Page 50 - Introduction to Tourism

advocates for tourism such as your authors (we

have been accused of being cheerleaders

for tourism) acknowledge that tourism is not an

unqualified blessing. There are costs and

benefits, and they do not accrue equally. Many of

the social costs incurred are difficult or
impossible to measure. Books such as The

Golden Hordes, Tourism:
Blessing or Blight, and The Holiday Makers (see

the Selected References) point out some of the
unpleasant aspects of tourism. Improperly

planned and developed tourism can create

problems. The demands of tourism may come

into conflict with the needs and wishes of local

residents. Thoughtless development,

inappropriate development,

overdevelopment, or unfinished development can

easily damage the environment.

Tourism has been blamed for polluting beaches;

raising the price of labor, land, goods, and so on;

spoiling the countryside; contaminating the

values of native people; crowding; congestion;

noise; litter; crime; loss of privacy; creating social

50