Tourists. They come armed with throngs of selfie sticks, cameras, water bottles, and foreign currency. These swarms of visitors are certainly an economic boost to the countries they visit, and today, they fuel the world’s fifth fastest growing industry. But who knew their presence could be so detrimental to the very places they visit?
While tourism certainly generates a hefty profit (the industry was worth over $ 7.6 trillion USD in 2016), it is also one of the biggest threats to our natural environment. A journal published in the Research Center in Public Administration and Public Services found that “based on…economic effects, tourism development was prescribed as the [solution] for many social and economic problems.” Unfortunately, this remedy may have very well been a sugar pill. The rise of over-tourism is now threatening the world with carbon emissions, depletion of water resources, and other pollution. Tourists are, unknowingly, causing the destruction of the very landmarks that they visit.
An example of this destructive behaviour includes the practice of love locks – a romantic and Instagram-worthy component of sightseeing. Love locks are part of a romantic gesture that involves sweethearts affixing a lock (often with a message written on it) to a public structure. The idea is admittedly cute, but it has received some serious backlash. According to health and safety officials in Paris, where tourists often affix locks to the famous Pont des Arts bridge, these “romantic gestures can cause long-term heritage degradation and danger to visitors.” In simpler terms, the monuments that people fix their love locks to cannot support the weight of these objects. This ritual thus degrades and warps bridges, as well as taking away from the monuments’ visual allure.
Sometimes, even the mere presence of tourists can harm the surrounding area. According to the The International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), “tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply.” Clean water, as another example, is already scarce; 2.7 billion people experience water scarcity, 40 per cent of China’s water is polluted beyond safe consumption, and 80 per cent of wastewater is improperly released back into the environment. However, the “tourism industry typically overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses, and personal use.” Beyond these consequences, the tourism industry can also lead to sewage, physical degradation, deforestation, and land degradation. In short, when over-tourism hits, the impact on the environment is devastating.
If the depletion of resources was not threatening enough, over-tourism also hurts the local culture. In order to accommodate tourists, the architecture and identity of cities have to change. Hotels and Airbnb’s have to be built to accommodate swarms of tourists. Toronto, already struggling with affordable housing, now has to deal with ‘ghost hotels’ and Airbnb’s that reserve apartments that could have been available to Torontonians but are instead catered to visitors. In addition, the sheer number of people can cause areas to be dangerous. Day-to-day life can change for the local residents as their city begins to build around the surge of tourists that pop in-and-out of their neighbourhoods. In short, over-tourism takes up natural resources and homes at the cost of the countries that the traveller is supposed to appreciate.
The number of examples of landmarks harmed by over-tourism is endless. To name a few, The Pyramid of the Sun is Mexico’s most visited site, and it suffers wear from the number of tourists that climb it. Thailand’s Maya Beach is clambering to close to tourists, because tourists are destroying its coral reefs and sea life. Another Thai destination, Ko Tachai, has been closed for almost two years to fight against over-tourism for the same problem as Maya Beach. Mount Everest is painfully polluted by waste left by visitors. Horseshoe Bend in Arizona is suffering from the sheer number of people that visit it. “Picturesque vistas are morphing into selfie-taking scrums”, writes a Guardian article, “and in the process, what is loved most about them risks being lost.”
What is to blame for over-tourism? Social media. People no longer travel to learn from and respect foreign cultures. Modern tourists travel for the perfect picture, turning communities into mere backdrops. They are armed with apps like Yelp, Trivago, Instagram, VSCO, and Airbnb, leaving destruction in their wake. The deterioration of places like “Horseshoe Bend is what happens when a patch of land becomes #instagramfamous” – and this fame comes at a steep price.
Despite the devastation that Horseshoe Bend, Maya Beach, and other landmarks have suffered, there is still a lesson to be learned: the travel industry may be lucrative, but it is imperative that it is regulated. Thick wads of cash cannot bring back the world’s natural wonders, nor can it bring back lost culture. At a time like this, sustainable tourism is more important than ever. But with the need to implement sustainable tourism, another question arises: what does it say about the world when it is commonplace for tourists to harm the places they visit for an ‘#instaperfect’ photo?
By Morgan McKay
Please note that opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
