Disadvantages of Tourism (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
The Disadvantages of Tourism
Tourism is the industry involved with travel for recreation or business purposes to places of interest. The tourism industry is greatly beneficial to countries’ economies. However, it also brings along a number of crucial drawbacks that should not be ignored.
Tourism occasionally affects the locals of tourist attractions negatively. When tourists visit a place frequently, they leave behind bits of foreign culture. This causes dilution of indigenous cultures, aspects of which might be lost forever. Tourists also inconvenience the locals, creating increased traffic, crowding public places and causing higher costs of living. Research in the United States has indicated that "developing and maintaining the tourist industry in a community requires added costs and puts pressure on public services" (National Agricultural Library, USDA).
When people discuss tourism, the economic benefit is usually the key supporting argument. However, a closer analysis reveals that the economic benefit is over-emphasized. One reason is that the tourism industry in nature tends to be seasonal. This means that most of the employment opportunities linked with tourism are seasonal as well. Secondly, most of the jobs created by tourism are menial, including waiters, game drivers, and translators, among others. These positions are low-paying, provide minimal employment benefits and have few prospects for upward mobility. While it can be argued that the development of infrastructu...