Tourism and its Demerits

Tourism if managed and organized properly can become beneficial to a society. Most people peg tourism to positive results, without noticing that everything that has merits must have demerits. In some countries, tourism is carried out in a way that is not well organized and unsustainable. This often leads to problems to the locals, as the reason for people visiting a tourist attraction site is often different. The implication of tourism affects the resources of a community and its ways of life in a negative way. Although tourism has been noted as one of the elements responsible for the increase of the economy of several countries, it also leads to unstable economy, unrealistic expectations, and loss of privacy.

Tourism is a double-edged sword when it comes to the economy of a country. It can lead to the development and growth of a country and destroy its economy at the same time. When a country is over-dependent on tourism, the economy hangs in the balance, depending on the number of people visiting the country. The disadvantage of this is that, global events affect the economy of these countries (Hottola, 2009). Any activity that is seen to stir away tourists has a great impact on the economy of these nations. For example, when terrorists hit these countries, or when international sanctions are given to them, their economy often goes down rapidly. This has been seen in developing countries such as Kenya and India (Tassiopoulos, 2008). Because of the over-dependency on tourism, the recent terror activities in these countries have led to their economic decline (Hottola, 2009).

Tourism as an activity often invades the privacy of a community. There are numerous communities globally that have the feeling that they have lost their space and that they are not even in charge of their own way of life. Hottola (2009) explains that excessive tourism can affect the locals, in that they might have little space for themselves. When a town or a village is flocked by strangers who are always recording everything, one’s private life is often jeopardized. For example, the Mayan community who are reservists and live in places where they consider to be their ‘shrines’ (Spenceley, 2008).

Tourism can lead to a rapid slump in the economy, if a country is over-dependent on it, because any event can alter tourist visit. Tourism leads to the invasion of privacy of communities as they are constantly watched and recorded. The final pitfall of tourism is that, it leads to unrealistic expectations amongst the youths, with unfulfilled employment slots, which in turn leads to increased level of poverty and illiteracy.