Travel and Tourism- Impact on Environment of Mother Earth

 

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”

– Albert Einstein

Have you ever taken a moment to try and figure out, deeply think and truly understand why is it that you travel? How many times have you travelled in the past years and why? If you haven’t taken a moment during all this time to reflect on why you travel and how you do it I encourage you to do it now, with me. In the era we live in, we have lost touch with why we do what we do and how we do it. We seem to care less and less about the choices we make when it comes to travelling. The environment has been screaming out loud directly into our faces but, still, we look in the opposite direction. Some of us might buy the most expensive Smartphone in the market without doing any research on how it was made and what went into its manufacture. But, then, want to spend the least when it comes to travel, again, because it’s easier, it’s the way the markets and big companies want it to go and so we avoid doing any research on what might be the best choice. Isn’t it kind of hypocritical of us all to search for the cheapest flights on the most expensive phones? Why spend so much on some material things and less on experiences that will last a lifetime? To be completely honest, I think most will say yes to travel. I like the way it makes me feel when I do it because I truly desire it and all the good memories, people and knowledge about other cultures and lifestyles it brings into my life. So, of course, I am not going to stop travelling, but I am going to start making wiser choices, doing some research on which one is the best, the greenest and the most affordable way of travelling depending on my budget, as well as keep doing and working on long-term travel which will do better both me and the environment.

Mother Earth has given all to its inhabitants and we only need to know it. From the earliest times in history people undertook pilgrimage to travel to far off destinations across countries and continents. Pilgrimage is defined as a journey undertaken for a religious motive. Although some pilgrims have wandered continuously with no fixed destination, pilgrims more commonly seek a specific place that has been sanctified by association with a divinity or other holy personage. The institution of pilgrimage is evident in all world religions and was also important in bringing people nearer. However, there is no evidence to show that these pilgrimages caused any harm to nature; rather they enriched the vocabulary of nature through meaningful description while describing the experiences of pilgrims. Gradually, travel took the form of exploration-quest to know the unknown and ultimately metamorphosed into tourism. Historical monuments and places became the main attraction for the people who cared to know and learn the history of mankind. Seven wonders were the first such attractions which the travelers wanted to see from the late 18^th century originating in Europe. These types of journeys were often termed as ‘Heritage Tourism’. Tourism has been a global phenomenon from its origins. With technological innovations over the 19^th and 20^th century, came the globalization and democratization of tourism and threw open the gates of tourism to all sections of society. Today it has become a prominent international business arena in the form of tourism industry like any other industry.

The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. On a local, national, and international level, tourism is economically and environmentally significant. Tourism has the capacity to help build communities and instigate positive environmental change. Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce. Tourism is usually regarded as a boon to a region’s economy. Tourism brings prosperity to the region and provides employment to the locals of the region. However, when tourism becomes unsustainable in nature, it can have disastrous consequences on the environment. Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.

How Tourism Affects the Environment? Tourism, in simple terms, is an activity that involves people visiting places of interest, both local and international, and exploring new different activities and experiences for leisure or business. Countries such as the Maldives, British Virgin Islands, China, Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand, Seychelles including many others across the world, depend highly on the tourism sector as a source of income generation. This is more so for economically developing countries of Asia and Africa. The global tourism sector is the largest industry, contributing up to USD 2.9 Trillion to GDP; with France, the USA, Spain, China, and Italy being the world’s top destinations. And on a global scale, tourism generates income as one of the fastest-growing industries for many countries. But in as much as mass international as well as local inbound tourism has numerous positive impacts on the environment, it also comes with its downsides. As such, investment in sustainable tourism options can put in place policies or a framework that can help protect the environment as well as boosting the tourism industry at a global level. This article particularly sheds light on both the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the environment.

 

The positive impacts of tourism on the environment include:

 

1. Awareness creation and sensitization about sustainable tourism options- Over time, tourism has brought about awareness in conservation, protection, and maintenance of exotic often near-extinct, fragile flora and fauna in the ecosystem. Organizations such as The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Nature Conservancy have set strategies, policies as well as programs that steer ahead of the agenda of sustainable tourism. International and local tourists, as well as dwellers, are also becoming more and more aware of the value of preserving and maintaining the environment.

