Impacts of Tourism

The Impacts of Tourism
Travel and tourism has become one of the fastest growing and widest spread industries in the world.   The tourism industry has an effect on both the host and the visitor, some of these effects being positive, but there are also many negative ones that primarily affect the host country.   Tourism is a form of reality that has been created to boost economies and exploit both the host community and the tourist.   The growth of this industry has been so rapid that the impact of high volumes of tourists is only now becoming apparent and this trend shows no promise of slowing down anytime soon because people have always been fascinated with the traditions, practices and ways of life of exotic cultures. British and French aristocrats have been travelling to China, Africa and India since their discovery, but these trips were costly and most people could never afford to see such exotic places.   The advent of the modern airplane changed the tides of travel, its invention opened travel to the masses with short and affordable flights to the most remote places in the world.   This new breed of travel spurred a huge tourism industry that has changed the face of the world and the lives of all those that live in it.   Millions of people board an airplane every day, which means millions of interactions between people, environment, economy and political systems.   Many of these interactions are detrimental to the host community but it is easily ignored in favour of the economic boom created by the industry.  
“Tourism is the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations and the facilities created to cater to their needs.” (Mathieson & Wall, 1982) When people travel for pleasure, they have an expectation to see new sights and experience a culture unlike their own.     The commercialization of culture and the interactions between tourist and host...