The number of tourists has increased significantly at many historical places around the globe because of international tourism. In my opinion, it is a highly negative development because it has damaging effects on environment and causes cultural erosion.
One disadvantage of the increased number of visitors is that it affects environment negatively. Overcrowd can lead to rise accommodation, food, water, and transport demands. This results in deforestation, excessive litter, water shortage, and traffic, leading to pollution including air and noise, soil infertility, and carboon footprint. These all problems not only affect the beauty of historical sites but also reduce the quality of life of people those are living in surrounding areas. For example, Taj Mahal in India has become less visually appealing as compare to the past due to fumes and nitrogen gas in air pollution produced from burnt fuel of a large number of vehicals.
Another drawback is reduced cultural identity. This is because rituals, customs, and traditions are modified by many local people in host countries in accordance with visitors’ expectetions. Since most of beliefe are wrongly practiced for the pupose of profit, the next generation can not learn original ones. Consequently, this cultural heritage is lost. For instance, Folk dance in Udaipur, India is performed on bollywood songs instead of classical music, and has recently become a stage performance for entertaining guests at Udaipur Fort.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that rising a large number of people at historical sites is a negative growth. The reasons are that it damages local ecology and losses cultural identity due to commercialization.