Tourism activity generates positive or negative impacts on destinations and communities.
The big challenge we have is how to minimize (or avoid) negative impacts and maximize positive impacts.
The impacts generated by tourism can be analyzed from different dimensions
<strong>Positive economic impacts</strong>
Currency gain
Increased foreign investment
Increase in tax collection
Contribution to Gross Domestic Product
Economic redistribution
<strong>Negative economic impacts</strong>
Excessive dependence on foreign currencies
Distortion of the local economy
Dependence on the seasonality of tourism
Inflation
Profit from multinationals
<strong>Positive social impacts</strong>
Job creation
Rating of local culture
Cultural exchange
Recovery of local industry and Km 0 products
Increased investment in training to generate local employment
<strong>Negative social impacts</strong>
Displacement of local cultures
Preference of non-local workers for quality jobs
Loss of culture and traditions
Drastic changes in the way local people live
Over-exploitation of resources
<strong>Positive environmental impacts</strong>
Increased environmental awareness
Interest in natural areas and their conservation
Fighting pollution
Demand from visitors for a quality environment
Support for conservation and research programs
<strong>Negative environmental impacts</strong>
Saturation of destinations and natural sites of global interest
Destruction of natural areas
Garbage generation
Air, water and soil pollution
Affecting natural sites of nesting, reproduction or high concentration of biodiversity
Challenges
What can we do to turn the more than 1.4 billion travelers who travel the world each year into 1.4 billion opportunities?
Contributing to local development
Decrease the carbon footprint
Fair distribution of benefits
The tourism sector plays a key role in achieving the 2030 Agenda.
It accounts for
more than 10% of global
GDP, is directly responsible for
5% of global emissions
and
1 in 10 people work
in this sector.
Tourism must therefore align itself with the
17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted
by
all United Nations countries.