The advantages and disadvantages of tourism

According to the World Tourism Organization tourists are the people who "travel to and stay in
places outside their usual environment for not more than one successive year for leisure, business
and other purposes not interrelated to the exercise of an activity rewarded from within the place
visited".

So many places in the world rely heavily on tourism as a key source of income and employment
nowadays, as well as a way of showing off national and local heritage.
As far as I’m concerned, tourism can also be a source of problems too, especially if it is not
managed correctly.
Advantages
 Firstly, it brings in money. This is probably the main advantage of tourism and the reason why
it has been promoted so much in recent years in developing countries especially
 It provides jobs for the locals. Hotels, bars, transport, shops, and restaurants all need staffing.
Tourism can provide much-needed employment for people.
 It raises the profile of the place generally. Tourism gives the locality a chance to show itself off
and raise its profile in the world.
 It can provide economic incentives for a place to preserve, regenerate, and provide upkeep in
their urban and wildlife areas.
 Visitors promote international links, which can provide more business and cultural connections
in the medium to long term (for example the social media).
Disadvantages
 Tourism can often cause environmental damage with things like pollution and forest fires.
Even if tourists behave responsibly, the sheer number of them can cause problems. Things like
ancient buildings, monuments, and temples often struggle to cope with the vast amounts of
tourist traffic and they suffer wear and tear or damage.
 The commercialization of culture can undermine the soul of a tourist destination. Local tradi-
tions that have a rich cultural heritage are reduced to wearing costumes and putting on acts for
the tourists in return for money.
Top 10 Tourist Destinations (Cities)
According to MasterCard's new Global Destination Cities Index, the top 10 tourist cities for 2013
were:
1. Bangkok, Thailand, with 15.98 million tourists.
2. London, England, with 15.96 million visitors
3. Paris, France, with 13.92 million people visiting.
4. Singapore, with 11.75 tourists.
5. New York, USA, with 11.52 million visitors.
6. Istanbul, Turkey, with 10.37 million people visiting.
 7. Dubai, with 9.9 million tourists.
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9.2 million visitors.
9. Hong Kong, China, 8.72 million people visiting.
10.Barcelona, Spain, 8.41 million tourists.
 Tourists can often lack respect for local traditions and culture, not following local dress stand-
ards, getting drunk in public, or behaving rudely or inappropriately towards locals.
 Although often jobs are created by tourism, most are relatively low level, such as bar work, ho-
tel service, restaurant serving, and so forth. They also have little prospect for promotion.
 Money can end up being directed to tourist areas when it could be used more effectively else-
where in a country. The locals who don’t live in specific tourist areas miss out and suffer a rel-
ative decline.
 Often times, most of the tourism industry (travel companies and hotels, for one) in a develop-
ing country is actually owned by big foreign companies. They make the major profits, leaving
local businesses with relatively little benefit.
In conclusion, tourism can have both positive and negative aspects. Therefore, it is mandatory to
take care of our heritage and it’s our duty to preserve nature, buildings, traditions, etc.