According to the statistics of Union Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), revenue of global tourism was 1,100 billion US Dollars in 2008 and 1,200 billion US Dollars in 2011. Vietnam tourism‘s revenue reached nearly 8 billion US Dollars in 2012, rising by 23% compared with 2011. “Nowadays, foreign currency income coming from tourism on the world achieves fourth rank, below fuel, chemical and car industry”, UNWTO stated. So, I agree with the opinion that tourism is becoming increasingly important as a source of revenue to many countries. How about tourism’s disadvantages? The first disadvantage is negative effect on the environment. Tourism affects the environment negatively by leaving litter, building projects servicing tourists…or even destroying natural environment to build tourist buildings. To put Vietnam into context; that Hontre island was destroyed to build Vinpearland park and resort ruined natural landscape and environment of Nha Trang Bay; Huong pagoda’s environment is becoming stuffier and stuffier because there are many visitors and performances of logistic services; there are reports on passive effects of tourist activities to Ha Long Bay’s environment, according to them, Ha Long Bay’s environment is becoming worse because of fumes of boats, litter from tourists, building tourist projects… The second disadvantage is negative effect on native cultures. Tourism affects the life of native people, changes their ordinary life. We can easily see it in popular tourist places such as Ho Chi Minh city, Nha Trang city, Hoi An Town, Sapa town… Especially Sapa town, ethnic minority people’s traditional cultures (Thai, H’mong…) were mixed as we saw ethnic minority people with non-traditional costumes on, children spoke pidgin English more fluently than their native languages…. Tourism contributes to downgrade historical and cultural relics. It is easy to understand because these hundreds, thousands-year-old relics are suffering too many visitors each year. However, the matter is if the above disadvantages are overlooked? I think they are not overlooked, it means that tourism’s advantages and disadvantages are completely aware. There are annual reports about tourism’s effects on the nation’s economy, culture and environment. Importantly, attempts are being made to prevent and minimize the disadvantages of tourism. In current years, we can see the development of ecotourism which is tourists not only damage the environment as little as possible but also contribute to exchange culture between local people and visitors. Besides, there are many cases that tourists from developed countries help and advise natives to protect their environment.
