Tourism is undoubtedly a booming industry, but it also comes with certain disadvantages that are best to be aware of. While tourism creates more jobs and brings more money into the country, there are several things that should be considered before deciding to pursue this career path.
This article will look at a few of these disadvantages, and help you consider how they may impact your next travel experience. We will also discuss about some advantages so you can understand better. So, let’s start it.
Know About Tourism
Meaning of Tourism
Tourism is the activity of traveling to places outside one’s own country and spending time there, sometimes with the intention of engaging in recreation or sightseeing.
The United Nations defined tourism through its World Tourism Organization definition: “Tourism enters into diverse areas from culture to politics, and includes activities such as visiting historic sites, watching movies on a beach resort vacation.” Tourism can be separated into two categories: international and domestic. International tourism allows tourists who are out of their country to visit another one.
Domestic tourism refers to the traveling within a country, such as visiting and living in different neighborhoods or attending cultural events that are locally hosted.
For many international trips, travelling can be extremely expensive because travel is required to reach different places with unique cultures, many items need buying before departure (where they will most likely not sell untaxed), and you have little control over when you should start your journey.
Tourism has become a popular pastime for millions of people across the world. This is why it is important to know about the disadvantages of tourism. It is not always possible to have perfect vacations, which may lead to frustration and disappointment in some cases.
The tourism industry provides for not only job options but also cultural, economic and environmental benefits. It is one of the leading global industries in terms of hiring opportunities and trade worldwide.
Entertainment festivals such as The Cannes Film Festival or the Venice Biennale are huge draws due to their globalization of culture while hosting major events like Eurovision, which continues to be a lucrative business despite some criticism it receives from culturally aware society members that object to its racist origins or lyrics.
– Australasian countries,
– European Union Countries.
– Latin American and Caribbean countries
– Many countries.
The Advantages of Tourism
Let’s begin this section by exploring the advantages of tourism, which include:
- Employment opportunities;
- improved GDP that helps decrease poverty rates in many countries.
With an increase in tourist establishments, there is also the development of diverse economies within local communities and cities.
- Tourism is one of the leading global industries in terms of hiring opportunities and trade worldwide.
- Cultural development; tourism offers a diverse set of cultural experiences for many people within countries across the world including foreign culture, arts and society members may experience “cultural capital” which leads to increased participation in community activities (Mulki Nawaz).
Cultural Capital: Social meaning embedded into physical objects outlasting their functional value.
Cultural capital includes “knowledge, skill, preparation and experience” (Mulki Nawaz).
- According to UNESCO for every dollar invested by tourists in cultural investments there is a $4 return.
This has been hypothesized as the result of increased economic activity that accompanies tourism: opening new markets and businesses begin to sprout up around tourist sites which acts as gateways into the rest of their communities previously held back due to lack of resources or
- Tourism would be a great supplier of natural resources and an influence on the preservation of foreign aid investments (Bonsi, 2014).
Conservation: The relatively lower demand for religious tourism may help conserve some local landscapes or totem animals rather than exploitation by commercial interests which have relied on this area to turn high profits.
The Disadvantages of Tourism
- The disadvantages of tourism are extensive due to the fast development of certain trips that grow negative in terms on environmental, cultural and social capital.
- Tourism is also an extremely great influence over developing global economies with many forms of cultural exchange taking place which tends to perpetuate exploitation by external groups. However, ” positive exterior effects exist such as employment growth within local communities”.
- According to UNESCO countries without strong indigenous industries or culture
are three times more vulnerable to losses in GDP on a per capita basis than those countries that have their own unique cultural identity.
- Isolation as well can be seen with tourism as many tourists seek “natural authenticity” and avoid heavily trafficked areas which limits local participation in socio-economic benefits of tourism.
- Lastly, tourism also poses a threat to cultural heritage as many developing nations rely on international markets for their economic growth. “Loss of identity due to mass globalisation occurs in certain areas more than others [in Latin America and Asia] because these regions represent the original ‘frontier cultures’ of world history”.
Economic Pros and Cons of Tourism
Economic pros of tourism include:
It can help create jobs during a recession, and sustaining it while the economy recovers. It offers lives rafts of new employment opportunities in unconventional locations and occupations. Increasingly able young people are drawn to these jobs with huge potential for development.
Tourism is an industry that shows positive signs of long-term growth due to the youth boom it attracts – over 75% of tourists today will be over 65 by 2030, meaning future generations stand to benefit from this increase dramatically.
The economic cons when not managed well include:
Alcoholism and crime – tourism related to unregulated drinking of alcohol can cause addiction and crime problems.
There is also an economic cost as labor costs increase, profit margins decrease. And the number of visitors may not be equal if unconnected people flock in without staying for tourism infrastructure improvements that could attract more travelers a longer time-frame (source).
Tourism industry competition increases – often making room for other industries which compete but do not outpace their monopolies on capital, or build their profitability on tourism’s sustainability.
Tourism pollution – the relative importance of sustainable development reduces in favor of short-term profit, leading to habitat degradation as well as resource depletion.
The models are not managed more holistically which can lead countries off track and bring them into poverty. This allows for an increase in crime rates and addictions with less support infrastructures (hunger is a pro).
