Death by Tourism
DEATH BY TOURISM
By Arnold Baker
At the entrance to one of the ruined temples in Petra in Jordan, there is an inscription chiselled into the soft red rock. It looks as if it has been there for centuries. It could have been carved by one of Herod’s soldiers, when they were imprisoned in the town in 40BC. However, closer inspection reveals that it is not ancient at all. It reads:
Shane and Wendy from Sydney were here. June 16th 1996
The ruins of Petra were discovered in 1810 by a Swiss explorer, and a recent report has just concluded that they are in grave danger of being destroyed by the unstoppable march of tourism. More than 4,000 tourists a day tramp through Petra’s rocky tombs. They wear away the red sandstone to a powder (and occasionally) scratch their names on the rock.
It is not just Petra that is in danger of destruction. More than 600 million tourists a year now travel round the globe, and vast numbers of them want to visit the world’s most treasured sites: the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, the national parks of Kenya. The tourist industry will soon be the largest industry in the world, and it has barely reached its 50th birthday. Many places that were once remote are now part of package tours. Will nothing put a stop to the growth of tourism?
A Brief History of Tourism
The Romans probably started it with their holiday villas in the Bay of Naples. In the 19th century, the education of the rich and privileged few was not complete without a Grand Tour of Europe’s cultural sites.
Things started to change for ordinary people in 1845 when Thomas Cook, of Leicester, England organised their first package tour. By 1939, an estimated one million people were travelling abroad for holidays each year.
It is in the last three decades of the 20th century that tourism finally took off. Tourism has been industrialised: landscapes, cultures, cuisines and religions are consumer goods displayed in travel brochures.
Tourism Today
The effects of tourism
By Arnold Baker
At the entrance to one of the ruined temples in Petra in Jordan, there is an inscription chiselled into the soft red rock. It looks as if it has been there for centuries. It could have been carved by one of Herod’s soldiers, when they were imprisoned in the town in 40BC. However, closer inspection reveals that it is not ancient at all. It reads:
Shane and Wendy from Sydney were here. June 16th 1996
The ruins of Petra were discovered in 1810 by a Swiss explorer, and a recent report has just concluded that they are in grave danger of being destroyed by the unstoppable march of tourism. More than 4,000 tourists a day tramp through Petra’s rocky tombs. They wear away the red sandstone to a powder (and occasionally) scratch their names on the rock.
It is not just Petra that is in danger of destruction. More than 600 million tourists a year now travel round the globe, and vast numbers of them want to visit the world’s most treasured sites: the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, the national parks of Kenya. The tourist industry will soon be the largest industry in the world, and it has barely reached its 50th birthday. Many places that were once remote are now part of package tours. Will nothing put a stop to the growth of tourism?
A Brief History of Tourism
The Romans probably started it with their holiday villas in the Bay of Naples. In the 19th century, the education of the rich and privileged few was not complete without a Grand Tour of Europe’s cultural sites.
Things started to change for ordinary people in 1845 when Thomas Cook, of Leicester, England organised their first package tour. By 1939, an estimated one million people were travelling abroad for holidays each year.
It is in the last three decades of the 20th century that tourism finally took off. Tourism has been industrialised: landscapes, cultures, cuisines and religions are consumer goods displayed in travel brochures.
Tourism Today
The effects of tourism