Tourism and the

Environment
• Negative impacts from tourism occur when the
level of visitor use is greater than the
environment's ability to cope with this use
within the acceptable limits of change.
• Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses
potential threats to many natural areas around
the world.
• It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead
to impacts such as soil erosion, increased
pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat
loss, increased pressure on endangered species
and heightened vulnerability to forest fires.
Depletion of Natural

Main Impact Areas

Pollution

Physical Impacts
Depletion of • Tourism development can put pressure on
natural resources when it increases
Natural consumption in areas where resources are
Resources already scarce, such as:
• Shortage of water,
• Shortage of energy,
• Shortage of food and other raw materials, and
• Land degradtion
 • Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical
natural resources.
Shortage of • The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for
Water hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of
water by tourists.
• This can result in water shortages and degradation of water
supplies.
• Golf courses require an enormous amount of water every day
and, as with other causes of excessive extraction of water, this
can result in water scarcity. Golf course uses as much water as
60,000 people.
 • Increased construction of tourism and
Land recreational facilities has increased the
pressure on these resources and on scenic
Degradation landscapes.
• Direct impact on natural resources in the
provision of tourist facilities can be caused
by the use of land for accommodation and
other infrastructure provision, and the use
of building materials.
Pollution
• Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air
emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and
chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.
• Tourism now accounts for more than 60% of air travel and is therefore
responsible for an important share of air emissions.
• A single transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions
produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use) consumed by an
average person yearly.
• Noise pollution from airplanes, cars, and buses, as well as recreational
vehicles such as jet skis, is an ever-growing problem of modern life.
Pollution
• In areas with high concentrations of tourist activities and appealing
natural attractions, waste disposal is a serious problem and improper
disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment.
• Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities often leads to
increased sewage pollution. Wastewater has polluted seas and lakes
surrounding tourist attractions, damaging the flora and fauna.
• A lack of land-use planning and building regulations in many
destinations has facilitated sprawling developments along coastlines,
valleys and scenic routes.
Physical Impacts
• The development of tourism facilities such as accommodation, water
supplies, restaurants and recreation facilities can involve sand mining,
beach and sand dune erosion, soil erosion and extensive paving.
• In addition, road and airport construction can lead to land degradation
and loss of wildlife habitats and deterioration of scenery.
• Deforestation.
• Overbuilding and modernisation of shorelines can result in destruction
of habitats and disruption of land-sea connections.
 Tourism in Malta
• Malta has total of 2.7m inbound tourists
per year, one busy little country. August
is the hottest and busiest month, with
tourists coming mostly from the UK,
Italy and France.
• Malta is a popular travel destination for
a number of reasons. The average
tourist comes here for the warm, sunny
climate.
Malta Tourism: Benefits
• Per year there is a total expenditure of €2.2 billion, contributing 12.8%
to the GDP, making tourism one of the top five contributors to the
economy of Malta.
• Major industries benefitting from tourism include the food and drink
industry, recreation, shopping, transport and accommodation – an
incredible more than 4,000 accommodation units are listed in Malta
and Gozo.
• As for employment, tourism accounts for a significant 25% of jobs in
Malta.
Malta Tourism: Disadvantages
• Environmental impacts from tourism can take a number of forms:
 reduced landscape aesthetics,
reduced water availability,
loss of biodiversity
land erosion from overuse of areas and development.
Malta Tourism: Disadvantages
• There is tremendous pressure on beaches in Malta since the coastal
stretches are small but there is a lot of activity happening on them.
• The effect of all this are:
1. increase in litter,
2. light pollution and
3. a decrease in wildlife
Measures:
• In 2016, the Maltese Government introduced an obligatory
Environmental Contribution on accommodation providers in Malta.
This aims to increase revenue from the tourism industry by taking a
certain amount of income generated from accommodation stays which
is used to improve local infrastructure in touristy areas. 50c per night.
• The Malta Tourism Authority also established an Eco-certification to
encourage hotel owners to be more environmentally-aware to appeal
to eco tourists. This includes energy reduction, better air quality, less
water wastage and more green space.
• Encouraging greener transport, like bikes and boat tours.