TLH119 Global Tourism Assessment: Negative Impacts of Tourism

This essay meticulously examines the multifaceted negative impacts of tourism across various global destinations. It delves into the economic consequences, highlighting how tourism can lead to inflated prices, displacement of local residents, and seasonal employment, while also acknowledging the vulnerability of economies heavily reliant on tourism to external shocks. The essay further investigates the cultural impacts, such as the erosion of local traditions and the rise of homogenized experiences driven by tourist demands, and the environmental consequences, including pollution, habitat destruction, and the exploitation of wildlife for entertainment. The essay supports its arguments with specific examples from diverse locations, such as Spain, Venice, and Bali, and emphasizes the need for sustainable tourism practices to mitigate these adverse effects. The essay concludes by advocating for responsible travel choices and a shift towards sustainable tourism models to minimize the negative impacts of the industry.

Negative Impact of
Tourism

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Tourism stand for travel in order to bring business as well as pleasure which include
accommodation, business for attracting people, providing entertainment to tourists as well as
operating tours for others (Correia, Kozak and Del Chiappa, 2020). However according to World
Tourism Organisation it stands for a holiday which is not only limited to a single activity it
includes travelling as well as staying in places other than usual environment the time for which is
less than one year and more than 24 hours. Travelling can be the most relaxing and reliving
journey but due to people not travelling sustainably there are a number of negative effects of
tourism which will be discussed in this essay.
MAIN BODY
Tourism is helping a number of communities to raise up from poverty but on the other
hand it is also destroying identity of a number of communities. Tourism as well as choices which
are made by tourists can be helpful in sustaining and preserving this wildlife, but they can also
often bring them to suffering and at the end to extension. There are number of impact of tourism
on society, culture, environment as well as economy of a country (Wu and Wu, 2020).
It is often thought that tourism is having positive impact on economy of a country.
However there are a number of instances which prove that economy can also be negatively
affected due to tourism industry. It is often seen that tourist areas are costly than other places .
This might bring profits to a number of people but there are locals who have to suffer due to this.
Due to rise in prices of essential goods it is possible that the locals cannot afford those goods any
more. Also foreign investors start investing in these businesses and the locals of the area are then
left with nothing. Examples can be taken from the home rental market in Spain. The owners of
rental property prefer short term guests from Airbnb rather than local renters who would be

staying there for a longer period of time. Due to this the locals in Spain either pay huge amount
of rents or often move out to remote and excluded areas when they cannot pay rents. It is often
assumed that tourism generates employment opportunities to locals (Gutiérrez and Domènech,
2020). However the fact is ignored that these jobs are only seasonal and the locals are only
employed for few months during the year. There are also some long term economic effects on
various countries tourism sector due to Covid-19 crisis. Also while this crisis began tourism was
a major reason for its spread. People visiting different places contaminated each other with the
disease.
Various negative effects of tourism can also be seen in cultural aspects of certain tourists
spots. A number of old heritage cultures loose their identity due to tourism. The local people start
adapting nature and behaviour from tourists. This results in loss of various native customs and
cultures. Also there are a number of changes which are to be brought due to needs of tourists.
The local shops start storing products for tourists need, the western culture starts dominating
infrastructure, lifestyle, food as well. And due to this a peaceful and quiet tourist spot is
converted into a rushed place (Ambardar, Angmo, and Ambardar, 2020). There are a number of
franchisee of food such as KFC, McDonald's who open their chains in tourists places which
leaves local food store owners with no customers. Another negative impact of tourism in a
number of places is growth in prostitution for fulfilling the requirement of fun for tourists. It is
needed to be understood that this is draining believes as well as values, also women and girls do
not voluntarily perform these jobs. The culture of place is also affected due to growing crimes as
well as tension in tourists places. There are a number of locals opposing tourism because tourists
do not follow their culture and norms. Examples can be taken from dressing style which is
opposed in a number of places. In European countries revealing dresses might hurt the values of

