Environmental Impact of Tourism

Tourism is one of the world’s most diverse and interesting fields, but humans often forget that it relies on the natural resources of the planet. The resources of planet Earth are diverse and widespread. In the modern world, many people do not stop to consider the impact that the tourism industry can have on the environment, or the impact that the environment has on tourism. Without the diversity of our environment, tourism would be much less enjoyable, if it were even possible. On the island of Mykonos in Greece, tourism has had a noticeable environmental effect, but there is debate as to if that impact is the fault of tourists themselves, or if the businesses and residents of the island are causing major problems (Kavalinnis & Pizam, 1994). There are hundreds of ways that tourism can impact the environment, but there are also ways to combat the negative effects of almost all of these impacts.

To assess the impact that tourism can have on the environment, one must begin by looking at the issue in a different way. The impact that the environment can have on tourism is a good starting point, since it allows one to look at the relationship between the two from a different perspective. Most tourism today is location-based. Tourists don’t want to take a vacation to something they can see every day, which is why the diversity of the environment is important. In many cases, it is the environment that makes somewhere a tourist attraction, such as at a ski resort or the beach. For tourist destinations such as these, the tourism industry has a much higher potential to cause problems, such as on the Greek island of Mykonos, where residents, tourists, and entrepreneurs were interviewed on their perspectives of who was really causing the negative environmental impacts (Kavalinnis & Pizam, 1994). These negative impacts can include litter, pollution, and habitat destruction. In a smaller country like Greece, a small amount of environmental damage can cascade into a much bigger...