Private companies and countries have developed aggressive marketing
practices to attract international tourists and as a result problems with over- exploitation tourism have ensued. A) Environmental impact As soon as tourism activity takes place, the environment is inevitably changed or modified either to facilitate tourism or during the tourism process. Many countries offer their products to international tourists regardless of the damage it can cause to the environment. International tourism has been particularly violent with the environment in various countries: urbanization of natural areas or integrated into the landscape, overuse of water resources, problems related to the treatment of waste, water pollution from runoff, destruction of historical monuments, air pollution, landscape changes to promote leisure activities such as golf. These processes are more incisive in southern countries, where environmental regulations are often more lax to promote the tourism industry and natural resources are easy prey to speculation. As an example we can point to the ecological crisis that is hurting the coast of Quintana Roo in Mexico, due to the excessive development of resorts like Cancun or Cozumel, such as the impact of tourism on the wildlife of Africa or the pollution of water in the Mediterranean. B) Ethical problems There are many ethical issues affecting international tourism, starting with the types of tourism that are offered. Many underdevelopment countries, offer unsustainable tourism with the country life. In countries like Bath or Bali, the pools are full of water and the golf courses are watered every day, while the local fields are dry and the native people drink water from wells. Women in parts of India walk miles to get water because groundwater is diverted to hotels. Farmers in Indonesia have been jailed for protesting the loss of their land for tourism development, and a protest in Mexico for the construction of a golf course on farmland led to clashes between farmers and authorities. International tourism also causes effects on the local population as the case of Burma. In recent years, the government has forced thousands of Burmese to work in tourism projects and millions more have been forced from their homes to make way for highways, development of hotels and other tourism-related infrastructure. The abuse of human rights in Burma is related to the development of international tourism. Another striking case about the ethical issues is the animal rights. Some African countries offer animal hunting tourism, for example South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana are four countries that have not banned the hunting of elephants. The activity is a source of income for these countries and is strictly regulated in areas where the elephant population is not particularly at risk. Developed countries also have ethical problems in tourism promotion. Tour operators from different countries promote tourism by advocating alcohol and sex. A very famous in this regard is the town of Salou in Spain, where they celebrate the Saloufest that brings together young people from around the world attracted by the offer of alcohol. C) Socio-cultural issues The impacts that tourism has on the social and cultural lives of communities is one of the most important issues debated by tourism researchers. The socio- cultural consequences of tourist activity have the potential to be more damaging in the long term. This is a particularly in the developing nations of the world, many of whose strong cultural identities and traditions are coming to light through tourist travel for the first time in their history. Sadly, the same concern for such serious consequences is seldom voiced in a concrete fashion by tourist industry operators, although many do now include mentions of tourisms negative social and cultural effects in their policies and mission statements. International tourism also causes socio-cultural issues: Loss of native language, the massive influx of tourists to a destination can alter the native language. Loss of traditional industries, traditional industries can be lost when workers are tempted by jobs in tourism. Alterations to religious codes, many international tourists are unaware of the religion of the country they visit. This causes conflicts between tourists and native people Rise in social problems, tourism can be a catalyst for different social problems. Tourism can accelerates and exacerbates many social ills.