Benefits and problems of tourism
Tourism can bring both benefits and problems to an area.

Positive effects of tourism include:

• Creates employment opportunities for local people
• Promotes cultural awareness and can help preserve local culture and
  traditions e.g. Masai Mara in Kenya
• Income from tourists can be used to develop local infrastructure and
  services e.g. new roads and airports. In LEDCs  money can be spent on developing access to education, clean water and sanitation
• Foreign currency can help local people
• Natural features that attract tourists in the first place can be
  protected using income from tourism

The negative effects of tourism include:

• Tourism can have a negative environmental impact. This is at a range
  of scales. The increase in air travel has contributed towards
  increased carbon dioxide emissions. On a local level natural features
  that attract tourists are themselves under threat due to human
  actions
• often local people are employed in low skill, poorly paid work in
  unsatisfactory working conditions
• travel agents, airline companies and hoteliers benefit more than local companies when holidays are booked to destinations in LEDCs companies based in MEDCs set up luxury hotels in LEDCs. The profits usually return to MEDCs. They also create more competition for locally run guest houses
• destroys local culture and traditions as areas becomes more westernised