Environmental Pros and Cons of Tourism
Positive Benefits of Tourism
Through tourism, many protection efforts for a given species are actually increased. There is less pressure on the preservation of an area’s natural resources and plants in a zoo or botanical garden environment than there would be if tourists were not present.
If a particular place receives significant numbers of tourists, it helps to preserve the appearance and spirit of that region. The less heavily populated the place, however, the more permanent damage that can occur if visitors stay long enough to certify history in photos or videos may take away from other tenants such as nature itself.
Tourists help protect
the environment by contributing to the economy- funding infrastructures that can help preserve a place and its surroundings for their wildlife habitat.
Positively, tourism serves as an alternative venture for inexpensive sites direct from nature. International boundaries are not crossed, no one is harassed or killed when travelling through unsafe regions due to the clear demarcation of nations in terms of travel safety.
Negative Effects on Wildlife
The vast increase in tourism has led to the decrease of natural habitat for animals and plants. The ever-increasing visitation creates large bear pens, mud flats in canals that are not suited for water fowl, tourist feeding stations in forested areas with no animal overpopulation (ex: buffaloes).
This contributes to a deterioration or loss of native species habits such as watering holes which force wildlife into more dangerous drinking sources like lakes where disease is rampant because the cleanliness of water is kept in check.
It furthers the destruction of native habitats when those from other regions trade these animals for exotic or semi-exotic species that then escape into an area where they do not belong; this inevitably leads to overpopulation and death.
In addition, their habitat selection areas are disturbed which takes away any natural spaces that have remained untouched by humans as well as population centers such as cities, making it harder for them to locate their food and to find the breeding mates for which they are sensitive.
Cultural Pros and Cons of Tourism
Cultural Pros of Tourism
Tourism boosts economic value of a country. US Census Bureau reports “tourism was the largest export in 41 countries, making up from 8% to 20% of exports”.
Tourism builds stronger trade relations with other countries as most visitors come for cultural and spiritual reasons rather than needful supplies. Tourism is supportive for regional assets such as arts, culture and local traditions are historical sites or things such a cuisine that contribute to all beings’ deep social connections with their country and the world.
It helps preserve history, culture and diversity of a place. Tourism ultimately makes people more emotionally attached to their lives by increasing opportunities for knowledge about an area in which they are living or visiting as well as give them insight into issues that show up in a society’s social obligation such as war-torn regions being visited by noncombatants who can be exposed to what is actually happening first hand rather than just via media.
Cultural Cons of Tourism
Tourism is very influential in many communities. One of the most significant impacts is it affects the local culture, tradition and economy by changing how these are practiced from intrinsic important pursuit to purely financial ones that only focus on their appeal instead of tangible values such as people’s hearts, minds or soul.
Tourists can become fairly insensitive depending on where they visit – taking unstrugglingly for granted what locals put so much effort into protecting, altering the power structures of an area, and sometimes helping to fuel stereotypes.
Tourists can have a tricky time navigating a new place since unfamiliarity with local customs like traditional dress or behaviors gets them in trouble as they violate norms without knowing it or realizing what they are doing was not okay – which causes discomfort/embarrassment on both sides.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of tourism. Tourism can be very beneficial for the local community, but it can also cause damage to the environment and local culture.
In this article we have discussed about the advantages and disadvantages of tourism. We hope you are satisfy with our discussion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can Tourists Help Local People?
Tourists can contribute to a community’s economy by spending their money using local businesses. In many communities, they may make it more likely that locals will pick up tourism-related jobs and be able to receive more income from these workplaces as opposed to not working at one of these organizations.
Why Do You Think There Is A Lot Of Negative Criticism About Tourism?
There is a lot of negative criticism about tourism because people think it does not serve the community often enough, can create more problems than solutions for those who are visited by tourists, and evokes images that guide behavior.
Negative impacts from tourism like rapid change to landscapes or endangered species might outlive their positive effects such as increasing alternative options for employment in communities where these were necessary previously.
Do Tourists Cause Social Problems In Other Countries They Visit?
Tourists visit other countries in order to experience culture, which is something they may not have as much of at home. Tourists might see and hold onto local practices differently than locals do because it allows them to compare a place that can be lonely or difficult for people who live there – sometimes breaking down rigid ideas about the traits and attributes of certain places but also subjecting(hurting) those places through tourists’ interests.
Are Tourists Really Good For The Environment?
Tourists “bring” nature with them and unlike locals, are unaware of what constitutes as western tourism versus international tourism. For example, tourists in Queensland want to visit the Great Barrier Reef but will not know where the best place is on a kayak which can break coral.
What Problems Can Tourism Cause?
Tourism can be a part of the problem, not only from what is done on-site but also because it exposes places to rapid change and can create shadows along with light.
Responses include negative impacts like increasing dependency on services by communities who depend heavily on tourism including more aggressive advertising, development that out grows resources while simultaneously overexposing these same sites, or cultural evolutions in certain areas as people try and accommodate those impacted by regional tourists.
What Are Some Alternatives To Tourism?
These may include rejecting any type of presentation in exchange for community-based initiatives with self-sufficiency, cultural preservation more so than development, and encouraging sustainable practices that go beyond mediation concerning false dichotomies between “nature” or “culture versus economics.”