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Nobody likes to be told that the thing they love, in this case traveling, is a “planet-threatening plague.” But that’s exactly what journalist and author Elizabeth Becker writes in a recent Washington Post Op/Ed piece: “global tourism today is not only a major industry — it’s nothing short of a planet-threatening plague.”
It’s a rousing essay and fairly scathing indictment of travel journalists in particular, but also those of us roaming the globe. While Becker mainly seems to focus on the sort of tourism vagabonds decry anyway — resorts, cruise ships, sex tourism and other ugly things — to try to pretend that even those of us with the best intentions don’t have an impact is naïve.
According to Becker, “last year, about 898 million people traveled the globe, and the international tourism industry earned $7 trillion. (And those figures don’t include people who vacation in their own countries.)”
She goes on to point out that roughly 8 percent of all the jobs in the world are tourism oriented. Tourism is a huge economy and Becker is right, it seldom receives the kind of scrutiny it deserves.
As regular readers know, there’s a big difference between the heavy impact tourism that’s destroying areas like Angkor Wat or Venice, and the kind of sustainable tourism we espouse here.
But even the conscientious traveler has an impact. For instance, consider the number of showers and toilet flushes even minimalist travelers add to the strain on an area’s water supply — as the number of travelers rises that strain grows and potentially destroys a vital local resources.
In the end I don’t know if there is an easy answer — all traveling will ultimately impact your destination (in both negative and positive ways).
But certainly I think Becker is right that the kind of wasteful, ecologically and economically damaging tourism that you see featured in the glossy pages of the monthly travel magazines has a limited lifespan.
Such tourism will either end because travelers wake up and change their ways or because the destinations featured are destroyed. The change will have to come from the travelers; Becker’s call to journalists to start covering the impact of global tourism sounds nice, but I don’t see the travel mags pushing alarmist headlines — it just doesn’t sell ads.
It’s tempting to get defensive about Becker’s argument because it cuts quite close to home, but before you dismiss her as overly-alarmist, give it some thought.
I’m also curious to hear any tips and advice you might have for minimizing your impact on local areas… leave your thoughts in the comments below.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Scott, I’m impressed that you managed to write such a thoughtful post /without/ getting defensive. Bravo.
Go Green Travel Green is one of my favourite travel blogs; Elizabeth and Kimberly write about how to make green choices to reduce the environmental impact of your travels. I recommend their site as a good start.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:53 am
This is not as facitious as it sounds, but when people travel to an area and flush toilets and take showers, they aren’t doing it in their own community, so when you look at the forest rather than trees, isn’t that a wash (no pun intended) anyway? However, I do understand the point that you are making and it is well-taken.
When looking at how Tourism affects areas, I tend to look more at the development around pristine forests, lakes, beaches and other natural resources, added energy waste because of the travel/transportation itself, and extra waste because of consumption patterns while traveling/vacationing (for instance – purchasing single packaged foods rather than bulk or larger packages as you would at home).
Shaula – thanks for the link, I have bookmarked it and I am going to link to it from our own website.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
@Lee-
True, but I think that’s sort of the point, we’re shifting the burden from our own countries (which are generally better equipped to handle those burdens) to places that may have much more limited or fragile water supplies. And that’s just water; there are countless other environment and economical impacts as well.
The one that bothers me is plastic bottles (i.e. potable water)… Plastic is a huge scourge everywhere and I hate contributing to it, but I’ve tried filters and whatnot and they just aren’t practical (unless you’re camping out).
The impact of tourism is definitely a real problem, which is why I’m not defensive about Becker’s piece. But I do wish she had more in the way of solutions, or possible solutions (other than, don’t travel).
September 6th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I disagree that this type of travel will end. It makes little difference to many travelers whether or not the exotic destination they are traveling to has any culture or ecology left. I live in one of the top tourist destinations in Mexico and out of our millions of visitors each year, I bet that 50% could care less about the negative effects of tourism. They tromp over to Wal-Mart to get their souvenirs and check prices against their hometown Wal-Mart, then they go to Carlos O’Briens or Sr. Frog’s for overpriced hamburgers and margaritas, then it’s back to hotel for the poolside bar. Sleep. Repeat.
Beaches can be man-made (and some day, sadly, they probably all will be) and sustained. Giant mega-resorts with infinity swimming pools, “authentic” Mexican fiesta shows, and all-inclusive packages will be all that is left. Do you think that will stop tourism? They will do what developers are already planning to do on the Nayarit coast, build replicas of the villages that their very developments have destroyed. The “Disneyland” tourism market is only just beginning.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
[...] is of course the counterargument that tourism also puts undue strain on a country as well, but in the case of Iraq it seems unlikely that even the thickest of tourist hordes could [...]
August 4th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
travelling even the most careful is destroying the planet. Think of how you are getting there? Unless you are walking, riding a bike or taking a sailboat, you are helping to destroy the planet and the worst offender of all air travel is the most damaging. I came to my senses a few years back, it was really hard at first and went agaisnt the grain of everything I felt, but I have managed to not leave a 50 mile radius for the last year. It was tough but I have gotten used to it, what has helped sustain me is the knowledge, that my selfish desires are not helping to destroy the planet further.