2. The adoption and implementation of regulatory measures - Through enacting regulatory measures to curb the potential negative aspects of tourism, the government has been able to offset a number of destructive environmental impacts. Such measures include the control of the visiting number of tourists, identifying and limiting accessibility within protected areas, and setting up restrictive legislation directed at conserving the environment like carbon offset programs. With these policies upheld, it has become easier to uphold the vitality and the integrity of tourist sites and the protection of surrounding natural resources as well as ecosystems.

 

3. Development of infrastructure - Improvement of roads, electrical grid systems, telecommunications as well as social amenities are some of the benefits that have been realized around communities within tourist destination sites. This brings about the improvement of standards of living, especially in remote areas; as well as improving on the landscape and aesthetic nature of an area.

 

4. Preservation of historic monuments and cultural heritage - Some international tourists seek to experience diversity in culture and a difference in the scenery as compared to theirs. This need brings about demand from the local dwellers to retain their culture as well as preserve their historical monuments as it becomes a tourist attraction. Some of their cultural practices that have not been eroded by modern civilization link to the natural habitat of the area. Practices such as using herbs for medication, or linking certain wild animals with historical significance helps retain and preserve their ecosystem. Despite the benefits that come with tourism as the fast-growing industry globally, it has left behind numerous poorly managed and uncontrolled negative impacts on the environment that warrants the need for eco-tourism or sustainable tourism options.

 

However, presently, it appears that of the negative impacts of un-sustainable tourism practices outweighs the positives and that should be brought to the people’s attention before it is too late:

 

1. Degradation and loss of natural ecosystems and aesthetic landscape- Improper development of infrastructures such as extensive paving and sand and beach mining, unplanned construction of resorts, hotels, roads, airports, power plants, reservoirs, and waste disposal systems brought about as a result of tourist visits has led to congestion within areas that are fragile and sensitive like natural habitats for wildlife, wetlands, coral reefs, lakes, forests, minerals, oceans, fertile soils, and riverbed basins. Encroachment into the natural habitat of plant and animal species to build hotels, roads, and beaches poses a great risk to the endangered species and often push wildlife to migrate in search of less congested areas or deeper into the forest that may have unfavorable breeding, preying, camouflaging, and feeding environments. Besides pushing wildlife far interior into the wild, development projects most of the time affect the scenery and aesthetic nature of natural habitats, thereby destroying the quality that makes it a tourist attraction site in the first place.

2. Leads to various types of environmental pollution- Tourisms as a whole and some of the actions by tourists have over time adversely affected the destination areas through various kinds of environmental pollution including air, land, water, and soil. Some tourists, for example, will litter and leave behind garbage or waste like plastic wrappers and cigarette butts in the surrounding environment thereby causing land pollution, plastic pollution, and cigarette pollution respectively. Water pollution due to recreational boating activities has equally been reported. According to estimates by Ocean Conservancy, for instance, records an estimate of 70,000 tons of waste-water produced per year from cruise ships in the Caribbean, which affects the natural habitat of marine life. Sometimes, land degradation can also happen in the form of soil erosion as a result of creating nature trails and cutting of bushes and obtaining wood fuel to facilitate hiking and camping activities.Tourism is also highly associated with noise pollution during festive seasons and events, and particularly due to high noise levels from cars, buses, airplanes, and recreational vehicles that can cause distress to wildlife and even alter wildlife’s natural activity patterns. And since tourism accounts for more than 60% of all air travel, it is equally responsible for a significant share of air pollution through travel air emissions.

3. Depletion of natural resources and strain on the locally existing ones- When the number of tourists visiting an area over time surpasses the level to which the area can sustain; it subsequently leads to an overuse of the available local resources causing a strain on the environment. In most cases, tourism puts a strain on the already scarce local natural resources owing to over-consumption. Food, fresh water, and power usage in hotels and resorts increase to a high capacity when tourist numbers increase, which also affects the access of local dwellers to such services or resources. And on instances where marine tourists taking part in recreational fishing are not properly controlled, the outcome is the endangerment to some of the aquatic species causing an imbalance in aquatic ecological functions. As we all know that world is already facing shortage of potable water and constant reduction of water table on ground. Problem is more acute in drier regions of tourism.

4. Erosion of social and cultural norms aimed at preserving local and        environmental heritages- International tourists come with diverse social-cultural behaviors that are often quite distinct from the usual ways of local dwellers. Tourism involves intermingling and exposure to new experiences, new practices, a dynamic way of living, new traditions, and new historical background for the locals. As such, this has in some places influenced people to abandon their traditional practices, beliefs, norms, religion, and values for the newly acquired practices thereby eroding their ways of life.

