Examination of the natural impacts to the development of the tourist destination: Lanzarote

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Tourism, grade: Merit, Bournemouth University, language: English, abstract: There are different impacts that the development of tourism has on a destination, for instance, natural or environmental, economical, political or socio-cultural. The environment is one of the most important issues for the development and promotion of a tourist destination, and also the most fragile (Franco and Garcia, 1999). Due to the huge influx of tourists known as 'mass tourism', the impacts of the development can be positive and negative. Positive economic impacts are the improvement of infrastructure and the attraction of more investment in the area; negative the increase of prices and of income inequality. Positive socio-cultural impacts enhance the increase of cultural exchange and restoration of buildings; negative socio-cultural like immigration and assumption of the stereotypes of tourist; and finally, negative environmental impacts like noise, pollution, destruction of the natural environment, huge buildings in natural areas, overuse of water, problems with the treatment of wastes, water pollution by liquid waste, destruction of historical monuments, air pollution from the use of vehicles and heating, changes in the landscape to promote activities entertainment and sports such as golf; etc. But not only mass tourism affects on the environment, alternative tourism can also make an unsustainable use of resources (Garcia and Sancho, 1999). This essay will examine critically the natural impacts that the development of tourism has upon the destination Lanzarote. This Spanish island is famous for its unique volcanic landscape and its biosphere reserve. The island of Lanzarote is within the 10 most popular islands of Europe (Trivago, 2009) and personally one of my favourite travel destinations due to family reasons. (1606 words)