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Cet article convient pour une étude approfondie du sujet dans le cadre de la spécialité LLCER - Anglais Monde Contemporain. Il a été rédigé par www.english-ease.fr et fortement inspiré d'un podcast publié par le BBC Global Story.
2024 is expected to be a record-shattering year for tourism. It is a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people are now more than ever eager to spend money on vacation in a sweeping movement of “revenge tourism”. Indeed, during the pandemic, many then-tourists experienced a suppressed feeling of I-need-to-get-out, thus now yearning to temporarily leave their homes. For regular travellers, the pandemic was similar to a depressing period. Locked-up tourists saved up a great deal of money to travel further and longer this year, hence the never-before-seen number of vacation-driven tourists expected. Undeniably, tourism-related activities have a positive impact on the global economy with trillions of dollars. It is the third-largest industry in the world, roping in up to 400 million people worldwide. Emerging countries, such as China and India, now contribute to the industry, with their inhabitants keen on exploring the world, especially western countries. However, there is still the problem of mass tourism which ends up being detrimental to the environment and local populations. Locals are rather fed up with brazen tourists, whose disrespectful behaviour towards local culture and traditions is nettlesome. In a few countries, locals even experience a peeping-Tom relationship with tourists. Indeed, tourists may act like true voyeurs, invading one’s privacy. Accordingly, many notorious places such as Paris, Barcelona, Rome, and Tokyo are grappling with curtailing the flow of tourists; they cannot put an end to the sector but have in the meantime to maintain local privacy and the respect of their cultural exceptions. Local authorities try to cope with the soaring number of tourists, ending up with clashes and anti-tourism uprisings. In parallel, there is a huge concern raised about climate change, and how it actually reshapes the map of tourism towards cooler places such as Iceland and Norway, displacing the economic fallouts toward inexperienced places that now have to adapt very quickly so as not to be caught flat-footed.
How does this relentless rise in global tourism actually impact those who live in these sought-after locations ? How do places strive to overcome mass tourism ?
The main problem about mass tourism is that tourism itself cannot be halted. The development of interdependence and economic relationships in the twentieth century have made long-distance trips more frequent and customary. Travelling abroad is even perceived nowadays as a cultural habit especially in Western countries whose inhabitants experienced a major economic growth after WWII. All in all, travelling is now more than even a human right. One’s right to travel wherever you want shouldn't be infringed whatsoever. Still, this belief has had double-edged consequences in sought-after places, namely the most notorious ones like Rome, Paris, New York, Tokyo, or even Kenya. For instance, a BBC reporter was told by a Kenya-based resident that there is a kind of cut-throat competition about water supply between luxury hotels and local farmers in Kenya. Hotels want their customers to be provided with enough water as they want to maintain their comfort. But, in the meantime, local farmers struggle to feed their cows, a large part of them eventually die from dehydration. In the end, local farmers may leave their homelands because of looming water shortages, or even unemployment. As a consequence, it can be said that there is a strong opposition between tourists and locals, hence many anti-tourism protests in big cities wracked by mass tourism, whose inhabitants face skyrocketing living standards.
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