The love and passion for travelling is something that binds all people. No matter the country which you come from, no matter your age, no matter your job or hobbies, you will always have the desire to escape from your daily routine, to discover new beautiful places, to experience some adventures, to meet interesting people, to change your gaze on the world or just to take some time to relax.

Besides the understandable and beautiful reasons that lead people to choose a touristic experience there is something more:  have you ever considered the impact and consequences that tourism can produce? Let’s think for a moment about the main factors involved in the touristic phenomenon: economy, environment and society. How can these elements be affected by tourism both in a positive and negative way? 

The first element may be the easiest to understand or the first that comes to our mind, but it is not the most important one.  For sure the economic aspect is important because tourism brings wealth to the local communities and enterprises and allows development in terms of infrastructures, accommodation facilities, restaurant business and other organizations in the destination. However, the second factor, that is the environment, is becoming more and more important since the consciousness about ecology and environmental problems is increasing significantly. Tourism affects the landscape, the natural resources, the wildlife, the climate and the quality of air, soil and water. Last but not least we should consider the impact on local communities, the commercialization of culture to suit the tourism standards and the loss of authenticity due to mass tourism. 

We should think of a way to continue experiencing the beauty of travelling satisfying the tourists’ needs and at the same time caring about our planet, respecting the host communities and thinking about the future. This is mainly what sustainable tourism consists of.

In conclusion, we should try to maximize the impacts of tourism which are positive and minimize the negative ones. So, let’s continue travelling and discovering beautiful places, increasing our knowledge about different cultures but let’s do it in a responsible and sustainable way! ☺

Sara

The article is part of the project “Forest tale” of AYVOB, funded by ESC of the EU.