Impact Of Tourism On The Environment

Positive Impacts It is possible for tourism to be good for the environment. Sustainable tourism attempts to use the resources available whilst also conserving them for the future. If sustainable tourism can be developed, the money generated can be used to repair and improve the natural or built environment. An example could be the regeneration of a derelict yet historic building for the purposes of tourism.

Positive Impacts Tourism can also be used to educate people and raise awareness of the importance of environments - hopefully securing their future. One of the biggest growth areas in tourism is eco-tourism. This is where the package has a definite environmental focus. Their recent growth has been as a response to the negative effects tourism can have on a natural environment. It attempts to give people a unique experience by immersing them into a new environment. Group sizes are small and local guides are employed, local produce is cooked and local materials used. The aim is minimise the effects of the tourists whilst educating them about its special nature.

Negative Impacts If miss-managed, tourism can have negative effects on the built or natural environment. This occurs when the volume of tourists exceed the environment's carrying capacity. The carrying capacity of an environment is the number of visitors that environment can receive without causing damage to that environment. The carrying capacity is difficult to define, as it is dependant on value judgement.

Negative Impacts Negative effects of tourism on the environment include footpath erosion - the Pennine way in places is now 1km wide. In Snowdonia, footpaths are up to six feet deep! Tourism can also have more serious effects on the environment. In Goa, the arrival of package tourism has destroyed local water supplies, led to the removal of Mangrove swamps and polluted the seas.

Activity 1 Using A2 Geography P295, answer the following… What are the main environmental problems occurring within Mauritius? Why can tourism be suggested to be the main problem? Why is the government concerned in tackling these problems? What is being done at the moment and what are they aiming to do in the future?