Stegeman 1

Takoiahi Stegeman

Mrs. Carlisle

AICE English General Paper

20 February 2023

Prompt 4: Assess the extent to which tourism is destroying the culture and/or

environment of places visited.

In recent times, tourism is becoming more and more popular in not only places in

America like Florida, Los Angeles, and California, but also in other parts of the world like

France, Asia, and Africa. As the world changes, tourism has shown us that an area's beauty,

culture, and traditions are being shown off in many different ways. However, tourism is

destroying agriculture because of online influence. On the contrary, traditions and cultural

practices are beginning to see the light more often because of the tourism industry.

To begin with, online influence and spread in the fashion industry and media have been a

big help in cultures being able to thrive. Fashion is a part of any culture, religion, etc. Fashion is

a way of expressing your culture or religious beliefs. Places like France, New York, and Japan

have a certain style of fashion that is unique to them. Japanese people are known for wearing a

kimono “which are generally made of silk, have large sleeves and reach from the shoulders down

to the heels. They are tied with a wide belt called an obi” (paragraph 8). Media is a big help in

getting help for people in Africa. Media like social media, the web, the news, etc, are many ways

that areas like Africa can get the word out by one person going and visiting then going online
 Stegeman 2

and spreading the word about what they helped with and saw, and then more people finding out

and wanting to help out in any way possible. In fact, “Manila is one of the many places where

social media is HUGE. As of 2021, the Philippines has the highest social media usage rate in the

world and their internet use is 60% higher than the average, at 11 hours a day!” (paragraph 6,

Digital Marketing Institute). The spread and influence of people online can help areas around the

world get better and/or spread their fashion.

Additionally, cultures all around the world in places like America, Asia, and Africa are

beginning to see the light more often because of tourism. In particular, religious beliefs like

Islam in Asia are getting better because of the tourism industry. This is because people want to

connect with other religions and their cultures around the world so they can get more familiar

with other cultures and their religions. To further pursue this point, more and more people in

America are discovering other religions in cultures other than the very popular religion

Christianity. People learning religion in cultures are helping those cultures to grow and get their

religion out there in the world. But also letting more people join and learn more. Cultures are

beginning to spread throughout the world and get bigger and bigger because of tourism.

In the same way, tourism in places like America can hurt the country's culture and

environment. Specifically, animals and places in America like staircases, beaches, forests, etc.

Some countries in America like Big Major Cay Island in the Bahamas, Southern Alaska, and

places where movies were made like Vancouver, Forks, Washington, New York City, etc have
 Stegeman 3

been made big tourism areas so in return they are destroying the areas and ultimately crowding

areas that aren't normally crowded. The pigs in the Bahamas might be cute but feeding the pigs

too many treats over time is ultimately killing them and movies like the Joker and Twilight are

having places in the movies become overlooked. For example, “New York City has always been

a draw. But now even ordinary things like staircases are drawing crowds, thanks to movies like

the Joker" and “Another destination that's struggled with crowds following a pop culture moment

is Forks, Washington where the "Twilight" books and films are set” (first and second headlines,

Insider). Already popular areas like New York are becoming even more popular because of

movies that are ultimately hurting the country's culture and environment.

Yet another reason why tourism is destroying the environment is because of

environmental destruction like disasters and deforestation. Tourism is killing natural wildlife

because disasters are happening more often to the wildlife because of people coming in and

destroying them and people are destroying the beaches in Hawaii and North Carolina. According

to the article, 9 beautiful beaches humans have ruined, states that “Kamilo Beach is one of the

dirtiest places on the planet because some of the waste is carried from as far away as Japan and

Russia. One reasons this beach is so polluted is its proximity to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

(Sarah Schmalbruch, updated 2018, first and fifth subheading). Buildings being built are

destroying our environment. To further pursue this point, buildings being built are causing

deforestation, and deforestation alone is killing agriculture which is a part of some cultures like

how Nigeria is the country that is most affected by deforestation. Forests being killed

(deforestation) is causing cultures to have little to nothing left because some parts of cultures are
 Stegeman 4

agricultural so taking away the agriculture from those cultures is taking away most or part of

those cultures. Agriculture is a part of cultures so getting rid of forests is ruining cultures and the

planet.

All in all, tourism is destroying agriculture because of online influence, disasters, and

people. On the contrary, traditions and cultural practices are beginning to see the light more often

because of the tourism industry. Beaches are being destroyed by disasters, fashion is beginning

to thrive more, and cultures are being seen more often but cultures are being hurt in return.

Although some people believe that tourism is destroying the culture and/or the environment of

places visited, compared to the supporting evidence, this argument is faulty because tourism

helps more people learn about different cultures in many areas. One culture called “the Bajau

lived in the waters off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines for centuries and

there are some Bajau communities that are still fully nomadic and live year-round in lepa lepa

houseboats” (google), people learning about cultures just like this culture that aren't very popular

can grow because of people learning about them.

Works Cited

https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/housing/index.html#:~:text=The%20traditional%20dress

%20of%20Japan,wide%20belt%20called%20an%20obi. Body paragraph 1

 Stegeman 5

https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/social-media-what-countries-use-it-most-and-what-

are-they-using Body paragraph 1

https://www.insider.com/north-america-overtourism-travel-decade-2020-1#cabo-san-lucas-in-

mexico-is-a-tropical-locale-thats-long-been-a-tourist-draw-and-the-effects-are-adding-up-

7 Body paragraph 3

https://www.insider.com/beaches-threatened-by-humans-tourism-2018-6 Body paragraph 4