Examples are the use of traditional medicine, consumption, and protection of certain indigenous foods, protection of certain wildlife animals, or areas believed to be gods or dwellings of god that after all help to conserve the natural environment. Most of the traditional ways of life and beliefs in tourism locations like in Australia, Brazil, some African countries, Andaman & Nicobar islands in India and China, for example, the aboriginals often maintain a balance between nature and human activities by trying as much as possible not to harm nature, hence conserving bio-diversity and natural ecosystems. Their beliefs and values are that nature is life and that it provides them a direct link with their ancestors. With the introduction and influence of new or outside cultures, however, it may erode such practices that may ultimately lead to the degradation of natural ecosystems.

5. A contributor to global warming and climate change- Tourism is a key contributor to greenhouse gases emitted in the atmosphere, which have been scientifically proven to be the main reason for the increasing global temperatures and changing climates. This is simply because tourism entails the movement of people from their areas of residence to new destinations. Environmental specialist attributes the ever-rising global temperatures to increased greenhouse emissions that trap the sun rays. One of the leading greenhouse gasses is carbon dioxide, mainly released into the atmosphere as a result of the combustion of natural gases and fossil fuels in the generation of electricity, in industries, in the powering of automobiles. Tourism accounts for over 55% of traffic movement globally and for this reason, it contributes an estimated 3% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. As the number of tourists grows over the years, the level of emission will rise and climate change is also expected to worsen.

6. Loss of Financial contributions towards promotion of tourism- Tourism can contribute directly to the conservation of sensitive areas and habitat. Revenue from park-entrance fees and similar sources can be allocated specifically to pay for the protection and management of environmentally sensitive areas. Special fees for park operations or conservation activities can be collected from tourists or tour operators. Some governments collect money in more far-reaching and indirect ways that are not linked to specific parks or conservation areas. User fees, income taxes, taxes on sales or rental of recreation equipment, and license fees for activities such as hunting and fishing can provide governments with the funds needed to manage natural resources. Such funds can be used for overall conservation programs and activities, such as park ranger salaries and park maintenance. In the event of closure or restrictions on global tourism due to pandemic like Covid-19 or any other environmental disaster, generation of revenue which is ploughed back to development of tourism, will take a direct hit causing un-sustainability.

Conclusion

To sum up, environmental sustainability is an issue of utmost concern even when promoting tourism. From the discussions herein, it is correct to conclude that in regards to the environment, tourism has both advantages and probable threats that ought to be examined. The quality of the environment, both natural and man-made, is essential to tourism. However, tourism's relationship with the environment is complex. It involves many activities that can have adverse environmental effects. Many of these impacts are linked with the construction of general infrastructure such as roads and airports, and of tourism facilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses and marinas. The negative impacts of tourism development can gradually destroy the environmental resources on which it depends. On the other hand, tourism has the potential to create beneficial effects on the environment by contributing to environmental protection and conservation. It is a way to raise awareness of environmental values and it can serve as a tool to finance protection of natural areas and increase their economic importance.

This calls for the need of practicing healthier and sustainable tourism practices, especially ecotourism. In other words, we have to create an aura of responsible tourism. It desperately requires everyone’s involvement and initiative to always conserve and protect the environment when traveling or in a foreign land as it has been proven that it is possible to ensure a mutually beneficial co-existence between tourism and the surrounding ecosystems as well as natural resources. Efficient management and proper planning with the aid of strict legislation and proper interpretation are also key to creating ecological awareness for both the local and visiting tourists. Regulatory measures help offset negative impacts; for instance, controls on the number of tourist activities and movement of visitors within protected areas can limit impacts on the ecosystem and help maintain the integrity and vitality of the site. Such limits can also reduce the negative impacts on resources.

World Tourism day is celebrated every year on 27^th September and is designed to bring attention to the importance of tourism to the international community. Countries all over the world, both big and small, depend on tourism to for its economic survival and to highlight their cultural, social and political values. Responsible Tourism is the need of the hour if we have to protect the environment of Mother Earth for the future generations!!!

“The natural environment sustains the life of all beings universally. – Dalai Lama”

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“Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so called scientific knowledge. – Thomas Edison”