REVIEW SUSTAINABLE  “..
when there is large contrast between the
Module 3: Socio-cultural Impacts, Mitigation,
and Sustainable Practices
Tourism has impacts on the culture, society and
way of life of the host communities. Tourists often
want to learn about local culture and traditions
and are often keen to meet local people. As a
result, locals are encouraged to keep their heritage
and traditions alive. However, tourism can also
bring noise, overcrowding, anti-social behavior
and in extreme cases can cause tensions between
tourists and host communities.
What are Socio-cultural Impacts
 Socio-cultural impacts refer to the ways in
which tourism changes community and
individual values, behaviour, community
structure, lifestyle and overall quality of life;
in relation to both the destination and the
visitor (Hall, 2007; Murphy, 1985, as cited in
Brunt & Courtney, 1999).
 Social impacts of tourism refer to changes in
the lives of people living in destination
communities. Cultural impacts of tourism
refer to changes in the arts, artifacts, customs,
rituals, and architecture of a people. The term
socio-cultural impacts refer to changes to
resident’s everyday experiences, as well as to
their values, way of life, and intellectual and
artistic products.
 The socio-cultural impacts of tourism
described here are the effects on host
communities of direct and indirect relations
with tourists, and of interaction with the
tourism industry. The interaction of the two
groups will be a major issue in affecting the
types of impacts.
culture of the receiving society and the origin
culture, then it is likely that impacts will be
greatest.” Burns and Holden (1995
 For a variety of reasons, host communities
often are the weaker party in interactions with
their guests and service providers, leveraging
any influence they might have. These
influences are not always apparent, as they are
difficult to measure, depend on value
judgments and are often indirect or hard to
identify.
 Impacts arise when tourism brings changes in
value systems / behaviour, threatening
indigenous identity. Changes often occur in
community structure, family relationships,
collective traditional life styles, ceremonies
and morality, but tourism can also generate
positive impacts as it can serve as a supportive
force for peace, foster pride in cultural
traditions and help avoid urban relocation by
creating local jobs. Socio-cultural impacts are
ambiguous: the same objectively described
impacts are seen as beneficial by some groups
and as negative by others.
POSITIVE SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS
a.) Socio-cultural conservation
 Tourism can contribute to positive
developments, not just negative impacts. It has
the potential to promote social development
through employment creation, income
redistribution and poverty alleviation. Other
potential positive impacts of tourism include:
 Tourism as a force for peace
 Strengthening communities
  Facilities developed for tourism can
benefit residents
 Revaluation of culture and traditions
Encourages civic involvement and
pride
b.) Tourism as a force for peace
 Travelling brings people into contact with
each other and, as tourism has an educational
element, it can foster understanding between
peoples and cultures and provide cultural
exchange between hosts and guests. Because
of this, the chances increase for people to
develop mutual sympathy and understanding
and to reduce their prejudices.
 For example, jobs provided by tourism in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, are expected to help
demobilize paramilitary groups as the peace
process is put in place. In the end, sympathy
and understanding can lead to a decrease of
tension in the world and thus contribute to
peace.
c.) Strengthening communities
 Tourism can add to the vitality of communities
in many ways. One example is that events and
festivals of which local residents have been
the primary participants and spectators are
often rejuvenated and developed in response
to tourist interest. The jobs created by tourism
can act as a vital incentive to reduce
emigration from rural areas. Local people can
also increase their influence on tourism
development, as well as improve their job and
earnings prospects, through tourism-related
professional training and development of
business and organizational skills.
d.) Facilities developed for tourism can benefit
residents
 As tourism supports the creation of
community facilities and services that
otherwise might not have been developed, it
can bring higher living standards to a
destination. Benefits can include upgraded
infrastructure, health and transport
improvements, new sport and recreational
facilities, restaurants, and public spaces as
well as an influx of better-quality commodities
and food. Revaluation of culture and
traditions.
 Tourism can boost the preservation and
transmission of cultural and historical
traditions, which often contributes to the
conservation and sustainable management of
natural resources, the protection of local
heritage, and a renaissance of indigenous
cultures, cultural arts and crafts.
e.) Tourism encourages civic involvement and
pride
 Tourism also helps raise local awareness of
the financial value of natural and cultural sites
and can stimulate a feeling of pride in local
and national heritage and interest in its
conservation. More broadly, the involvement
of local communities in tourism development
and operation appears to be an important
condition for the conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity.
f.) Factors related to individual perceptions of
tourism
 Residents who are likely to benefit from
tourism are more likely to support tourism.
People with greater of involvement in and
knowledge of tourism tend to support the
industry. Communities which have had little
contact with outsiders have greater difficulty
 dealing with tourism than those with a longer
history of dealing with other cultures. Media
portrayals of tourism can influence host
perceptions by providing information which is
used in the social construction of reality and
which influence public opinion.
