MNG20006 - Environmental Impact of Tourism in Developing Countries

This report examines the complex relationship between tourism and environmental sustainability in developing countries. It argues that, due to factors like inadequate infrastructure, resource scarcity, and weak environmental regulations, tourism often leads to unsustainable practices. The report discusses specific issues such as land degradation, pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity, providing examples from developing nations. It concludes that without significant investment in sustainable practices and environmental protection, tourism in these regions will continue to be environmentally damaging. Desklib offers more resources, including similar reports and past papers, for students studying this topic.

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 1
TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
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Tourism and Environmental sustainability 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………. 1
2.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………….…. 2
3.0 Background …………………………………………………………………………….......... 3
3.1 Explanation of terminologies ……………………………………………………………… 4
4.0 Discussion ………………………………………………………………………………….... 5
4.1 Tourism and land degradation in developing countries …...............................................…. 6
4.2 Tourism and pollution in the developing countries …………………………………….…. 7
4.3 Tourism and deforestation together with desertification in the developing world ………... 8
4.4 Tourism and loss of species and sceneries ……………………………………………...…. 9
5.0 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….………………………… 10
6.0 References …………………………………………………………………………….……. 11
7.0 Appendix ………………………………………………………………...…………………. 12
7.1 Appendix A ………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 3
1.0 Executive summary
The impacts of the activities of tourism in the developing republics have been debated
hotly in various debates worldwide. Opinions have swayed between the tourism’s extremes as an
enhancement for socio-economic establishment and tourism as the origin of neo-colonial
manipulation as well as a basis for cultural and environmental deterioration. Various
authoritative documents that are empirical, theoretical and conceptual have been drawn from the
collected works in the organizations of development studies, tourism and economics to come up
with the appropriate idea of the role of tourism in the developing nations. Appendix A indicates
the doctrines of sustainability; therefore, the developing nations need to maintain the principles in
order to attain sustainable tourism.
2.0 Introduction
The essay agrees with the argument that; given environmental concerns, tourism in the
developing world is unsustainable, this is because of various reasons which are: Developing
nations usually have problems with infrastructure, water quality, and there is an existing pressure
on resource scarcity in this countries such as food and energy; Tourism puts a lot of pressure on
the communities that are already struggling, therefore making the locals strive for the essential
resources; There is a lot of untreated sewage disposal in the water ways that are meant for
household consumption; Lack of environmental protection regulations in the developing world;
and the tourists reduce the scarce food supply for the native community as the tourists consume
diverse food quantity (Butler 2011).

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 4
3.0 Background
3.1 Explanation of terminologies
Tourism has a number of definitions, in 1994 Theobald etymologically suggested that the
term “tour” was derived from “tornare” a Latin word and the term “tornos” a Greek term
meaning “a circle or lathe; the process of movement around an axis or a central point”. The
meaning was changed to modern English to mean “one’s turn”. The ‘–ism’ suffix is explained as
“a process or action; typical quality or behavior” and the ‘-ist’ suffix represents the one that
conducts a particular action (Hall 2008). The term tour and the –ism suffix are combined to
suggest the action of moving around an axis, and when the term tour and –ist suffix are
combined they suggest the one that is moving around an axis. The Dictionary of Macmillan
describes tourism as a business process of service provision for individuals who are holiday
travelling. The OECD statistical terms glossary, on the other hand, describes tourism as the
person’s activities of travelling to a place and staying at the place away from their usual home
environment not exceeding one successive year for purposes such as business and leisure and the
purposes are not associated to the practical activity remunerated from within the place of visit
(Hall 2008).
4.0 Discussion
The development of tourism has proved to be the fastest growing industry in the 21st era
and has brought about various environmental issues. Any industrial developments in a country
brings about impacts on the environment in which the development takes place. Tourism
therefore has various impacts on the environment as the activity involves tourists visiting a
production place and consuming the place’s output (Pigram and Wahab 2005). Therefore,
tourism can result in negative environmental consequences especially in the developing

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 5
countries. The highly diverged nature of tourism’s development causes intense problems to the
environment (Muhanna 2006). The environmental problems created by the development of the
tourist industry in the developing nations can reduce the life quality of the tourists, locals and the
problems can also threaten the feasibility of the tourism itself (Buckley 2012).
The depletion of the natural resources can lead to water shortages and this generates
pressure on the other resources such as food, energy and air, the resources become scarce,
therefore the attractive scenic landscapes are destroyed. Contamination from tourists creates
great negative impacts on the universal levels and this results in disturbance of the population
locally of the affected community. Littering and solid wastes in the nature plunders the normal
environment (Butler 2011). Greater environmental physical impacts experienced in the
developing countries due to tourism are loss and degradation of the habitats of wildlife as well as
scenery degradation. There is also erosion and disturbance of the native ecosystem that is as a
result of forest land clearing and building of tourist infrastructure and facilities (Tosun 2001).
4.1 Tourism and land degradation in developing countries
Some of the developing nations in the world have an amusing cultural; heritage and
natural beauty that is very attractive. However, tourism in these countries in unsustainable as the
tourism sector is just praised for being the income source in the developing country but the
governments in these states do not invest in the sector such as by building better roads and
providing clean water (Pigram and Wahab 2005). The developing nations usually have problems
with infrastructure, water quality, and there is an existing pressure on resource scarcity in this
countries such as food and energy. Therefore, the tourism sector has failed to offer the main
economic income to the nations, and instead it has led to increased environmental and land
degradation in the countries. Developing countries, such as India; which is known to have one of

