Tourism (Essay Sample)

Tourism
Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic activities. It is also an income earner for many developing countries. International tourism plays a big part in international commerce in terms of export earnings. In 2013, it generated 1.4 trillion US dollars; the World Tourism Organization expects this amount to increase as the number of tourists continues to rise (World Tourism Organization, 2014). Although the industry generates a lot of income, similar to most things in life, it also has disadvantages. This paper will discuss some of the problems or difficulties associated with it.
Tourism affects the local culture in various ways; it devalues and leads to the demise of some practices. Commoditization is one of the ways of devaluing culture. Sometimes sacred places, artifacts, and rituals are used as a way to entertain the visitors or as goods of trade (UNEP n.d & Johnson 2014). In turn, the visitors view this practices and places as less important and lack respect for them. Some tourists tend to behavior in a disrespectful manner. They wear short clothes and use bad language that devalues the society. The local people copy this kind of behavior, fashion sense and life style which in turn leads to the demise of their cultural practices as they are not followed or past down to future generations (UNEP n.d).
Tourism causes inflation, increasing the price of local commodities and also the value of land (Harcombe n.d). The growing demand for land to build tourism resorts becomes directly proportional to the price. The locals are sometimes displaced to make room for luxurious hotels. Johnson (2014) states that the prices of commodities such as food and services increase rapidly as the society and tourist demand for the same goods.
Another negative effect of tourism is change in priority by the local government. It tends to forego significant projects for those in the tourism industry. It focuses on ways of increasing the revenue earned rather than local issues (Johnson 2014). This act of the government in turn brings in opportunity cost. The amount spent on expanding or improving the tourism industry could have been spent on local investment opportunities such as agricultural programs that assist the community (Harcombe).
According to the UNEP, most jobs in the tourism sector provide jobs with little pay and poor working conditions. Some employment agencies hire and exploit small children as they are easily gullible. The opportunities are also seasonal and thus not dependable. Tourism has also aided in the rise of prostitution as a form of employment. Some travel agents provide sex tours and offer information about frequent brothels. This vice has also led to the eruption of sex trafficking whereby tour organizers trade out small girls and young women to pimps (UNEP n.d).
The local resources are at times strained out as they are divided between the local community and the foreign visitors. Resource such as clean water and energy tend to be scarce in some areas. When tourists visit these places, they increase the pressure on these commodities. The competition thus increases the price creating the need to find a new source for these products that usually leads to environmental degradation. The overuse of the natural resources poses a high risk to the environment (Johnson 2014).
Events such as the Olympics tend to attract a lot of tourists and cause social problems. The increase in pollution causes traffic jams, overcrowded streets, littering, increased sewage waste and noise (Johnson 2014). These factors significantly affect the environment as traffic congestion enhances the release of greenhouses gasses thus raising the host country’s carbon footprint. Noise pollution in the form of victory parties affects the serenity of the local environment and causes migraines.
Ethical issues such as insecurity and crime rates tend to increase with the presence of tourist (Harcombe, n.d). Most tourists usually spend a lot of money and carry valuable personal effects. This in turn attracts the attention of local criminals who aim at stealing the valuables. Some tourists get involved in drug dealing; they visit countries looking for buyers and thus create drug markets (Harcombe, n.d). The illegal substances are introduced to the streets thus increasing insecurity and moral decay.
When considering tourism as a source of revenue, the government should also focus on some of the problems it brings into the country. As elaborated in the paper tourism causes child labor, increase in crime, demise of local culture, inflation, environmental degradation and strain on the local resources. It affects the local communities as the government fails to meet the needs of its people. It also leads to the decay of moral standards as small girls and young women are turned to sex slaves. The local authorities should thus come up with ways of dealing with the problem instead of focusing only on the benefit.
References
Harcombe, D. PT. (n.d).The Economic Impacts of Tourism. Assumption University Bangkok, Thailand.
United Nations Environmental Program:UNEP.(n.d). Negative Socio-Cultural Impacts from Tourism. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism
Johnson, M. (2014, June 10). 8 Disadvantages of Tourism: The Dark Side of Vacation. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from https://blog.udemy.com/disadvantages-of-tourism/
World Tourism Organization, UNWTO. (2014). Why Tourism? Retrieved February 14, 2015, from http://www2.unwto.org/content/why-tourism