NEGATIVE SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS
a.) Commodification
 Tourism can turn local cultures into
commodities when religious rituals, traditional
ethnic rites and festivals are reduced and
sanitized to conform to tourist expectations,
resulting in what has been called
"reconstructed ethnicity." Once a destination
is sold as a tourism product, and the tourism
demand for souvenirs, arts, entertainment and
other commodities begins to exert influence,
basic changes in human values may occur.
Sacred sites and objects may not be respected
when they are perceived as goods to trade.
 Keechak Dance, part of the traditional
religious ritual, performed originally only on
special occasions in Bali’s Agama Hindu
culture, has been shortened, taken out of its
religious context and performed on a daily
basis, to paying tourists groups. Loss of
authenticity. Tourists want souvenirs, arts,
crafts, and cultural manifestations, and in
many tourist destinations, craftsmen have
responded to the growing demand, and have
made changes in design of their products to
bring them more in line with the new
customers' tastes. While the interest shown by
tourists also contributes to the sense of self-
worth of the artists, and helps conserve a
cultural tradition, cultural erosion may occur
due to the commodification of cultural goods.
b.) Acculturation
 Acculturation theory states that when two
cultures come into contact for any length of
time, an exchange of ideas and products will
take place that, through time, produce varying
levels of convergence between the cultures;
that is they become similar. Acculturation may
occur when the contact is for a longer period
and is deeper.
 (Williams, 1998) However, this process will
not necessarily be balanced, as one culture is
likely to be stronger than the other. One of the
perceived negative effects of this acculturation
process is the reduction in the diversity of
global cultures. Ex: ‘McDonaldization’,
‘Coca-Colaization’.
c.) Loss of Authenticity / Staged Authenticity\
 All modern tourists were seeking real or
authentic experiences but tourism industry
inevitably creates inauthentic or staged
experiences and the tourist is happy with these
because he is incapable of recognizing these
pseudo-events as fake.
 Even though the tourists themselves think of
they have gained authentic experiences, this
can, however, still be judged as inauthentic, if
the toured objects are “in fact” false,
contrived, or staged authenticity.
 The covert staging by the hosts of sights, sites,
objects, and events, in order to make them
appear genuine to tourists.
d.) Culture clashes
 Because tourism involves movement of people
to different geographical locations, and
establishment of social relations between
 people who would otherwise not meet, cultural
clashes can take place as a result of
differences in cultures, ethnicity, religion,
values, lifestyles, languages, and levels of
prosperity.
 The result can be an overexploitation of the
social carrying capacity (social system inside
or around the destination) and cultural
carrying capacity (culture of the host
population) of the local community. The
attitude of local residents towards tourism
development may unfold through the stages of
euphoria, where visitors are very welcome,
through apathy, irritation and potentially
antagonism, when anti-tourist attitudes begin
growing among local people.
 Cultural clashes may further arise through:
Economic inequality. Many tourists come
from societies with different consumption
patterns and lifestyles than what is current at
the destination, seeking pleasure, spending
large amounts of money and sometimes
behaving in ways that even they would not
accept at home. One effect is that local people
that come in contact with these tourists may
develop a sort of copying behaviour, as they
want to live and behave in the same way.
Especially in less developed countries, there is
likely to be a growing distinction between the
'haves' and 'have-nots', which may increase
social and sometimes ethnic tensions.
e.) Cultural arrogance
 Cultural arrogance is defined as the continued
practice of following one’s own cultural rules
while disregarding the feelings and
perspectives of the host community. Tourist
behaviors that breaking known morale,
religious or social codes are example of
continuing arrogance on the part of the
visitors.
f.) Job level friction
 In developing countries especially, many jobs
occupied by local people in the tourist industry
are at a lower level, such as housemaids,
waiters, gardeners and other practical work,
while higher-paying and more prestigious
managerial jobs go to foreigners or
"urbanized" nationals. Due to a lack of
professional training, as well as to the
influence of hotel or restaurant chains at the
destination, people with the know-how needed
to perform higher level jobs are often recruited
from other countries. This may cause friction
and irritation and increases the gap between
the cultures. Even in cases where tourism
"works", in the sense that it improves local
economies and the earning power of local
individuals, it cannot solve all local social or
economic problems.
