Impacts of tourism

The study of the impact that tourism has on the communities involved is relatively new. There are problems in that impacts are not easily categorized, having direct and indirect components, and their evaluation often subtle and nuanced. How one "sees" an impact is dependent on the lens one is looking through. Also tourism is often seasonal, and impacts only become apparent after time, with varying effects, and at different stages of development. There are three main categories:

Ecotourism, nature tourism, wildlife tourism, and adventure tourism all take place in topologies such as rain forests, high alpine, wilderness, lakes and rivers, coastlines and marine environment, as well as rural villages and coastline resorts. With the desire for people to experience more authentic and challenging experiences, their destinations become more remote, and occupy the few remaining pristine and natural environments left on the planet. The positive impact of this can be an increased awareness of pro-environmental behaviour. 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.

This is when a regional area develops from exploration to involvement and then into the development stage of the tourist area life cycle model. During the latter phase there can be both direct and indirect environmental impacts through the construction of superstructure such as hotels, restaurants, and shops, and infrastructure such as roads and power supply. As the destination develops, more tourists seek out the experience, consequently, their impacts increase accordingly. The requirement for water for washing, waste disposal, and drinking increases. Rivers can be altered, excessively extracted, and polluted by the demand placed by the facility. Noise pollution has the capacity to disturb wildlife and alter behavior, and light pollution can disrupt the feeding and reproductive behaviour 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.

...
Wikipedia