Introduction to Tourism

7 Tourism and the environment

Introduction

There is current and growing concern about the impact that some forms of tourism developments are having on the environment. There are examples from almost every country in the world, where tourism development has been identified as being the main cause of environmental degradation. In Spain, overbuilding of tourist accommodation in coastal areas has caused water pollution. In India, the Taj Mahal is suffering wear and tear from visitors. In Egypt, the pyramids are also threatened by large numbers of visitors. It should be noted that it is not only tourism development which degrades an environment. Poorly planned industrial and agricultural expansion have also had disastrous consequences in some locations. ...