environment and tourism

 Tourism ; Big  Problems  of the Environment

A.    Introduction

Nowadays, tourism is the largest and the fastest growing industry in the world. It is an increasingly important source of income, employment and wealth in many countries. International tourism now accounts for a larger share of foreign exchange receipts and export earnings than any other industry in the world. Besides that, the growing of tourism industry also can be seen from the development of hotel and travel agency industry. Every city has many hotels for tourist. Start from the small cities with usual hotels until the big cities with high standard hotels. Based on Indonesian Cushman & Wakefield surveys in indonesian.cri.cn (2013) until 2015 there will be 4.000 new hotels at Jakarta. Then, as everyone knows,  people needs time to get some holiday. It can be seen from almost all of tourism places are crowded by people at every weekend.  People need holiday because of many reasons, for relaxing, refreshing, playing with family, spending time with friends, etc.

Tourism has a very complex relationship with environment. Almost all of tourism places have become famous because of the natural view. For examples, Bunaken national park at Manado, Raja Ampat at Papua Islands, Lake Maninjau, Iguazu Waterfall at border of Argentina and Brazil, Great Wall at China, Petra at Jordan, Machu Picchu at Peru, etc. Raja Ampat become very famous because many natural places that is very beautiful such as marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area as the highest recorded on Earth. Diversity is considerably greater than any other area sampled in the Coral Triangle composed of Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. While Petra at Jordan become very popular because the  uniqueof it’s city that carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

However, because of the tourism activities there are  many trashes everywhere at tourism places. As the prove, it can be seen along Padang beach , at Aia Manih beach, at Mediterranean Sea, and at Cancun Mexico. At Mediterranean Sea, tourism activities increase the excess garbage and sewage that is dumped directly into the sea and nearby rivers. On the other hand, because of tourism activities there many natural places that have become worse since tourism industry is developed further. Just like what have happened at Bali, tourism definitely in the number of y increased water pollution in the Bali region. Let’s put aside actual rubbish pollution which in truth can be seen a lot around the island, and look at the massive increase in the number of visiting ships. Pollution, which comes from their presence, is very noticeable in Bali’s clean waters. Coral reefs and other ocean life become stressed and die in polluted waters. Also the water quality of inland resources has been degraded.  

This paper is made to make the readers realize that environment is very important and have to be kept even though people need it very much especially for developing tourism activities. This paper also has been limited only about the problems that are caused by tourism activities and also how to resolve those problems. 

B.     Theoritical Bases

1.      Definition of Tourism

Based on wikipedia.org (2013) “tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. While Gamal Swantoro (2004:3) states that tourism is process of traveling that is done by someone or people to a place that is different from their daily live. It is closely related with definition of tour. Almost same with Gamal Suwanto , Oka A. Yoeti (1994,30) says that tourism is a trip that is done more than once from one place to another place . In addition based on discoveralex.com (2013) tourism is “is an activity done by an individual or a group of individuals, which leads to a motion from a place to another. From a country to another for performing a specific task, or it is a visit to a place or several places in the purpose of entertaining which leads to an awareness of other civilizations and cultures, also increasing the knowledge of countries, cultures, and history.” Then , Based on merriam-webster.com tourism is “the practice of traveling for recreation”.

2.      Definition of  Environtment

Based on thefreedictionary.com (2013) there two definition of environment are:

                        1. The circumstances or conditions that surround one; surroundings.

2. The totality of circumstances surrounding an organism or group of organisms, especially:

a. The combination of external physical conditions that affect and influence the growth, development, and survival of organisms: "We shall never understand the natural environment until we see it as a living organism" (Paul Brooks).

b. The complex of social and cultural conditions affecting the nature of an individual or community.

In newagepublishers.com environment is all of things that influence organism every time. Environment and organism cannot be separated because their relationship. There will be no organism if there were no environment. While based on biology-online.org (2013) environment is “The external surroundings including all of the biotic and abiotic factors that surround and affect the survival and development of an organism or population” and “the totality of the surrounding conditions and elements in an individual”.

