Since the 1930s, the globalisation of our economy, tourism shifted from a niche opportunity for the upper class to an activity easily accessible by the large majority. Indeed, in 2019, and before the Covid Crisis, Travel & Tourism's direct, indirect and induced impact accounted for 10,3% of world global GDP. Thanks to the technological improvements related to aviation, making it faster and cheaper, it is now possible to be in Madrid in the morning and in Dubai in the evening without many efforts. However, these improvements have given rise to a new type of tourism: Mass Tourism.
Defined as early as 1993, Mass Tourism refers to "the movement of a large number of organised tourists to popular holiday destinations for recreational purposes." It is now a well-known phenomenon characterised by the use of standardised package products and mass consumption. In other words, Mass Tourism is the result of companies selling large-scale "all included" packages to the mass for 1 week in Thailand or a cruise on the Nile, in opposition to elite or luxury tourism. Thousands of tourists are now travelling around the world every day and it is not without consequences.
The most obvious characteristics of Mass Tourism is that a lot of tourists are reunited in the exact same place; no matter if it is a city, a beach, a resort... More than the destination can cope with. This leads to damaging impacts on the environment and the local population cultural traditions and living standards.
Let's take the Thailand example. An amazing documentary by DW shows the downside effects of the 36 million visitors coming every year. To support the presence of these tourists, roads, hotels, and parking lots need to be built to enable their transportation and accommodation. Additionally to this destruction of natural habitats to create living spaces for humans, tourist activities on-site creates plastic garbage, leads to the death of the coral reefs and the overall ecosystem around... For instance, in the last 3 years, scientists found that more than 77% of the coral reefs have been damaged or heavily damaged. The effects of Mass Tourism on the environment, above and below water, are terrific. Tourists attractions like Jet-Ski, cruises or Scuba-Diving are also participating actively in disturbing the natural ecosystems and accelerating both the plastic pollutions there, but the disappearance of all life around. However, the unsustainability of Mass Tourism does not stop to the environment. The expansion of the touristic areas is done at the expense of natural habitats and of locals residential areas. Not only do locals have to move to other, cheaper, areas, but they must also adapt their job and culture to the tourists’ activities if they want to survive. Cultural commodification and a general decline in the living standards of the locals are always observed in these developing regions. As more tourists come, the demand for food and goods increases as well, leading to an average increase of the living costs in these areas. For instance, in Venice, house prices have risen to a point where locals cannot afford to live there anymore. Additionally, with the increasing competition in the job market, locals have to accept small salaries, to be able to sell activities, snacks on the beach (and their single-use plastic packaging!) The repercussion of on-site mass tourism are too numerous to be all mentioned in this article, but they are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of emissions generated by this industry.
Mass Tourism environmental impacts start with your transportation mode. Tourists used to go to nearby destinations, closed to their home town, accessible by car, bus or train. However, with the birth of low-cost airlines and the increasing popularity of package holidays and cruises proposed by travel groups, the percentage of the population going to long-distance destinations necessitating train or plane transportation increased.
Focussing on the Airline Industry, we will look at the non-professional use, which accounts for 75% of all flights. To illustrate, we will take the French example. The average carbon footprint of a French person is between 11 and 12 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, and the objective is to reach 2 tonnes CO2 eq/year. A way-back Paris/New-York represents more than 2 tonnes of CO2 when a way-back Paris/Sydney is almost 7 tonnes. Even if the international air traffic has managed to escape all climate treaties and policies, and if they fixed their own climate objectives via the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), we know that the aviation climate impact is one of the worst. If we take the official French statistics: CO₂ emissions from aviation represent only 2.8% of transport emissions and 0.8% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. However, these numbers do not take into consideration the international flights from and to France (which would represent 13.7% of transport emissions and 4.4% of the country's total emissions), ad it does not consider condensation trails and cirrus clouds that form after the passage of an aircraft, which doubles the carbon footprint of a flight when accounted for. Moreover, airlines do not pay taxes on the fuel they use and avoid carbon footprint-related charges thus further pushing down flight prices and incentivising ecologically harmful Mass Tourism.
Similarly, the cruise industry, that has been rising in popularity since the 1970s, is also highly polluting. The cruise industry always has to find new markets, new destinations and themes to attract more tourists. With the increasing size of the boats and the scope expansion of the services proposed, the impacts on economic, social and environmental factors are becoming truly significant. In 2017, 28,5 tourists enjoyed a cruise worldwide in one of the main destinations, like the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. But here is the problem: the vast majority of cruise ships are powered using fossil fuel, heavy fuels, with a thousand-fold greater negative impact on air quality than fuels used for road transport (Kovačić & Silveira, 2020). Indeed, the propulsion engine of ships is the largest cause of air pollution. "Shipping exhaust generated from burning heavy fuel oil (HFO) contains high levels of sulfur, as well as metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), many of which have toxic, mutagenic and/or carcinogenic properties" (R. D. Kennedy, 2019). A study conducted by European journalist on particulate matter (PM) concentrations on passenger decks of a cruise ship using a hand-held PM monitoring device. They found that the particle concentrations were 200 times higher than air measured in a park away from traffic and other sources of air pollution. Unfortunately, this pollution is not the only form of harmful impact the cruising industry has. They also create 3 different categories of wastewater: black waters (from toilet spaces, approximately 20-40L per passenger), grey waters (bathrooms, drains, showers, decks, saunas - 120-450L per passenger) and from the ship itself (waste oils, lubricants, cleaners, metal and plastic debris). Grey and Black waters contain nitrates and phosphates leading to eutrophication of bays and harbours.
This participates in the killing of a large number of plants and animals under the seas. Marine pollution can also come from the drop of hazardous substances, like detergent, medical drugs or cleaning supplies, which account for 0,13-0,16kg per day per passenger and of hazardous substances like dry-cleaners, protective paints and coatings, hospital waste, which produces 55 to 85 litres of hazardous waste daily (Kovačić & Silveira, 2020). The sea pollution from the Cruise Industry harms all the submarine eco-system, both offshore and on the coast and the lack of a legal framework makes it hard to improve the current situation.
Overall, since its emergence in the early 20th century, Mass Tourism has experienced a massive growth thanks to the rise of websites such as Airbnb, and vacation packages that include air travel and accommodation. Although the industry has brought large revenues to the touristic countries, the constant yearly influx of millions of people has become largely unsustainable. Even if the awareness about these impacts starts to get well known, too many people are still unaware of the many impact tourism can have. Due to the pollution, Thailand had to close the famous bay from the Beach movie.
So, maybe think about it twice before organising your next trip to Tulum!
Comments