International tourism has brought enormous benefit to many places. At the same time, there is concern about its impact on local inhabitants and the environment. Do the disadvantages of international tourism outweigh the advantages?

Although

the growth of

tourism

brings enormous merits for the economical field in its countries, the negative implications for local people and the environment would be more significant.

To begin

with, the natural environment could be damaged by the

tourism

industry.

This

is because investors want to attract more foreign visitors, thereby causing areas that were once pristine to be now filled with

tourism

infrastructure. Developing countries,

for instance

, have a tendency to deforest in bulk to build luxury hotels and resorts, which not only destroys the wildlife habitats of the animal, namely birds, monkeys and elephants but

also

deprives the life of rare plants.

Secondly

, since the arrival of people coming from so many different cultures, local traditions and customs might be played havoc with. To be more specific, indigenous residents could be in the habit of aping the lifestyle brought by visitors.

Therefore

, local culture, which is one of the elements that bring a unique image to a locality, would be mixed with other cultures.

Last

but not least,

tourism

could create more serious situations where criminal issues are involved. In fact, the presence of a considerable number of tourists with a lot of money to spend, and often carrying valuables

such

as cameras and jewellery, increases the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities

such

as pickpocket, robbery and drug dealing. According to a 2017 Oxford University study, countries with over 45.6 million international tourist arrivals per year often have 30% higher crime rates than other countries

that less focus on

Suggestion

that focus less on

tourism

development.

Conversely

, if tourists had not visited too much, crime rates would have decreased in those countries. In conclusion, the growth of

tourism

to remote areas and exotic countries is beneficial to some extent,

however

, it is more likely to have harmful impacts on local residents and the environment.