Recently, tourism is growing fast everywhere. At West Sumatra, based on phinisinews.com (2012) there are 28.194 people who came to West Sumatra at 2012. It is increase about 4,79 percent from 2011. However, it has also given bad effects for the tourism places. Start from one of an exotic tourism place at West Sumatra, Mentawai Island. Based on harianhaluan.com (2012), Mentawai’s Government will limit the tourist that want to visit Mentawai Island. The officer of Mentawai Regency , Yudas Sabaggalet, says that the government do not want Mentawai is visited by many people freely. They are afraid that the environment will become worse.

Not only at Mentawai, but also at Bali the increase of tourist can be seen clearly. In american.edu (2013) there is a table of tourist’s data that shows the high increase of visitors there since 1972 until 1980. It is increase almost more than a hundred percent each year. Just like what happened at West Sumatra, the increase of tourist also give bad effects at Bali. In walhibali.org (2013) Executive Director of WALHI Bali, Agung Wardhana says that tourism is a big factors of environment flaw at Bali, especially for water.

C.    Discussion

            Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. It is an increasingly important source of income, employment and wealth in many countries. International tourism now accounts for a larger share of foreign exchange receipts and export earnings than any other industry in the world. However, it not only gives the advantages but also many disadvantages and many people do not realize it. The benefits that are offered by tourism activities make people forget about the important of environment for their life. Even, they forget that without environment there will be no more a life. Beside as the largest and the fastest growing industries in the world, tourism has become a source of environmental degradation.  It has caused pollution, depletion of natural resources, deforestation and habitat loss of flora and fauna.

1.      Tourism has caused pollution

The high development of tourism industries has caused many bad effects on the environment. One of the worst effects that can be seen everywhere is pollution. Based on science.yourdictionary.com (2013) pollution is the dangerous contamination that changes original contents of water, air, or soil by other substances. It can be caused by nature phenomenon and by human activities. By nature phenomenon, pollution occurs through volcanic eruption and by human activities it occurs because of many activities.  Pollution has a very bad effect on any living organism in an environment, it is really impossible to sustain a life for all of organisms if there were pollution occurs around them. There are some kind of pollution that are caused by tourism activities, they are water pollution, air pollution, and light pollution

a.       Water Pollution

Based on sustainablebabysteps.com, water pollution is “contamination of any body of water (lakes, groundwater, oceans, etc)”. the process of water pollution ranges from simple addition of dissolved or suspended solids to discharge of the most insidious and persistent toxic pollutants (such as pesticides, heavy metals, and nondegradable, bioaccumulative, chemical compounds).Water pollution has caused many tourism places become worse and looks unnatural. In Trinidad and Tobago overpopulation of tourist has been depleted for construction, which has damaged beaches. Also, in Mediterranean region, water pollution has reached crisis proportions in several of the older tourist resort. For activities such as swimming, fishing, and many types of boating, the need of high quality water is essential. The introduction of pollutants into water bodies is both environmentally degrading and economically disastrous for water-based tourist resorts.

b.      Air pollution

Air pollution based on library.thinkquest.org (2013) is “accumulation in the atmosphere of substances that, in sufficient concentrations, endanger human health or produce other measured effects on living matter and other materials”. Wisnu Arya Wardhana (2004) says that air pollution is the strength substances that cause alteration of air structure in normal situation. Air pollution will give many impacts in human health. It can cause asthma, allergies and other respiratory illness.  Air pollution is specially caused by transportation. In balipost.co.id, Ketut Gede Dharma Putra (2013) says that WTO (1996) guessed more than four million tons gasoline is used each year that cause eight hundred and fifty million gases. It has damaged ozone layer and it has produced three point five million tons chemical substances. All of that are caused by the effort of tourism industry to increase their income.

c.       Light Pollution

Light pollution is caused by the using of improper lighting of communities and it will cause the brightening of the night sky inhibiting the visibility of stars and planets. As one of tourism industries’ effort to increase their income, today tourism places are not only trade on natural places. In order to interest tourists to come to a place, the government or an tourism industry will make that place looks great and beautiful by giving many lamps there. It is a kind of using improper lighting because sometime the lamps are very useless.

