Recent Trends in Tourism and its impact on our culture and economy. (Notes in connection with Listen to the Mountain - Kavery Nambisan)
“Remove
nothing from here except nourishment for the soul, consolation for the heart
and inspiration for the mind” reads a board displayed at Iravikulam National
Park, Munnar.
The delight in seeing the unseen,
hearing the unheard and experiencing the inexperienced are the things that
motivate a tourist. However these days we witness so many unhealthy trends in
the tourism sector that are harmful to
tourist destinations and services associated to it.
If we check the statistics we can
find that the number of tourists arriving our country increases on a daily
basis. They come for various reasons including sight seeing, trade and
entertainment. Tourists arrive in a place as guests but as they leave, they
leave as masters. Unchecked (uncontrolled) tourist entry negatively affects environment. They litter biodiversity parks, forests, waterfalls and other
natural habitats with plastic bottles, beverages and food refuse. Light
pollution and noise pollution only add to the problem. The ecological impacts
of this sort seriously affect the flora and fauna (plant and animal life) of
the respective places. The undesired effects created by tourists activities
such as hiking, trekking, kayaking, bird watching, wildlife safaris, surfing
and scuba-diving is hard to measure.
Tourism helps a great deal for the
cultural transactions among people. It is an occasion for the local community
of a tourist spot to know and appreciate the foreign culture of a tourist. The
language, food habits, dressing styles and art forms mutually get transferred to
both ways. However, oftentimes it creates so many negative impacts as well.
Some believe that tourists are not interested in cultural forms and traditions
of the locals, but are rather obsessed with owning a part of it. The
‘selfie-culture’ is an example for that. Oftentimes tourists act as carriers of
new diseases. They may also introduce drug abuse and criminal activities among
people. This might lead the focus of tourism to shift from gaining experience to
the promotion of a consumer culture. It is also observed that culture becomes
just like any other commodity (trade good)
to be sold.
Tourism presents us with so many
benefits. The major benefit of tourism is its economic contribution to the
coffers (box for storing valuables) of nation. Employment near and around the
tourist places increases in the form of residents engaging as sellers of
collectibles and handicraft products. It also boosts transportation, hotels,
restaurants, home-stay and resort business.
The challenge before us is the
balancing of tourist activity and the preservation of tourist places. This can
only be done through the promotion of sustainable tourism and virtual tourism
which aim to reform and educate the industry.
-Anjoe-
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