Synthesis Writing: Positive and Negative Effects of Global Travel

Tourism can bring about positive and negative effects to a country and the
effects are indisputable as the trend in travelling has been booming in the
recent years. According to World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), an
increment of 4.4% on international trips was done in 2014 compared to the
year before (Travelling light, 2015). Such an increase in tourism traffic will
cause ups and downs of tourism harder to control. This essay will discuss how
tourism act as a double-sided blade by elaborating its benefits and threats to
the nations economy and environment.
Tourism gives a country an economic boost and Simm (n.d) supports the facts
as job opportunities are created, from jobs which are directly related to
tourism sectors to indirectly related ones such as retailers and drivers.
Besides employment opportunities, a platform for small-scale enterprises are
provided for the rural community to mitigate the poor out of poverty.
Furthermore, extra taxes and revenues are generated and "Some of the Major
Current Issues" (2006) has stated that the source of nearly 40% of the
commodity's costs are from add-on taxes. Financial crisis of a country can
also be lifted with the emergence of tourism sector by increasing its
contribution to GDP. For instance, Karabell (2011) proves that tourism helped
in lightening Greeces financial debts as 5% and 20% of its overall GDP with
an amount of $350 billion is mainly contributed by tourism sector, and the
effect will be greater when expenditure on stores and restaurants are taken
into account as well.
Although its true that economic growth of a country is imminent from
tourism, Simm (n.d) had commented that economic boost did not effectively
elevate the income of local residents, as some of the money earned leeches
out to huge multinational companies such as hotel chains. Moreover, Simm
(2015) further emphasized this point by stating that jobs related to tourism
which are filled up by locals such as waitress, drivers, and housemaids are
commonly underpaid and season dependent. Such phenomenon occurs
because people from other countries with knowledge and experience are
given preference to be employed in higher level professional jobs due to the
dominance of hotel and restaurant chains at the destination, as well as the
locals are not provided ample professional training, as implied in Negative
Socio-cultural Impacts (2003). This phenomenon may cause income
inequality and job friction among local residents (Negative Socio-cultural
Impacts, 2003).
Certain types of tourism, especially ecotourism has brought benefits to the
environment which is promoting the conservation of wildlife and tropical
rainforests. These invaluable natural resources had become the assets of
tourism and earnings from entrance fees and guide fees can be channeled to
funding in maintain those forest reserves as well as create alternatives for
problems such as deforestation. However, sustainability will be an issue for
ecotourism as Simm (n.d) has countered the benefits by stating that

excessive usage of water supply and increased traffic emissions, noise and
environmental pollutions pose threat to the regions natural and cultural
resources. Travelling light (2015) affirmed Simms statement by stating that
three-fifths more water are used by tourists as compared to locals. By
carrying out daily routines and activities such as showering and swimming,
the usage of water by each tourist around the world is approximately 350
litres per day, the figure surged to 6000 litres if indirect usage is taken into
account (Simm, 2015).
In conclusion, countermeasures must be taken on order to minimize the
negative effects of tourism towards a country, so that it can be an effective
remedy to tackle financial crisis of developing countries such as Greece, and
it can act as a strategy for the preservation of flora and fauna from further
extinction.