The Travel Industry Has Sparked a Backlash against Tourists by Stressing Quantity over Quality
Born from the accessibility of mass air travel, modern international tourism has been popularized as "holiday-making" in regions that offer comparative advantages of sand, sun and sea. Travel is often portrayed as a tool for personal growth and tourism as an economic motor for destination countries and cities. There is a tendency to assume that tourism is good for everyone involved.
Today the big bang of tourism drives over 1.2 billion tourists across international borders annually. Many popular places are literally being loved to death. Recent protests in ports of call like Venice and Barcelona against disturbances created by cruise ships show the unfortunate consequences of emphasizing quantity over quality in tourism.
Uncontrolled tourism development has become a primary driver of social and environmental disruption. Tourism studies provide much documentation of the many negative social impacts of tourism and resulting resentment that local populations direct toward visitors.
Antagonism toward tourists typically develops in mature, heavily visited destinations. Protests in heavily visited destinations suggest that traditional tourism has overstayed its welcome.
Residents often become frustrated when the benefits of tourism are not felt locally. Although it can generate foreign exchange, income and employment, there's no guarantee that multinational hotel chains will allocate these benefits equitably among local communities.
On the contrary, when people stay at large resorts or on cruise ships, they make most of their purchases there, leaving local communities little opportunity to benefit from tourist spending. These forms of tourism widen economic and political gaps between haves and have-nots at local destinations.
In recent decades, local residents in destination communities also have found themselves negotiating new cultural boundaries, class dynamics, service industry roles and lifestyle transformations. For example, data show that tourism activity corresponds to increased social problems as local residents adopt the behaviors of tourists.
What does all this mean for the everyday traveler?
First, all tourists should make every effort to honor their hosts and respect local conditions. This means being prepared to adapt to local customs and norms, rather than expecting local conditions to adapt to travelers.
Second, tourism is a market-based activity and works best when consumers reward better performers. In the information age, there's little excuse for travelers being uninformed about where their vacation money goes and who it enriches.
Informed travelers also are better able to distinguish between multinational companies and local entrepreneurs whose businesses provide direct social, environmental, and economic benefits for local residents. Such businesses are in love with the destination and are therefore deserving of market reward. In the long run, being a responsible traveler means ensuring net positive impacts for local people and environments. With the information available at our fingertips, there has never been more opportunity to do so.