Although the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly slowed the tourism sector, in 2019, tourism was the world's third-largest export industry , preceded only by fuel and chemical companies (United Nations World Tourism Organization UNWTO, 2021). In fact, in the same year, it is estimated that the number of international tourist arrivals was around 1.450 billion, almost half of which went to Europe ( UNWTO, tourism dashboard ).

These numbers confirm the continued growth trend of the tourism sector, which has experienced strong expansion especially over the last thirty years – if we ignore the negative figure recorded during the Great Recession of 2008. However, it is worth considering that, according to the UNWTO and the ITF (International Transport Forum), in 2005, tourism contributed to approximately 5% of total human-caused CO2 emissions (2019). While this figure may be considered small, it is worth keeping in mind that tourism activities also involve other types of practices that cannot be classified within the framework of environmental sustainability. Therefore, considering, on the one hand, the widespread diffusion of tourism and, on the other, the ongoing climate crisis, it seems necessary to ask what the real impacts of tourism are on the environment.

Index

Tourism: general characteristics

According to the UNWTO, tourists are anyone who stays for at least one night in a place other than their home, or who visits it for a full-day visit . This definition appears to be quite broad, as it does not simply reduce tourism to leisure activities, but includes various types of tourism, such as religious, medical, sports, business, and so on.

In this regard, the UNWTO, in its 2021 "International Tourism Highlights," reports the set of motivations that drove people to travel in 2019. The graph shows that more than half of tourists (55%) traveled that year for vacation, rest, or other leisure-related activities. Twenty-eight percent of them traveled for health, religious reasons, or to visit friends and relatives (VFR). Business and professional travel accounted for 11% of all tourist movements, while the remaining 8% remained undefined.

The age of tourism

As mentioned, tourism has experienced a steady growth trend over the last thirty years, so much so that some authors have defined our era as "the age of tourism" (p. 7, d'Eramo, 2017). In particular, the significant growth in tourism is primarily due to improved transportation and the spread of so-called low-cost flights, which have allowed even the less well-off to travel to faraway destinations. This trend is confirmed by the significant increase in people choosing to travel by air.

Indeed, it has been calculated that the proportion of tourists traveling by air has increased from 46% in 2000 to 59% in 2019: an increase of 13 percentage points (UNWTO, 2021). However, according to the UNWTO, other factors have contributed to the spread of tourism, such as the economic growth experienced by Western economies over the past century and the resulting expansion of the middle class due to improved socioeconomic conditions (Ibidem). Other authors also highlight how the spread of social policies, such as the introduction of paid holidays, and greater openness of borders, such as the creation of the Schengen Area, have also contributed to the growth of the tourism sector (d'Eramo, 2017).

The impacts of tourism on the environment

As mentioned, tourism contributed approximately 5% of total human-caused CO2 emissions in 2005 (UNWTO, ITF, 2019). The graph below shows the breakdown of tourism-related activities contained in the 5% of CO2 emissions cited above.

As can be easily seen from the image, the majority of pollution, 75%, is produced by transportation, both air and land, while a significant 21% is attributable to energy consumption in hotels (Ibid.). Although these activities play a fundamental role in the direct production of CO2, to gain a clear and complete understanding of the phenomenon, it is important to consider additional dynamics that negatively impact the environment indirectly.

A significant case in this regard is the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, where tourism has not only brought economic benefits but also contributed to the destruction of natural habitats and the creation of social conflicts (Bhandari, 2014). Indeed, it is estimated that the huge influx of tourists has severely strained the already scarce natural resources in the area, which have been diverted primarily to the tourism sector, thus generating hostility from the so-called natives (Ibidem).

Tourism as a creative force

Furthermore, Bhandari highlights in his article the dangerous consequences for the Masai Mara National Park of so-called ORD (Off-Road Driving), organized purely to enhance the tourist experience (Ibid.). Specifically, the article highlights how this practice interferes with the natural habitats of wild animals, thus leading to the loss of those protected areas and the destruction of vegetation, in turn causing a decline in biodiversity (Ibid.). ORD therefore significantly impacts the environment and the entire ecosystem. 

Like the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, other sites are experiencing a deterioration in the health of their environment due to the tourism sector, such as Mount Everest, submerged by visitors' rubbish, or many seaside resorts that have seen the construction of hotels right along the coast, with obvious environmental repercussions.

Precisely by virtue of what has just been stated, Marco d'Eramo in his book “The selfie of the world” defines tourism as a creative and destructive force at the same time (2017). In particular, he asserts that the practice of tourism can initially create enormous economic benefits for the territory in question, but that it subsequently destroys “the foundations on which that growth was based” (p. 84, Ibidem). Consider, for example, the transformation of the island of Crete: in the 1960s it evoked the idea of ​​an uncontaminated territory, which is why it began to attract numerous visitors; whereas today it appears as “an immense suburb of barracks on the seashore” (p. 84, Ibidem).

Future scenarios: ecotourism

The tourism sector's impact on the environment is significant, so much so that it has raised, especially in recent years, numerous questions about its environmental sustainability. For this very reason, there has recently been much discussion about sustainable tourism, or ecotourism, a form of tourism that takes into account its immediate and future social, economic, environmental, and cultural impacts, and seeks to reconcile tourism activity with the needs of localities and their inhabitants (UNWTO, UNEP, 2005).

Specifically, the UNWTO divides the descriptive principles of ecotourism into three thematic areas: environmental, sociocultural, and socioeconomic (Ibid.). The first refers to the need to conserve biodiversity, protect the ecosystem, and use natural resources with balance and consideration (Ibid.). The sociocultural aspect, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of respecting the so-called "host communities" (populations that host tourists), their traditions, and their culture, in order to achieve perfect interculturalism , avoiding the risk of conflict between tourists and natives (Ibid.). The final thematic area, socioeconomic, suggests the importance of equitable and sustainable development, capable of creating stable jobs and thus contributing to fair economic growth and the potential reduction of poverty in the host community (Ibid.).

Ecotourism would therefore appear to offer a solution to the main problems that a large tourist presence can cause in a given environment. However, it remains to be seen what the actual impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will be on tourism and whether it will pursue a path towards environmental sustainability.

Natalia Tosoni

Bibliographic and web references

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