A) Read the passage and answer these general questions on it before studying it in detail.

1. The title of the passage is part of an English proverb. What does it mean’?

2. Which of the following would also be an appropriate title?

a. Tourism destroys the environment and local tradition.

b. Bad planning drives tourists away from Third World countries.

c. Tourism can destroy the very things that sustain it.

Killing the Goose…

Tourism has grown so quickly during the last quarter of a century that it has become a problem in both industrialized and developing nations. And it is only during the 1980s that the problems of poor or non-existent planning have been seen and tackled. In short, the problem is this: tourism as it developed in the sixties and seventies is self-destructive. It destroys the very things tourists come for. It is a classic case of killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

In Europe the damage is largely environmental: polluted beaches and lakes, erosion of mountain paths, traffic jams, air pollution and unsympathetic architecture. But there has also been a negativeimpact on, the cultural and social life of communities. Some of the best-known and obviously visible examples are certain Mediterranean resorts. Previously quiet fishing villages have been overrun with poorly planned and shoddily built hotels and apartment blocks, which are now- just twenty years later- no longer acceptable or fashionable. The lifestyle of the locals has changed beyond recognition, and although many are richer, they are not necessarily happier as a result.

Environmental damage caused by tourism manifests itself in many different ways. Skiing now a major winter sport in Europe is causing now many problems in the Alps. Hundreds of square kilometers of forest have been destroyed to make way for ski pistes, cable cars, buildings and access roads. Pollution of the Mediterranean caused at least partly by untreated sewage from tourist developments makes it a potential health hazard in some areas. This undermines the very notion of a beach holiday. And in Hungary tourism and industrial development around the shores of lake Balaton have rendered the lake biologically dead. Fishing is one activity not longer on the tourist agenda.

The potential for damage in the Third World is infinitely greater than that in the industrialized nations. Environmental issues are rarely high on the priority lists of Third World governments, many of which have viewed tourism as a panacea for economic ills-often withdisastrousresults.

Tourism seems on the face of it to be big earner of foreign currency, but the effective economic gains by the host nations are usually rather less than might be expected. This is particularly true of mass package tours organized from industrialized countries. Valuable foreign exchange is lost by importing foreign foods, drinks and other luxury goods. This ‘leakage’ of foreign exchange is very difficult to quantify, but can mean that the host nation ends up worth practically no gain. An analysis of 1980 data by the World Bank showed that on average only 9,1% of all gross foreign exchange earnings were retained in the host country when typical ‘leakage’ was taken into account.

It is the change in traditional lifestyles that alarms many anthropologists. Even small-scale development of tourism in some societies can have an adverse effect on the local population. The young are keen to adopt the ‘Coca-cola culture’ and leave behind their rural homes and traditional lifestyle. Yet, it is often these traditional life-styles, arts, crafts and culture which tourists come to see.

In some cases tourism can help a country rediscover and focus on its own heritage, and can revitalize indigenous arts and craftsby providing new markets. But ‘culture’ in this sense becomes divorcedfrom its true role as part of everyday life. At its worst, it can become fossilized and adapted to suit the needs of tourists. As one ex-president of the Hawaiian Visitor’s Bureau confessed: ‘Since real culture events do not always occur on schedule, we invent pseudo-events for the tour operators who must have a dance of the vestal virgins precisely at 10 a.m. every Wednesday.’ The same sort of thing can be seen on tours to more off-beat destinations like Borneo and Papua New Guinea. Tourists generally learn very little about what real everyday life is like.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1379