2.      Tourism has caused Habitat Loss of Flora and Fauna 

As the result of the fastest growing of tourism industry, flora and fauna that are live on the environment get the bad effect of it. Ni Kadek Mas Ayuni (2009) says that the development of tourism industry gives the bad effects for habitat of animals and also damages their origin route.

For examples, at Bali, there is Serangan Island that has many turtles there. After the growing of tourism industry there and the investor built a resort which name is Bali Turtle Island Development, there so many tourists come there. Tourism activities there have caused habitat lost of turtles, the tourists hunt them to make their skin as the souvenir. Besides of that, the population of turtles also descends because of tourism activities.  Development of resorts, hotels and housing area along the beach also threaten the turtles to lay their eggs. It is caused by the sensitive of turtles on the light, and the noise.

After that, the noise of tourist at Bali also has caused the changing of animals’ habit. It has caused the aggressiveness of animal’s habit that is very dangerous. Not only that thing, but also the selling of souvenirs that is made from the unique of flora and fauna at a tourism place give the bad effects on the environment.  Also in Cancun, Mexico, tourism has damaged the turquoise lagoon. It also led the extinction of varying species of animals and fish there. In Hawaii, the development of hotels gives the bad effect for coral under the sea. The investor move the layer of land surface to built everything they want and it kills water animals living there.

3.      Tourism has caused Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of trees. This is one of bad effect of tourism that can cause erosion, problem in water circulation, and problem in carbon circulation. At Bali, to fulfill the necessity of tourists facilities, the owner of hotels, resorts and other tourism elements take many things from forest. It really causes deforestation. Deforestation was caused essentially by the over construction of hotels and other facilities catering to tourism. It leads to wildlife destruction and further environmental damages, since forests are so important for the maintenance of the entire habitat. Construction of many resorts and hotels requires clearing forested land.

4.      Tourism has caused depletion of Natural Resources

Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce. Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water. In dryer regions like the Mediterranean, the issue of water scarcity is of particular concern. Because of the hot climate and the tendency of tourists to consume more water when on holiday than they do at home, the amount used can run up to four hundred and forty liters a day. Depletion of natural resources also influences local resources and land degradation. Tourism produces a big tension for local resources such as energy, food, and other unripe materials. The promotion of tourism activities has caused land degradation. The use of land for tourism accommodation and infrastructure requisite will damage natural resources. 

               So that, tourism activities are really give dangerous and many bad impacts for environment. All of public elements that are related with tourism must do everything to keep the environment. They can establish local and regional zoning laws that restrict development and band development in conservation of tourism places. Ecotourism is also one of the best solution for the problem of tourism on environment. Involving the local people from the planning stages throughout the entire development of   the tourism project is crucial for the success of ecotourism.  In this way, they will benefit   from the revenues of tourism, becoming aware that it benefits them and their environment,   not just the already wealthy and powerful transnational corporations and people. When tourism is well managed and properly located, should be recognized as a positive activity which has potential to benefit the host community, the local environment itself and the visitors. Sustainable tourism requires a balance to be struck between the needs of the visitors, the place and the host community. While, Agung Wardhana the executive director of WALHI says that, government should evaluate the law that has existed before and the investors also must be responsible on preservation of environment.

D.    Conclusion

Tourism is one of the fastest and the greatest industry in the world now. Tourism is not as harmful as other industries could be, but it has caused many bad effects to the environment. Tourism has caused water pollution, air pollution, light pollution, habitat loss of flora and fauna, deforestation, and depletion of natural resources. Tourism cannot be forced to develop more and more. The development of tourism that is wrong will make it buried. In conclusion, everyone should care about the preservation of environment especially for them who closely related with tourism world because environment is very valuable for every human life.