g.) Crime generation
 Crime rates typically increase with the growth
and urbanization of an area, and growth of
mass tourism is often accompanied by
increased crime. The presence of a large
number of tourists with a lot of money to
spend, and often carrying valuables such as
cameras and jewelry, increases the attraction
for criminals and brings with it activities like
robbery and drug dealing. Repression of these
phenomena often exacerbates social tension.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tourists staying in
beachside five-star resorts close to extremely
poor communities in hillside "favelas" are at
risk of pickpockets and stick-ups. Security
 agents, often armed with machine guns, stand
guard nearby in full sight, and face aggressive
reactions from locals who are often their
neighbours when they go home.
h.) Child labor
 Studies show that many jobs in the tourism
sector have working and employment
conditions that leave much to be desired: long
hours, unstable employment, low pay, little
training and poor chances for qualification. In
addition, recent developments in the travel and
tourism trade (liberalization, competition,
concentration, drop in travel fares, growth of
subcontracting) seem to reinforce the trend
towards more precarious, flexible employment
conditions. For many such jobs young children
are recruited, as they are cheap and flexible
employees.
i.) Prostitution and sex tourism
 The commercial sexual exploitation of
children and young women has paralleled the
growth of tourism in many parts of the world.
Though tourism is not the cause of sexual
exploitation, it provides easy access to it.
Tourism also brings consumerism to many
parts of the world previously denied access to
luxury commodities and services. The lure of
this easy money has caused many young
people, including children, to trade their
bodies in exchange for T-shirts, personal
stereos, bikes and even air tickets out of the
country. In other situations, children are
trafficked into the brothels on the margins of
the tourist areas and sold into sex slavery, very
rarely earning enough money to escape.
 The UN has defined child sex tourism as
"tourism organised with the primary purpose
of facilitating the effecting of a commercial
sexual relationship with a child". Certain
tourism destinations have become centres for
this illegal trade, frequented by pedophilia
and supported by networks of pimps, taxi
drivers, hotel staff, brothel owners,
entertainment establishments, and tour
operators who organize package sex tours. At
the international level, there are agents who
provide information about particular resorts
where such practices are commonplace.
Although sexual exploitation of children is a
worldwide phenomenon, it is more prevalent
in Asia than elsewhere.
j.) Changes in cultural products and festivals
 The production of cultural arts and activities
for tourists has often resulted in changes in
cultural products, cultural festivals,
ceremonies, and dances to make them more
palatable to visitors. Negative stereotypes Int’l
tourists and residents often have very different
cultural backgrounds and it develops negative
stereotypes of tourists from their direct
encounters.
k.) Irritation due to tourist behavior
 Tourists often, out of ignorance or
carelessness, fail to respect local customs and
moral values. When they do, they can bring
about irritation and stereotyping. They take a
quick snapshot and are gone, and by so acting
invade the local peoples' lives.
 In many Muslim countries, strict standards
exist regarding the appearance and behaviour
of Muslim women, who must carefully cover
themselves in public. Tourists in these
 countries often disregard or are unaware of about
these standards, ignoring the prevalent dress tourism industry
code, appearing half-dressed (by local due to increasing
numbers and
standards) in revealing shorts, skirts or even
external investment
bikinis, sunbathing topless at the beach or and infrastructure
consuming large quantities of alcohol openly.  Irritations are
Besides creating ill-will, this kind of behavior expressed verbally
and physically
can be an incentive for locals not to respect
 Politeness gives
their own traditions and religion anymore, ANTAGONISM
way to antagonism
leading to tensions within the local  Tourists seen as
community. the cause of the
problem

IRRIDEX

Doxey’s Irritation Index Module 4: Environmental Impacts, Mitigation,

and Sustainable Practices
 Doxey's Irritation Index, or “Irridex”, suggests
that as the number of visitors increases at a What are Environmental Impacts?
given destination, residents pass through a
Environmental Impacts are those which affects the
sequence of emotions and reactions.
natural and physical environment. In terms of the
DESTINATION environment, tourism can be the reason for
LEVEL OF
RESPONSES TO protecting natural areas, can raise awareness of
IRRITATION
TOURISM environmental issues and, as we will see later in
 Associated with
this section, can encourage tourists to adopt pro-
the initial phase of
the development of environmental behavior. Unfortunately, tourism
the destination also has the potential to harm the environment by
EUPHORIA  Sense of contributing to air and water pollution, littering,
excitement and
and overuse of natural resources.
anticipation
 Informal contact Causes of Environmental Impacts
with tourists
 More formal  The quality of the environment, both natural
contact with tourists and man-made, is essential to tourism.
APATHY  Tourism seen as
However, tourism’s relationship with the
a source of income
environment is complex and many activities
and investment
can have adverse environmental effects if
IRRITATION /  Residents begin
ANNOYANCE to show misgivings careful tourism planning and management is
 not undertaken. It is ironic really, that tourism
often destroys the very things that it relies on.
