Ecotourism,
nature tourism,
wildlife tourism, and
adventure tourism take place in environments such as
rain forests, high alpine,
wilderness, lakes and rivers, coastlines and marine environments, as well as rural villages and coastline resorts. Peoples' desire for more authentic and challenging experiences results in their destinations becoming more remote, to the few remaining pristine and natural environments left on the planet. The positive impact of this can be an increased
awareness of
environmental stewardship. The negative impact can be a destruction of the very experience that people are seeking. There are direct and indirect impacts, immediate and long-term impacts, and there are impacts that are both proximal and distal to the tourist destination. These impacts can be separated into three categories: facility impacts, tourist activities, and the transit effect. Environmental
sustainability focuses on the overall viability and
health of ecological systems.
Natural resource degradation,
pollution, and
loss of biodiversity are detrimental because they increase vulnerability, undermine system health, and reduce
resilience. More research is needed to assess the impacts of tourism on natural capital and
ecosystem services. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research is needed to address how the tourism industry impacts waste and
wastewater treatment,
pollination,
food security, raw materials,
genetic resources, oil and natural gas regulation and
ecosystem functions such as soil retention and nutrient recycling. Negative environmental consequences related to tourism activities, such as
greenhouse gas emissions from
air travel, and
litter at popular locations, can be significant. The tourism sector accounts for about 5% of global emissions with aviation contributing to 40% of emissions related to tourist transportation.
Facility impacts Facility impacts occur when a regional area evolves from "exploration" to "involvement" and then into the "development" stage of the tourist area life cycle. During latter phase, there can be both direct and indirect environmental impacts through the construction of
superstructures such as hotels, restaurants, and shops, and infrastructures such as roads and power supply. As the destination develops, more tourists seek the experience. Their impacts increase accordingly. The requirement for water for washing,
waste disposal, and drinking increases. Tourist demands have the potential to alter, excessively extract, and pollute rivers.
Noise pollution has the capacity to disturb wildlife and alter behavior, and
light pollution can disrupt the feeding and
reproductive behavior of many creatures. When power is supplied by diesel or gasoline generators, there is additional noise and pollution. General
waste and garbage are also a result of the facilities. As more tourists arrive, there is an increase in food and beverages consumed, which in turn creates
waste plastic and
non-biodegradable products.
Coastal tourism Many
coastal areas are experiencing particular pressure from growing numbers of tourists and
rising sea levels due to
climate change. Coastal environments are limited in extent consisting of only a narrow strip along the edge of the
ocean. Coastal areas are often the first environments to experience the detrimental impacts of tourism.
Planning and management controls can reduce the impact on coastal environments and ensure that investment into tourism products supports
sustainable coastal tourism.
Tourist activities There are a range of impacts from
hiking, trekking, and
camping that directly affect the activity area. The most obvious is the erosion and compaction of
trails through daily use. With the presence of obstacles such as fallen trees or
puddles, trails becomes widened or informal trails are created to bypass the obstacle. Other direct impacts include damage or removal of vegetation, loss of vegetation height, reduction in foliage cover, exposure of tree root systems, migration of trampled vegetation, and introduction of
non-native species. Indirect impacts on trails include changes in
soil porosity, changes to
microflora composition, problems with seed dispersion and germination, and degradation of soil nutrient composition. As many hikers and trekkers take multi-day trips, a large number will camp overnight either in formal or random
campsites. There are similar impacts on campsites, such as soil compaction, erosion and composition, loss of vegetation and foliage, and the additional issues regarding
campfires. Informal trails are created around the campsite in order to collect firewood and water, and trees and saplings can be trampled, damaged, or cut-down for fuel. The heat of campfires may damage tree-root systems. Certain
invasive species, such as the
zebra mussel, are spread through tourist activities, which can have a negative impact on local ecosystems. There are ways to decrease the spread of non-native species, such as taking care in removing seeds from shoes and pants after hiking or biking, thoroughly cleaning boats when moving between bodies of water, and creating designated pathway management plans.
