Pros And Disadvantages Of Tourism

As tourists, are we responsible for exploiting workers, upsetting cultures and damaging the environment?

Tourism is the world 's fastest growing industry, worth several trillions of dollars. Developed countries, such as Italy or France continue attracting tourists all over the world , hence promoting a constant economic growth. On the other hand, developing countries such as Thailand, have harnessed the rapid expansion of global tourism, to promote fast economic growth. Due to economic and political differences between growing and developed countries, tourism and tourists differently affect countries they visit. The advantages of tourism are mostly concentrated in an economic area of a country. Therefore, it directly and indirectly affects the labour market, the development of urban areas, competition and global integration. However, there are many disadvantages that the tourist industry produces. Some of these disadvantages include social and environmental costs, such as the pollution of the air, mainly produced by the airline transportation, and depletion of natural resources, such as water, and many more. Other issues that arise from tourist industry, include the distortion of traditions, and cultures. In addition, there are some hidden costs of tourism, that indirectly affect the black market. In some developing countries, for example in Thailand, there is a “sex tourism”, which grows parallel with the mass tourism . This results in commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. Consequently, only tourists that are involved in illegal or immoral activities such as sex tourism, or

In addition, indirectly, tourists influence development of an infrastructure which can provide recreation facilities for both local people and for tourists themselves. Indeed the development of tourism leads to the creation of new jobs and the encouragement of small