The impact of tourism

The impact of tourism on the biophysical environment and

the people

As the world's tourism industry continues to grow and the number of international and domestic tour­ists and travellers consequently increases, the strain on all countries' and regions' biophysical and cultural environments also increases. One ironic fact about this trend is that it is these environments' very char­acteristics, in many cases unspoilt and unique, that attract the tourists in the first place. In most cases the biophysical features are irreplaceable, and the cul­tural features change either forever or to the extent that the original values and beliefs that underlie the societies are threatened with extinction.

Seeing natural wonders

One of people's main reasons for visiting many areas is to see their natural (biophysical) environment or scenic wonders. Pressures caused by tourist volume as well as the often poor planning and management of developments built to service the tourists means that the environments sometimes become spoilt or damaged. Although the natural environment has pro­vided travellers and leisure seekers with enjoyment for thousands of years, it is only over the recent years of mass tourist movement that the physical impacts sustained by every form of natural environment have made some of us more aware that in the future, all tourist activities will have to follow the principles of ecologically sustainable development.

Experiencing other cultures and peoples

Another major reason why people travel, particularly overseas, is to experience other cultures and peo­ples. Most people are interested in the ways in which people in other countries live, work and play. In the twentieth century, in the same way as mass tourism dramatically impacts on biophysical environments, it

dramatically impacts on the cultures, values and be­liefs of people at every corner of the globe. The tour­ism phenomenon can either strengthen the culture or weaken it. Strengthening can take place when the people being impacted on by the tourists can repro­duce 'genuine' aspects of their culture for tourists' education rather than a weakened culture exploiting people with commercial tourist values.

In many of Asia's coastal villages that have been influenced by nearby tourist developments, for ex­ample, young people have quit the traditional fishing and farming practices that had provided them with a stable lifestyle and regular food supply in order to move to tourist-resort areas and accept meagre, sea­sonal and unreliable jobs and incomes earnt from selling goods to the tourists. In many cases the young people may no longer be able to support their fami­lies by helping to provide regular meals, adequate shelter and reliable income. Because they are influ­enced by the tourist economy, many aspects of their lifestyle and culture become altered and are lost.