locals. Another example can be taken where in Nepal exchanging greetings and things from left
hand is considered offending. Also locals enter into crimes in order to earn easy money from
tourist which is again negatively impacting culture.
There are a number of places with rich heritage and beautiful places, but due to tourism
these places are often over crowded. These crowds of people somehow vanish the beauty of
place. Venice is one of the example of a tourist city facing problems due to human traffic
congestion (Tiberghien, Bremner and Milne, 2020). Time Square in New York is also always
filled with such people as well as cars. Eve n in Bali when one is interested in visiting Nusa
Penida most of their time is lost in traffic itself. Also after reaching there tourists needs to stand
in long lines. This also leads to heavy traffic and more pollutants released into air. Air quality is
also affected due to increase in air traffic which is a result of increase in people travelling by air.
Environment and nature is greatly affected due to tourism. A number of beautiful places
have lost their beauty due to heavy pollution caused by tourists activities in the place. There are a
number of tourists who are intentionally damaging the monuments and making irreplaceable to
these precious monuments. Another damage is made to beautiful places as people dispose of
their accumulated wastes. Padangbai beach in Bali is a live example of negligent people who
have filled the place with plastic bags. There are a number of common wastes which includes
takeaway packaging, plastic bags, water bottles etc .(Fennell and Sheppard, 2020). Also there are
no trees left as in order to accommodate more tourists all the lands are turned into cement blocks
for providing tourists with a place to live. All these add up to pollution in end. A major drawback
of tourism is exploitation of animals in order to entertain tourists. It is pretty much common that
most of tourists spots provide with various kinds of animal experiences. Examples can be seen as
in Asia elephant safari is famous. When in Greek it is riding on a donkey. In South Africa lion

cubs are trained with whom tourists take pictures. Other than these activities there are also a
number of other options such as circuses, zoos, oceanariums along with different vendors found
on street who use animals to entertain tourists. The suffering which poor animals have to go
through while entertaining humans is not focused upon by anyone. These animals are taken away
from their wild habitats at a very early age. The trainers are not keeping them in good conditions
as well. Even a number of brutal methods are used in order to train them. They are handles very
cruelly they are kept in chains, scared with loud noises, their spirit is broken with this continuous
ill treatment.
The major drawback on an economy of tourism stands to be the dependency people
create on tourism. It is irresponsible to be totally dependent on tourism. There may be some day
when tourist wont come. How will the economy run then? There are a number of situations such
as natural disasters, terrorists attack, political agenda or a pandemic like current situation of
Corona disease, where will the income come from then? Examples can be taken from Egypt. It
was a beautiful place enriched with rich history. Due to revolution by military coups in 2011 and
various airlines disasters in 2013 the tourism of country saw decline (Sharpley, 2020). People
have to find other sources to make money as they can no more sell to tourism. Another example
can be taken from Langtang Valley in Nepal which was a trekking spot and stood at 3rd rank. It
was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 2015 and the villages were buried in landslides.
The villages were rebuild but people had no source of income until the tourists started coming
back.
CONCLUSION
Along with bringing in a number of benefits economically there are also a number of
drawback for tourist places. They do not always bring profits, employment and growth in an

economy. They also often result in making people dependable upon themselves economically
and in various uncertainties when tourism stop people find it difficult to earn their living. The
negative effects which are borne by nature and some ancient monuments due to tourism are often
irreplaceable. These are a result of unsustainable tourism. It is therefore suggested that tourists
travel responsibly considering all the eco-friendly ways possible. Every choice that is made on a
trip including accommodations, dine-in, transportation etc. can be studied thoroughly to avoid
the damage of tourism. It is necessary to change travel into sustainable travel.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Correia, A., Kozak, M. and Del Chiappa, G., 2020. Examining the meaning of luxury in tourism:
a mixed-method approach. Current Issues in Tourism. 23(8). pp.952-970.
Wu, T.P. and Wu, H.C., 2020. Causality between tourism and economic development: The case
of China. Tourism Analysis.
Gutiérrez, A. and Domènech, A., 2020. Understanding the spatiality of short-term rentals in
Spain: Airbnb and the intensification of the commodification of housing. Geografisk
Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, pp.1-16.
Sharpley, R., 2020. Tourism, sustainable development and the theoretical divide: 20 years
on. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 28(11). pp.1932-1946.
Fennell, D.A. and Sheppard, V., 2020. Tourism, animals and the scales of justice. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, pp.1-22.
Ambardar, A., Angmo, S. and Ambardar, M., 2020. Tourism Impacts: A Study of Tourist
Perception in Leh. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Systems, 13(2).
Tiberghien, G., Bremner, H. and Milne, S., 2020. Authenticity and disorientation in the tourism
experience. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 30, p.100283.