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Positive & Negative Effects of Tourism TRAVEL TIPS

Carole Simm, Demand Media Positive & Negative Effects of Ecotourism What Are the Benefits of Tourism in the Caribbean? What Is the Meaning of Sustainable Tourism? The Effects of Tourism in the Caribbean Tourism can bring many economic and social benefits, particularly in rural areas and developing countries, but mass tourism is also associated with negative effects. Tourism can only be sustainable if it is carefully managed so that potential negative effects on the host community and the environment are not permitted to outweigh the financial benefits.

Economic Effects -- Positive

Tourism creates jobs, both through direct employment within the tourism industry and indirectly in sectors such as retail and transportation. When these people spend their wages on goods and services, it leads to what is known as the "multiplier effect," creating more jobs. The tourism industry also provides opportunities for small-scale business enterprises, which is especially important in rural communities, and generates extra tax revenues, such as airport and hotel taxes, which can be used for schools, housing and hospitals.

Economic Effects -- Negative

Successful tourism relies on establishing a basic infrastructure, such as roads, visitor centers and hotels. The cost of this usually falls on the government, so it has to come out of tax revenues. Jobs created by tourism are often seasonal and poorly paid, yet tourism can push up local property prices and the cost of goods and services. Money generated by tourism does not always benefit the local community, as some of it leaks out to huge international companies, such as hotel chains. Destinations dependent on tourism can be adversely affected by events such as terrorism, natural disasters and economic recession.

Social Effects -- Positive

The improvements to infrastructure and new leisure amenities that result from tourism also benefit the local community. Tourism encourages the preservation of traditional customs, handicrafts and festivals that might otherwise have been allowed to wane, and it creates civic pride. Interchanges between hosts and guests create a better cultural understanding and can also help raise global awareness of issues such as poverty and human rights abuses.

Social Effects -- Negative

Visitor behavior can have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of the host community. For example, crowding and congestion, drugs and alcohol problems, prostitution and increased crime levels can occur. Tourism can even infringe on human rights, with locals being displaced from their land to make way for new hotels or barred from beaches. Interaction with tourists can also lead to an erosion of traditional cultures and values.

Environmental Effects -- Positive

Tourism -- particularly nature and ecotourism -- helps promote conservation of wildlife and natural resources such as rain forests, as these are now regarded as tourism assets. It also helps generate funding for maintaining animal preserves and marine parks through entrance charges and guide fees. By creating alternative sources of employment, tourism reduces problems such as over-fishing and deforestation in developing nations.

Environmental Effects -- Negative

Tourism poses a threat to a region's natural and cultural resources, such as water supply, beaches, coral reefs and heritage sites, through overuse. It also causes increased pollution through traffic emissions, littering, increased sewage production and noise.

REFERENCES

Tourism Queensland -- Resource Center: How Tourism Benefits Communities Gawler Visitor Center: Tourism Fact Sheets -- The Social & Cultural Impacts of Tourism National Parks: The Impacts of Tourism EVEIL: The Global Impacts of Mass Tourism Global Development Research Center: Environmental Impacts of Tourism RESOURCES

Barcelona Field Study Center: Tourism Costs and Benefits ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Based in Scarborough, U.K., Carole Simm started writing in 1998. She has authored training programs, marketing materials and website content. Simm also blogs for SuperGreenMe and Eventim. She studied publishing at Napier College, Edinburgh, and has a first-class Bachelor of Arts in tourism management from the University of Hull.

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