Impacts of tourism
Tourism impacts tourist destinations in both positive and negative ways, encompassing economic, political, socio-cultural, environmental, and psychological dimensions.
Economic effects: Increased tax revenue, personal income growth, enhanced The impacts of tourism , and the creation of additional employment opportunities.
Sociocultural impacts: Interactions between people with differing cultural backgrounds, attitudes and behaviors, and relationships to material goods. Tourism can also have significant political impacts by influencing government policies and promoting diplomatic relations between countries.
Environmental impacts:
Health effects: Tourism also has positive and negative health outcomes for local people.[1] The short-term negative impacts of tourism on residents' health are related to the density of tourist arrivals, the risk of disease transmission, road accidents, higher crime levels, as well as traffic congestion, crowding, and other stressful factors.[2] In addition, residents can experience anxiety and depression related to their risk perceptions about mortality rates, food insecurity, contact with infected tourists, etc.[3] At the same time, there are positive long-term impacts of tourism on residents' health and well-being outcomes through improving healthcare access, positive emotions, novelty, and social interactions.
Health impacts[edit]
Tourism brings both positive and negative effects on the health of local people.[1] The short-term negative effects are related to the density of tourist arrivals, traffic congestion, crowding, crime level, and other stressful factors.[2] Inbound tourism also increases the spread of SARS, MERS, COVID-19, and other diseases that transmit from human to human, which recently led to closed borders, travel restrictions, canceled flights, etc.[73]
Road accidents are another negative outcome of tourism development since visitors are not aware of local rules, driving norms, and road conditions.[74] Furthermore, alcohol-related crash rates are significantly higher for tourists.[75][76]
The positive long-term health outcomes of tourism arrivals can be explained by the influence of positive experiences and social interactions with visitors on physical health and longevity.[77][78] The literature suggests that diverse social relationships lead to lower risks for morbidity and premature mortality.[79] Since diverse interactions of local people with tourists provide positive experiences that could affect physical health, tourism development might positively influence the health of the local people in the long run through positive emotions and social interactions.[1]
Sexually transmitted infections are also often transferred between visitors and residents.[80][81]