Socio-Cultural Impacts

Tourism may have different effects on the social and cultural aspects of life in a
particular region depending on the strengths of the region. The effect can be positive or negative.
Tours also focus on unique natural or geographical features like the coastline, islands, mountains,
health resorts, countryside, etc. At such locations, the provision of tourist services and the
pressure of tourists are bound to have impacts on the environment, economy, and local social
practices and on the people. Social and cultural consequences of tourism originate from the
‘encounter’ or ‘contact’ with the tourist. To understand this, we need to have an understanding of
the role of the tourist, the host, and the encounter; awareness of the importance of the concept of
the demonstration effect; an understanding of the consequences of tourism for host societies; and
an awareness of the process and result of cultural change brought about by tourism. As tourism
reaches out to ever more distant and exotic locations, often in lesser-developed countries, the
consequences of visitation upon the host community and their culture have become an important
issue. Tourism can support community economically through employment, spending, and
infrastructure development but also bring fewer desirable consequences for host communities,
prompting both social and cultural changes within those societies.

Positive Social & Cultural Impact

To boost tourism huge money is invested to preserve the local heritage, to improve
infrastructure, to provide better local facilities which in turn creates better education, better
leisure facilities, organizing frequent social events and thus a better lifestyle for the locale
people. They interact with the tourists; mix with people from diverse backgrounds which create a
cosmopolitan culture in the region. Due to the demand for better services, varied employment
opportunities are created within the region and therefore people do not feel the need to migrate to
other cities to earn their living. Given below is some positive impact of tourism:

1. Where tourism is developed, it acts as a magnet for employment, often attracting the
young and female from the rural hinterland to work in the resorts
2. Leads to rural depopulation and by giving females economic independence
3. Awareness and recognition of the destination is enhanced and both the locals and the
industry will be exposed to ideas from other countries and international good practice

Negative Social & Cultural Impact

Due to the heavy traffic in the region, the infrastructure may not be able to cope with the
increased rush thus leading to overcrowding, poor sanitation which may further lead to diseases
bot to the tourists as well as local people. The intrusion of outsiders in the area may disturb the
local culture and create unrest among the people. The local people may copy the lifestyles of
tourists through the demonstration effect and the result could be the loss of native customs and
traditions. Some people may enter into criminal activities to fetch easy money from tourists who
lead to increased crime and anti-social activities and loss of moral and religious values. Given
below are some negative impacts of tourism:

1. Has the effect of diverting labor from the land, and from more traditional craft-based
enterprises, threatening their existence
2. Impact on the quality of jobs and seasonality
3. Local people may be relocated to make space for tourism development
4. The danger of economically powerful groups emerging and the balance of power can
shift from local decision-makers to national and international players
5. Decisions relating to the development, marketing, and promotion of the destination will
not be made locally
6. Inflated prices in the shops and high land or property prices
7. Tourism has been associated with low moral standards including prostitution, crime, and
gambling, although of course tourism is an easy target to blame here

Economic Impacts
The tourism industry has contributed to the economic growth of a country through factors
like industrialization, education, advanced technology, a higher number of qualified
professionals, opening up of foreign markets, liberal trade policies, and better advertising and
strategic marketing. The income generated helps the national balance of payments, earning
revenue through direct taxation, as well as from indirect taxes on goods and services purchased
by the tourists. Tourism is often described as one of the world’s largest industries. It employs
millions of people, has a turnover in billions of dollars, and encourages millions of people to
travel. In other words, it is a substantial economic sector and economists bring a level of
discipline to its analysis. There is no doubt that economics has made a fundamental contribution
to the study and understanding of tourism, evidenced by the establishment of the journal Tourism
Economics in the 1990s. Tourism and related activities collectively boost the economic reserves
of the region thus leading to a rise in income and better disposable income. Tourism can also
benefit economies at regional and local levels, as money comes into urban and rural areas which
in turn stimulates new business enterprises, greater markets and promotes a more positive image
of the area.

