries has scarce
resources to sustain tourism.
2. Tourism will put increased pressure on already struggling communities. Locals compete
for critical resources.
With communities like those on the east coast of Zanzibar already struggling to get enough
water due to exploitation by tourism activities, developing countries are in danger of putting their
populace resources at a critical situation. The above statement is true because, developing world
increases struggle of their communities even further through tourism activities. Instead,
precautionary measures for resource sustainability must be considered and put in place(Choi and
Turk, 2011). Tourism leads to violation of cultural heritage rights of the receiving communities.
Some communities with rich culture may be exploited through reproducing of their cultural
heritage for commercial purposes. Some people do a recording of cultural events and festivals
and put them on sale once in demand denying her people the right of ownership and financial
benefits(Choi and Turk, 2011). Tourism activities in the developing world impact people’s lives
negatively mostly through environmental pollution. Tourism activities destroy places and species