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 6
the most diverse and distinct cultural legacy that attracts a large tourist number who come for its
colossal forts, museums, heritage monuments and the scenic landscapes, undergo great land
degradation consequences due to tourism (Hardy, Beeton, and Pearson 2002.).
Convergence of large tourist numbers from varied backgrounds on a particular historic
site or monument and the positioning of the tourist facilities on the ethnic heritage areas results
in the alteration of the unique features of the monuments. The siting of tourist facilities also
results in pollutions as well as damaging of the monuments’ fabric and the landscape of the
countries. The developing countries therefore, being unable to provide adequate income for the
purpose of repairing the damages as well as building high quality infrastructure and facilities on
land regions that are appropriate, face great land degradation consequences as a result of tourism
(Dodds, Graci, and Holmes 2010). The joint impact of atmospheric pollution attack, excessive
tourism, generation of solid wastes, urbanization inappropriate measures for damage restoration,
negligence usually leads to irremediable alterations and even the complete disappearance of the
movable or immovable heritage an aspect that indicates land degradation. For this reason,
tourism in the developing world is unsustainable as there are no adequate resources to attain the
requirements that come with the industry and maintain the standards of the industry (McDonald
2009).
4.2 Tourism and pollution in the developing countries
The developing nations do not have adequate resources to ensure the goal of a clean and
sustainable tourism sector is achieved. The tourism sector puts a lot of pressure on the local
communities that are already struggling, therefore making the locals strive for the essential
resources such as clean water. The development of tourism in the developing nations has led to
increased environmental pollution (Gössling 2000). These republics fail to have appropriate

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 7
waste treatment means and therefore, solid disposal of non-degradable wastes by the tourists
results to soil pollution, this affects crop growth especially the food crops in the local
communities therefore causing food scarcity. The food crop scarcity forces the locals to venture
into activities such as fishing and hunting and pouching, this results in degradation of marine life
as well as the destruction of the wildlife which are the key aspects that attract the tourists to the
developing nations (Tosun 2001).
Disposal of waste products in the water systems might lead to untreated sewage ending
up in the clean water systems, therefore causing water pollution. Tourism leads to increased
untreated sewage disposal in the clean water ways that are meant for household consumption.
Increased tourism results in urbanization which is associated with increased car travelling
resulting in air pollution (McDonald 2009). The developing nations laud the tourism sector for
its economic development purpose and fail to allow the travel industry to maintain the
sustainability of the tourist industry by limiting the level of car and air travel to reduce the
amount of wastes, particularly the exhaust gases, that are released to the environment. The
combined actions of the tourists together with the continued negligence and failure or
inappropriate input of the renovation measures to the pollution damages caused makes tourism
unsustainable in the developing world (Neto 2003).
4.3 Tourism and deforestation together with desertification in the developing world
Most of the developing world nations have inadequate or lack the appropriate
environmental protection regulations this makes it easier for the occurrence of the deforestation
activities. Most of the countries in Africa are third world and therefore are developing countries,
the republics have rich tourist attraction sites that are greatly fading away due to the effects of
deforestation and desertification (Mowforth and Munt 2015). Tourism development results in

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 8
need for increased infrastructure as well as increased need for tourist facilities this forces the
need for clearance of forests in order to create space for the establishment of facilities and roads.
Tourism is also associated with increased urbanization a factor that puts a lot of pressure on
forests as the trees are cleared to create space for human settlement and establishment of new
industries. This has resulted in forest degradation and loss of some essential tree species
especially the hard word tree species found in the tropical forests (Newsome, Moore, and
Dowling 2012).
Deforestation has led to development of the desert-like conditions in the countries
especially in the developing world where desert never existed before. Deforestation has led to
alteration of the climatic conditions therefore there is increased desertification in the third world
nations, this is due to the increased loss of plant diversity and vegetative cover on the land
surface. Deforestation and desertification comprise a radical alteration in the microclimates, the
changes then bring about changes ecologically (Muhanna 2006). The processes of desertification
and deforestation result in biological productivity loss and degradation of the microclimates on
the surface.
Desertification results in green house and global warming effects, therefore threatening
tourism sustainability in the nations as the third world countries have inadequate first class
resources that will ensure establishment of a sustainable and friendly environment for the
tourists. The climatic change effects that affect tourism greatly in most of the African nations
are; saline intrusion, beach erosions, landslides, flash floods and droughts (Swanson and Edgell
Sr 2013). Since the third world states have insufficient resources to ensure environmental
sustainability due to climate change, the tourism sector in the countries is unstable.
4.4 Tourism and loss of species and sceneries

