Tourism’s Problematic History
By Caedmon Sethupathy
It is difficult to set a start date for tourism in large part because it is such an ambiguous term.
Merely traveling for the purpose of discovery, education, or pleasure has existed for thousands of years. Religious pilgrimages undertaken by Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists, and many more date back to antiquity. However, long-distance mass tourism by westerners was pioneered primarily in
the last few centuries. “The Grand Tour” was a voyage around the European continent undertaken by young men in the 17th and 18th centuries. It served as an educational and exciting opportunity to encounter new places and cultures. Many well-off families would send their sons on these multi-year tours around the age of twenty-one. However, tourism quickly expanded beyond Europe in the coming
years, as explorers discovered new lands and peoples. The public intrigue generated by such expeditions led to an interest in global travel. An important factor in the history of tourism is westerner’s curiosities regarding “exotic” people. This is illustrated by the enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who coined the term “noble savage” in the 18th century to refer to non-Europeans, whom he believed to be morally pure due to never having experienced civilization. Additionally, for far-off hundreds of years, mapmakers and travelers had told stories of lands with fantastical people and animals in order to capture the imagination of their European listeners. Given
the chance to explore such foreign lands, Europeans were primed to jump at the opportunity.
Impacts on Local Communities
By Ace Dufresne
Thanks to tourism, many cities are becoming ‘destinations’ rather than homes. Streets are increasingly overcrowded and noisy, and many locals are opting to leave their homes. Once vibrant communities around the world are trampled by thousands of tourists every day. As time passes, their cultures are increasingly diluted and commercialized. Due to the influx of tourists with disposable income, prices are higher than ever in places deemed tourist destinations. Affordable rental apartments for residents are hard to find, as tourists are willing to pay a lot more per night for an Airbnb, than a local who lives in their city year-round could. Tourists have historically harmed and sometimes destroyed parts of local culture and history. At the hands of tourists, historical artifacts such as a sarcophagus from Ancient Egypt, historical monuments such as the Colosseum, and holy places such as a sandstorm formation sacred to Native Americans, have been vandalized. Tourists have broken ancient art while taking selfies, assaulted officials, tried to steal ancient artifacts and destroyed monuments on a whim.
Tourists also often show ignorance and insensitivity to local people and their history. This could look like tourists being disruptive at a monument in honor of victims of the Holocaust or tourists yelling at service workers because they can’t accept American currency. While these are often isolated incidents, they’re a recurring pattern for locals. However, because of the money tourists bring in, businesses often cater to tourists rather than residents. Small local shops have slowly given way to souvenir shops, fast food restaurants, and expensive tourist restaurants, altering their culture to fit the western foreigner’s narrative. Nature, once a place where locals could enjoy themselves peacefully, has time, and time again been replaced by resorts for tourists. In Cambodia, hundreds of residents of a ‘floating village’ and fishing community along the Mekong River were evicted from their homes to make way for a resort. As the borders were closed during the pandemic, they were expelled with nowhere to go.
Tourism is a large industry with the ability to bring a lot of money and respect to communities and countries around the world. However, many problems arise when because of the opportunities and possibilities tourism has to offer, tourists are put before the residents, history, and culture of a city or country itself.
Impacts on the Environment
By Abbie Tsui
Tourist attractions bring people together from all over the world with the allure of spectacular sights. But have you ever thought about what these activities do to our ecosystem and shared environment? Cruises are one of the most popular forms of tourism all year long and certainly allow you to see some amazing sites, but it may not really be worth it. In addition to their high prices, cruise ships pollute the water tremendously and practically harm everything the boat comes in contact with, including animals and their environments; birds, fish, and other animals are forced to live in contaminated waters for the sake of people’s own entertainment. The marine ecosystems get impacted as soon as pollution enters the water. Certain cruise lines, such as Princess and Carnival, have been known to dump oil from engine waste into oceans. According to The New York Times, “Princess Cruise Lines has pleaded guilty to seven felony charges and will pay 40 million dollars after employees on a cruise ship were caught dumping oiled waste into the seas and lying to cover up their actions.” Yikes. And all of this in addition to the food that gets wasted and thrown away on cruises also contributes to global warming and the melting of more ice caps. Resorts are often popular destinations worldwide where people stay during holidays and breaks. Water is one of the most overused resources there, and tourism makes this issue worse. Water is a resource that Americans overuse on a daily basis, especially when people travel, as they tend to overuse water in hotels and places that aren’t their own homes. Not only is this unsustainable for our environment but it’s harmful to local residents in tourist towns, as the amount of clean water that is available to them is then cut down. This is an ongoing issue in many communities. Water isn’t just used for personal use but for farming, agriculture, and energy production. The U.S. especially tends to overuse resources that other countries have limited amounts of. According to the World Health Organization, “Over 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries, which is expected to be exacerbated in some regions as a result of climate change and population growth.” Tourism is just one of the many excuses that people use to justify wasting resources. The earth does not need any more greenhouse gas emissions, as it’s already at a breaking point. This just goes to show the many complications that come with tourism that we don’t always consider before traveling. Additionally, as this industry develops so quickly, it cannot be supported sustainably and the environment is being harmed and deprived of its natural resources. Everyone’s a little guilty of wasting water and food to a certain extent, but some accountability is important. This is a community effort and people must start collectively caring in order to make a difference and improve environmental conditions for ourselves, other communities, and the nature around us.