Tourism During

COVID-19
By Aris Woodyear
Context

The first reported case of the pandemic was discovered in Wuhan, China in early December of
2019. The first reported case in the US occurred in mid-January in 2020. By mid-March, less
than a month later, all 50 states reported infections and the United Nations World Health
Organization (WHO) declared it a “pandemic”. Today there are more than 5.5 million cases
worldwide. This number is definitely believed to be higher, as certain states, like New York, do
not even have enough testing kits to test the affected population. Furthermore, China, it is
reported, has not been completely transparent about its total number of cases and deaths.
Pros of Tourism

● Awareness creation and sensitization about sustainable tourism options

○ Tourism has brought about awareness in conservation, protection, and maintenance of
exotic environments (endangered species)
● The adoption and implementation of regulatory measures
○ Control of the visiting number of tourists, identifying and limiting accessibility within
protected areas, and setting up restrictive legislation directed at conserving the
environment
● Development of infrastructure
○ Improvement of roads, electrical grid systems, telecommunications as well as social
amenities are some of the benefits that have been realized around communities within
tourist destination sites
● Preservation of historic monuments and cultural heritage
○ Preserve historical monuments as it becomes a tourist attraction
Cons of Tourism

● Degradation and loss of natural ecosystems and aesthetic landscape

○ Improper development of infrastructures such as extensive paving and sand and beach mining,
unplanned construction of resorts, hotels, roads, airports, power plants, reservoirs, and waste
disposal systems brought about as a result of tourist visits has led to congestion within areas
that are fragile and sensitive like natural habitats for wildlife, wetlands, coral reefs, lakes, forests,
minerals, oceans, fertile soils, and riverbed basins
● Leads to various types of environmental pollution
○ Environmental pollution including air, land, water, and soil. Some tourists, for example, will litter
and leave behind garbage or waste like plastic wrappers and cigarette butts in the surrounding
environment thereby causing land pollution, plastic pollution, and cigarette pollution respectively
○ Water pollution due to recreational boating activities has equally been reported. According to
estimates by Ocean Conservancy, for instance, records an estimate of 70,000 tons of
wastewater produced per year from cruise ships in the Caribbean, which affects the natural
habitat of marine life
● Depletion of natural resources and putting a strain on the locally existing ones
○ Leads to an overuse of the available local resources causing a strain on the environment
● A contributor to global warming and climate change
○ Tourism accounts for over 55% of traffic movement globally and for this reason, it contributes an
estimated 3% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. As the number of tourists grows over the
years, the level of emission will rise and climate change is also expected to worsen
 COVID-19 Impact - Pros

● Slashed greenhouse emissions

○ a reduction in factory and road traffic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and related ozone (O3) formation, and particulate matter (PM)
○ During the same period, global air traffic dropped by 60%

The only positive thing, regarding the environment, that has resulted because of the pandemic
is that everyone is travelling less. This helps these environments because they have a chance to
rebuild without the constant tourism and the negatives it produces for these environment.
COVID-19 Impact - Cons
● Local waste problems have emerged as many municipalities have suspended their recycling
activities over fears of virus propagation in recycling centers
● Food retailers have resumed using plastic bags at checkout points citing health concerns over
consumers’ reuse of paper bags
○ Many consumers have increased their consumption of take-away food delivered with
single-use packaging
● Many export-oriented producers produce volumes far too large for output to be absorbed in local
markets, and thus organic waste levels have mounted substantially
● Ecosystems at risk
○ In many countries, environmental protection workers at national parks and land and
marine conservation zones are required to stay at home in lockdown, leaving these areas
unmonitored. Their absence has resulted in a rise of illegal deforestation, fishing and
wildlife hunting
○ Stoppage of ecotourism activity has also left natural ecosystems at risk of illegal
harvesting and encroachment
■ Rising unemployment caused by the crisis may lead many households to harvest
resources from fragile ecosystems unsustainably as they seek alternative means to
provide their households with food and income
Conclusion

Tourism, for a lot of places, is the main way of generating revenue which can then be put back
into the environment. However, most of the time, the environment which is trying to be kept
conserved often ends up getting ruined because of the over-tourism problem, which leads to
problems like over pollution. The current pandemic, COVID-19, has caused air pollution to drop
drastically, something which is heavily needed as climate change becomes a prevalent problem.
The pandemic has also caused a lot of downsides to these environments who now have no on to
retain them, and they may even be getting illegally harvested out of desperation. It is important
to protect this planet since it is the only one we have. A lot of extra regulations have to be put to
cut down carbon emission when lockdown is lifted and certain rules and laws have to be places
to keep these endangered environments safe and thriving.
Bibliography

https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=2333

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/how-tourism-affects-environment
.php

https://www.statista.com/chart/21414/record-drop-in-carbon-emissions/