Ad/Dis advantages for tourism/ecotourism

Advantages of Ecotourism

Well established Eco-tourism

• has minimal impact on the environment
• builds awareness and respect for the local culture and environment
• offers positive experiences for all
• employs and benefits local people
• Educates visitors by an on-site visit about the local political, social and environmental issues.
• Money from the tourists goes back into the conservation of the area.
• A wildlife habitat, for example, is protected
• Visitors carry new ideas back to influence their own environment

Disadvantages of Ecotourism

Badly managed Eco-tourism

If the site is badly managed there can be problems of

• overcrowding constructions
• pollution of the habitat
• unlimited numbers of tourists
• The site becoming a "honey pot" area. The site becomes over-visited.
• Traffic congestion
• Erosion where cars park illegally
• Footpath erosion, soil loss
• Tourists don't understand or care what eco-tourism really is
• Criticism as "greenwashing" where the environment is used as a bait to attract tourists
• Examples include establishing a huge energy intensive hotel in a splendid jungle setting with no understanding of sustainable development or the correct provision for the disposal of waste and sewage etc.
• Examples include establishing a tourist resort which displaces the local people and illegally keeps endangered animals in cages to attract visitors (Nature's Sacred Paradise).

How does tourism affect the physical environment?

·         Depletion of natural resources: e.g. Water

The tourism industry overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools and golf courses. For example, 2.3 million litres of water is needed to water golf courses every day. (Earth report) All of this can lead to an excessive extraction of water and can result in water scarcity.

·         Increased tourism means the usage of land resources such as minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife also increase.

Increased construction of recreational facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. The use of building materials for the provision of tourist facilities and other  infrastructure provision can directly impact natural resources, both re and non renewable.

·         Pollution

Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air…