Tourism and Environmental sustainability 9
Development of tourism in the third world nations has resulted in sand dunes erosions,
biodiversity loss, decline in the fish catches, ground water depletion and siltation. The tourists
reduce the scarce food supply for the native community as the they consume diverse food
quantity, this forces the local members to venture into activities such as overfishing, in the long
run the activities lead to reduced fish catches (Muhanna 2006). Increased urbanization which is a
resultant effect of tourism affects the water catchment areas of the developing countries as the
countries don’t have appropriate measures to conserve the areas and this leads to ground water
depletion (Honey 2008). Lack of adequate first class resources in the third world countries to
ensure construction of high quality facilities and infrastructure for tourism leads to land
degradation and loss of essential sceneries of attraction such as the sand dunes, indicating
tourism unsustainability in the developing world (Sunderlin et al. 2005).
5.0 Conclusion
Most of the types of tourism involve travelling and visiting spectacular and incentive
places in the world. Developing countries, especially those in Africa are endowed with beautiful
sites that attract most tourists. The culture as well as the natural scenery as well as landscape of
such nations is very captivating, therefore attracting a diverse number of tourists who visit such
places for recreational purposes (Holden 2007). Therefore, some of the African nations relay
heavily on tourism as the leading source of income. However, the tourist industries of the
developing world fail to adequately invest in the tourism sector in order to maintain high quality
standards to ensure providence of efficient services as well as avoid the negative impacts of
tourism. For these reasons, the topic; ‘Given environmental concerns, tourism in the developing
world is unsustainable’ is true.

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6.0 References
Buckley, Ralf. "Sustainable tourism: Research and reality." Annals of Tourism Research 39.2
(2012): 528-546. Island Press.
Butler, R.W., 2011. Tourism, environment, and sustainable development. Environmental
conservation, 18(3), pp.201-209. Channel view publications.
Dodds, R., Graci, S.R. and Holmes, M., 2010. Does the tourist care? A comparison of tourists in
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand and Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(2),
pp.207-222. Routledge.
Gössling, S., 2000. Sustainable tourism development in developing countries: Some aspects of
energy use. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8(5), pp.410-425. Island Press.
Hall, C.M., 2008. Tourism planning: Policies, processes and relationships. Pearson Education.
Hardy, A., Beeton, R.J. and Pearson, L., 2002. Sustainable tourism: An overview of the concept
and its position in relation to conceptualisations of tourism. Journal of sustainable
tourism, 10(6), pp.475-496. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Holden, A., 2007. Environment and tourism. Routledge.
Honey, M., 2008. Ecotourism and sustainable development: Who owns paradise?. Island Press.
McDonald, J.R., 2009. Complexity science: an alternative world view for understanding
sustainable tourism development. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17(4), pp.455-471. Oxford,
UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Mowforth, M. and Munt, I., 2015. Tourism and sustainability: Development, globalisation and
new tourism in the third world. Routledge.
Muhanna, E., 2006. Sustainable tourism development and environmental management for
developing countries. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 4(2), pp.14-30. Pearson
Education.
Neto, F., 2003, August. A new approach to sustainable tourism development: Moving beyond
environmental protection. In Natural resources forum (Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 212-222). Oxford,
UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Newsome, D., Moore, S.A. and Dowling, R.K., 2012. Natural area tourism: Ecology, impacts
and management (Vol. 58). Channel view publications.
Pigram, J.J. and Wahab, S., 2005. Sustainable tourism—unsustainable development. In Tourism,
development and growth (pp. 42-56). Routledge.
Sunderlin, W.D., Angelsen, A., Belcher, B., Burgers, P., Nasi, R., Santoso, L. and Wunder, S.,
2005. Livelihoods, forests, and conservation in developing countries: an overview. World
development, 33(9), pp.1383-1402. Channel view publications.
Swanson, J.R. and Edgell Sr, D.L., 2013. Tourism policy and planning: Yesterday, today, and
tomorrow. Routledge.
Tosun, C., 2001. Challenges of sustainable tourism development in the developing world: the
case of Turkey. Tourism management, 22(3), pp.289-303. Routledge.

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7.0 Appendices
7.1 Appendix A
Doctrines of sustainability (Source; thwink.org, 2014)