Even before the spread of the pandemic, tourism affected the world phenomenally. Environmental harm has severely augmented effects over a nation. The ecological condition of many countries has deteriorated since the beginning of tourism. Air contamination levels have been observed to increase due to high levels of tourist activities. Even if tourists behave responsibly, the sheer number of them can cause damage. Ancient buildings, monuments, and temples often struggle to cope with increased traffic and suffer inevitable wear-and-tear. Reefs and other natural tourist attractions can suffer permanent damage.
Increased tourist traffic has attracted people to the tourism industry. These people are, then, forced into low-level jobs which aren’t quite profitable. Along with this particular attraction comes tourism dependency. And we all know how that has turned out, don’t we? Consequently, tourism dependency may lead to imbalanced fundings in the economy, which may lead to development in tourist attractions; meanwhile, the rest of the country remains comparably underdeveloped.
Tourists tend to behave irresponsibly. Imagine yourself on a trip. Any person would go on their vacations to relax, right? During this relaxation, would anyone want to follow specific dress codes and act in a certain way? No, right? During this relaxation, tourists tend to refuse socially acceptable standards which will offend the people living there. Such problems can increase resentment towards tourists leading to cultural clashes. To this argument, the opposition may say that they wouldn’t be affected by tourists not following specific dress codes, or acting in certain ways. But try to imagine yourself walking on the street, returning home: when you see a drunk Turkish couple shuffling out of a bar while shouting random phrases in Turkish. Indeed, you would be compelled and feel uncomfortable.
Visiting new places is fantastic, I agree. A sight of the beautiful sandstone mounds of Colorado or the unfathomable ice caps of Iceland may be one of the best moments in a person’s life. However, seeing these places diminish and eventually be demolished wouldn’t be that fantastic, would it? So to summarise, tourism may impose many benefits to the world, however, in the long run, it will only add to the fire.