 Many of the negative environmental impacts
that result from tourism are linked with the
construction of general infrastructure such as
roads and airports, and of tourism facilities,
including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops,
golf courses and marinas. The negative
impacts of tourism development can gradually
destroy the environmental resources on which
it depends.
Positive and Negative Environmental Impacts
Positive Environmental Impacts
 Protection of selected natural environments or
prevention of further ecological decline
Preservation of historic buildings and monuments
 Improvement of the area’s appearance (visual and
aesthetic)
 A "clean" industry (no smokestacks)
Negative Environmental Impacts
 Pollution (air, water, noise, solid waste, and
visual)
 Loss of natural landscape and agricultural lands to
tourism development
 Loss of open space
 Destruction of flora and fauna (including
collection of plants, animals, rocks, coral, or
artifacts by or for tourists)
 Degradation of landscape, historic sites, and
monuments
 Disruption of wildlife breeding cycles and
behaviors
 Water shortages
 Introduction of exotic species
Mitigation Measures
a.) Minimizing Carbon Footprint
 According to a study by the TUI Group (n.d.), the
tourism industry contributes about 5% of global
carbon emissions. Half of this footprint is caused
by the aviation sector.
 A number of alternative fuels are available.
Alternative fuels emit less carbon because they are
cleaner burning than diesel or gasoline.
 Biodiesel is produced by vegetable oils and animal
fats. Biodiesel can be used in diesel engines with
no need for major modifications. Ethanol is made
from plant materials. Gasoline can be blended with
between 10% and 85% ethanol. Propane or
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a by-product of
natural gas processing and crude oil refining.
 Other renewable sources of energy are wind and
sunlight. Windfarm or wind park uses several wind
turbines in the same location to produce electricity.
Bangui Wind Farm in Ilocos Norte is the first
power-generating windfarm in Southeast Asia.
b.) Air Pollution Mitigation
 When a place succeeds as a tourist destination,
it is inevitable that there will be increased
vehicular traffic. Vehicles emit air pollutants.
Two ways to mitigate this problem are:
 To set as far back facilities away from
the road
 To plant trees which will serve as buffer
between the tourism facilities and the
road. The trees will not block away air
pollution but noise.
c.) Wastewater-saving Technologies
 Tourism is a water intensive industry, particularly
in the context of golf course and luxury hotels that
have bathtubs installed as standard hotel amenities.
 A low-flush toilet (or low-flow toilet or high-
efficiency toilet) uses only 6 liters or less per flush
compared to 13.2 liters for previous toilets.
d.) Solid Waste Reduction
 According to the UNEP and GTZ (2003),  To minimize problems related to noise, zoning is
accommodation establishments generate these very important, two zones adjacent to each other
types of solid waste: newspapers and magazines, must have compatible uses. Buffer areas for non-
cleansing agent containers used by housekeeping noise sensitive use between two zones can reduce
and laundry services, flowers in guestroom and noise impacts to the residents. A buffer may be a
public areas, plastic shampoo and cosmetic soap park or a parking building. Another way to deal
bottles, old towels, linens, bedsheets, furniture, structure that may encounter or produce noise. For
paint, varnishes, used fittings, fixtures and example, schools, which require silent
plumbing supplies, refrigerators, and other bulk surroundings, may be relocated in non-populated
items. areas.
 The first step in waste minimization is to prevent
its production in the first place. Waste prevention
could be in the form of sorting/recycling of glass,
aluminum, paper and plastics from guest rooms;
providing bulk dispensers for soap, shampoo, and
lotion; returning laundered clothes to guests in
reusable cloth bags/baskets; offering rarely used
items such as sewing kits by request only;
instructing housekeeping not to replace half-used
rolls of toilet paper/tissue boxes; and leaving
replacements for guests to use if required.
 For food and beverage service, purchasing
guidelines can be established to encourage the use
of durable equipment and high-quality, reusable
linens, utensils, dishes, and tableware.
 Cloth roll towels or hand dryers could be installed
to lessen the use of paper products.
 For administrative offices, bulletin boards and e-
mail could be utilized to send memos to
employees.
 Flowers from guest rooms should be collected for
composting if needed, or donated to local
hospitals, schools, or charitable organization.
 If prevention is not possible, the next step is
recycling. Recycling turns used materials into
valuable resources and diverts waste from
landfills, besides saving energy and water and
reducing air pollution.
e.) Noise Reduction
 According to the World Health Organization,
ambient sound levels should not exceed 30
decibels (dBA) for sound sleep. However, in
places close to airports, the noise from aircraft
taking off and landing exceeds 100 dBA. NASA,
together with aircraft engine manufacturers, has
designed engines with larger fans, which turn at a
slower top speed, reducing noise levels and fuel
consumption.