Tourism can bring about positive and negative effects to the host community.

As the world
becomes increasingly globalized, these effects have become more prevalent as people travel more
frequently. Some positive effects include the betterment of host countrys economy and increased
cultural awareness while disadvantages includes monetary leakages to large corporations and the
commodification of host countrys cultures. This essay seeks to discuss why the cons of tourism
outweigh its pros.
Tourism may seem to boost the host countrys economy, but reality states otherwise, as
most of the revenue seeps out to large corporations. Some might object on the grounds that when
employment of locals for the tourism industry increases, it leads to multiplier effect, as the rise in
their ability and willingness to spend results in monetary injection into the economy, overall
boosting it. (Simm, n.d.) However, it is imperative to note that most of the revenue generated from
tourism will leak out to large corporations such as the hotel chains instead of going to the locals
(Simm, n.d.), and be remitted back to their headquarters often situated outside of the host country.
Using the level of scale as a comparison criterion, the monetary outflow will definitely outweigh the
inflow as these huge corporations are the ones investing in the country and providing the
employment opportunities for the locals, therefore earning a higher percentage of revenue
generated from tourism. Hence, although tourism opens up more job opportunities, most of the
income generated from it goes to large companies based outside the host country.
In addition, while some may argue that tourism raises cultural awareness through touristshost interactions, there is much room for doubt regarding the authenticity of the cultures tourists
are exposed to. According to the Economist (2015), both tourists and host can gain a deeper
understanding of different cultures when they interact. However, according to the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP, n.d.), the host countrys culture and conventional religious rites
are often objectified, sanitized and condensed to fit tourists expectations. Only few tourists are
truly looking for entirely new and unfamiliar experiences, with many just wanting to catch brief
glimpses of local cultures, leading to a reconstructed reality. Such commercialization of culture
will eventually dilute its essence, with it being seen merely as a tool to earn money.

(380 words)