In many countries, international tourism has become an important source of income. However, it also has negative effects. Do the advantages of international tourism outweigh the disadvantages?
International tourism is indeed becoming increasingly important part of the world in recent years. While this new development can sometimes be beneficial in various ways, in my view, it is more likely to be harmful overall.
It is true that the rise of international tourism can bring several benefits. Chief among them is that tourism brings in money from abroad, mainly in the form of visitor spending on accommodation, transport and food. The revenue generated by such activities can then be used to, among other things, improve living condition for the local people by upgrading the local facilities and modernizing the existing infrastructure. A second key benefit relates to the fact that tourism puts a place on the global map. In other words, tourism provides an opportunity for the locality to showcase its unique features to the whole world and attract people’s attention. As a result, countries, especially developing one, can build a national brand and improve their standing on the world stage, both of which benefit them international negotiations.
Despite the advantages described above, I would argue that the potential problems associated with international tourism are more significant in comparison. The main one is related to culture clashes. Foreign visitors tend to lack respect for the local culture, including its traditions and customs because of the feeling of superiority. As a consequence, they often show disrespectful behavior, such as dressing inappropriately in sacred places and getting drunk and swearing in public, and this can raise tensions between locals and foreigners, which undoubtedly destabilize the whole country and undermines its social cohesion. Another major concern is the loss of national identity. The introduction of tourism in a country can lead to the erosion of local culture because local inhabitants can start copying the lifestyle of foreign travelers thinking that they are inferior to these outsiders if they do not do so. The result of this is going to be a homogenized world, in which there is only one dominant culture, destroying the global diversity of cultures and customs.
In conclusion, although I recognize the possible advantages of international tourism, especially in terms of boosting the local budget through visitor expenditure and building a global brand for countries, it seems to me that its overall impact is more likely to be detrimental for the reasons stated above.