Economists remain in dispute as to whether tourism is really an industry and, if so, how
to define and measure it. In part, these problems arise because many industries are involved in
delivering the tourism product as a service or ‘experience’ and tourism has distinctive
characteristics that we have to take into account. As a result, research on tourism supply has
focused on individual sectors rather than the structure of the sector as a whole. Tourism is in fact
only partially an industry as governments, communities, and others are involved in delivering the
tourism product. Tourism is therefore an industry that challenges conventional economic
paradigms. Yet it is important that we understand how its complex system functions if we are to
manage tourism effectively. Tourism is an increasingly important focus of policy intervention,
and of development in many countries, as economic strategies focus on the revenue and
employment generating potential of tourism.

Positive Economic Impact

1. Jobs created
2. More money for the country
3. Local traditions and customs are kept alive because tourists enjoy traditional shows, eg
Flamenco dancing
4. Money from tourists can be used to protect the natural landscape
5. New facilities for the tourists also benefit locals, eg new roads
6. Greater demand for local food and crafts

Negative Economic Impact

1. Jobs are often seasonal (based on the time of year) and are poorly paid
2. Most money goes out of the area to big companies, not locals
3. Culture and traditions change as outsiders arrive
4. Damage to the natural environment, eg footpath erosion (the wearing a way of footpaths),
litter, habitats destroyed to build hotels
5. Overcrowding and traffic jams
6. Prices increase in local shops as tourists are often wealthier than the local population

Environmental Impacts
The environment is the surrounding atmosphere or condition for existence. The impact of
tourism on the environment is both positive and negative. This article considers the major issue
of the consequences of tourism for the environment. This is a complex area as, whilst tourism is
dependent upon environmental quality to attract and support visitors, it also can have a
detrimental effect upon those very environments – and their climate.
Positive Environment Impacts
In order to attract more tourism special emphasis is given on overall beautification of the
surroundings, regular planting of trees and landscaping are done to enhance aesthetics. Huge
investment is done to improve the facilities in the area like sitting areas, shades, proper
sanitation, drinking water etc. More emphasis is given to preserve the monuments, heritage
structures to attract more tourists.

1. The cause of tourism has been influential in encouraging the conservation of areas of
natural beauty and their built heritage. National parks, marine reserves, historic
monuments, and archaeological sites all benefit economically from tourism. Tourism also
encourages good practice in terms of planning and management and drives the motivation
for interpretation and visitor education which in turn helps to protect fragile environments
and monuments.
2. Tourism brings a range of benefits for the built environment, as tourism leaves a valuable
legacy in terms of architecture, landscapes, and urban detailing. Tourism also provides
the economic lifeblood of resorts and increasingly is seen as a means of supporting new
‘mixed’ developments for both tourists and residents.
3. Tourism can be a motivation for the rehabilitation of built and natural environments –
historic warehouses on the dockside in cities as far apart as Oslo and Yokohama have
been saved by converting them into retail and food & beverage outlets for a dominantly
tourism-driven market.
4. Given these successes, tourism can then be used as a persuasive argument for the
continued protection of a site if it is threatened. Environmental education of visitors as a
way of raising awareness of environmental values has become a major activity in many
protected areas and sites of historic interest.

Negative Environment Impacts

Whilst there are many beneficial effects of tourism for the environment, the list of
negative consequences is easier to draft and to describe. The scale and significance of
environmental impact depend both upon the type of tourism involved and the nature of the
resource. New forms of tourism are beginning to introduce new impacts – geo-tourism, for
example, is seeing an increase in the collection of minerals and fossils at important geological
locations.

1. Any kind of development requires some interference with nature. Overdevelopment

comes at the cost of nature. There may be damage to the natural flora and fauna. Local
people are displaced for want of coastal area development. With more people in the area,
 more natural resources are required which leads to depletion of natural resources. Waste
disposal problems crop up and without proper measures to handle this problem, it may
worsen the situation. Due to more footfalls, more transport, more noise, improper waste
disposal, pollution increases in the area and disturbs the ecological balance of the region.
2. We can think of climate change as ‘significant changes in long-term average weather
patterns, which in turn shifts the climatic characteristic of a region over time to new
conditions. It is only in recent decades that the consequences of travel for air quality, and
particularly for climate change, have been realized. The additional activity of
transportation due to tourism increases carbon emissions with estimates suggesting that
tourism accounts for around 5 percent of the world’s total emissions.
3. Global warming is another consequence, with the accumulation of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere generated by transportation, air conditioning, and other processes, solar
radiation is prevented from escaping from the earth and therefore leads to a warming
effect. This has consequences for tourism destinations.