Wildlife viewing, such as
safaris in the savannas of
East Africa, can lead to changes in animal behavior. The presence of humans tends to increase the
stress hormones of wild animals. Additionally,
baboons and
hyenas have learned to track tourist safari vehicles to lead them to
cheetah kills, which they then steal. There is a small but significant number of tourists who pay considerable sums of money in order to
trophy hunt lions,
rhino,
leopards, and even
giraffes. It has been argued that there is a positive and negative, direct and indirect, environmental impact caused by trophy hunting. There is a continued discussion at national and international government level as to the ethics of funding conservation efforts through hunting activities. Another tourism destination activity is
scuba diving. There are many negative direct environmental impacts caused by
recreational diving. The most apparent is the damage caused by poorly skilled divers standing on the reef itself or by accidentally hitting the fragile coral with their fins. Studies have shown that naïve divers who engage in
underwater photography are considerably more likely to accidentally damage the reef. As the cost of underwater photography equipment has declined and its availability increased, it is inevitable that there will be an increase of direct damage to
reefs by divers. Other direct impacts include over-fishing for "marine curios", sedimentation, and in-fill.
Mount Everest Mount Everest attracts many tourist climbers wanting to summit the peak of the highest mountain in the world each year. Everest is a
UNESCO World Heritage site. Over the years, carelessness and excessive consumption of resources by mountaineers, as well as
overgrazing by livestock, have damaged the habitats of
snow leopards,
lesser pandas,
Tibetan bears, and scores of bird species. To counteract past abuses, various
reforestation programs have been carried out by local communities and the Nepalese government. Expeditions have removed supplies and equipment left by climbers on Everest's slopes, including hundreds of oxygen containers. A large quantity of the
litter of past climbers, including tons of tents, cans, crampons, and human feces, has been hauled down from the mountain and recycled or discarded. However, more than 260 climbers have died on the Mount Everest upper slopes, and their decomposing bodies have not been removed because they are unreachable or their weight makes carrying the bodies down extremely difficult. Notable in the cleanup endeavors have been the efforts of the Eco Everest Expeditions, the first of which was organized in 2008 to commemorate the death that January of Everest-climbing pioneer
Edmund Hillary. Those expeditions also have publicized ecological issues, in particular concerns about the effects of
climate change in the region through observations that the
Khumbu Icefall is melting. A seven-hour flight on a Boeing 747 produces 220 tons of
carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of driving an average size family saloon car for a year, or the energy requirement of an average family home for nearly 17 years.
Cruise ships Cruises are among the fastest-growing sectors of the global travel industry. Over the past decade, cruise industry revenue grew to 37 billion U.S. dollars, and the demand for cruise travel has increased. Some argue that the profitability of mass tourism overshadows environmental and social concerns. For example, the ocean environment suffers from the dumping of wastewater and sewage, anchors damage the seabed and coral reefs, and smokestack emissions pollute the air. Social issues that have been linked to the cruise industry include poor wages and living conditions as well as discrimination and sexual harassment.
Small Island tourism Small islands often depend on tourism, as this industry makes up anywhere from 40 percent to 75 percent of the GDP (
Gross Domestic Product) for various islands, including
Barbados,
Aruba, and
Anguilla. Mass tourism, including the cruise industry, tends to put a strain on fragile island ecosystems and the natural resources they provide. Studies have shown that early practices of tourism were unsustainable and took a toll on environmental factors, hurting the natural landscapes that originally drew in the tourists. For example, in Barbados, beaches are the main attraction and have been
eroded and destroyed over the years. This is due to inefficient political decisions and policies along with irresponsible tourist activity, such as reckless driving and waste disposal, damaging coastal and marine environments. Such practices also altered physical features of the landscape and caused a loss in
biodiversity, leading to the disruption of ecosystems. Many tourists have turned to practices of
sustainable tourism and
ecotourism in an attempt to save the nature they enjoy in these locations, while some political entities try to enforce this in an attempt to keep tourism in their island afloat. More information on
Sustainable Tourism. == Health impacts ==