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The three main impacts are:
Negative impacts occur when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's capacity to cope with this use (sometimes called carrying capacity). This especially occurs with mass tourism and the development related to it, causing enormous pressure on the area and leading impacts such as soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires. Furthermore it puts a strain on water resources, and it can lead to competition with local population for the use of critical resources.
Water, and especially freshwater, is one of the most critical resources. There
is an overuse of these resources by the tourism industry for hotels, swimming
pools, golf courses and, personal use of water for tourists. This overuse can
result in various problems such as drought, exhaustion of groundwater and 
groundwater becoming brackish.
In regions like the Mediterranean, the issue of water scarcity is of particular
concern. Because of the hot climate and the tendency of tourists to consume
more water on their holiday then they do at home. This is almost the double
of what the habitants of an average Spanish city use.
Maintenance of golf courses is another activity causing depletion due to overuse of fresh water resources. In recent years golf tourism has increased in popularity and the number of golf courses have grown rapidly.
· Gold course maintenance requires an enormous amount of water every day and excessive extraction of water results in:
o Water scarcity
o Saline intrusion
·Golf resorts are more and more situated in or nearby protected areas or areas where resources are limited.
Important land resources are minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife. Increased construction activities (hotels, tourism attractions, roads, water supplies and restaurants) have increased the pressure on these resources.
Tourism development can lead to sand mining, beach and sand dune erosion, soil erosion and urbanization. Road and airport construction can for example lead to land degradation, loss of wildlife habitats and deterioration of scenery.
Another examples are forests, which experience the negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation resulting from fuel wood collection by mountaineers.
One trekking tourist in Nepal can use four to five kilograms of wood a day. Also clearing of forests for the construction of ski areas is largely contributing to deforestation. Furthermore, mangrove forests, which are essential for the local fishery sector, are threatened in order to give the tourists access to the coast.
Tourism and recreational activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling and sport fishing can damage marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, and subsequent impacts on coastal protection and fisheries. Furthermore, coastal tourism can impact coral and marine environments through pollution, siltation and changes in salinity due to wastewater.
Tourism can create a great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that might be in short supply. Due to the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more inhabitants in the high season as in the low season and to meet the high demands tourist often have (proper heating, hot water, etc.) a high claim is placed upon these resources.
The forms of pollution resulting form tourism are various: air and noise, solid waste and littering, sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.
Because of an increasing amount of tourists and their increasing mobility, traffic (air, road, and rail) is continuously increasing as well.
· Air contamination as a result of tourist transportation impacts on a global and local levels, especially from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions related to energy use in transportation, air-conditioning and heating of tourist facilities.
An example of air pollution is that, especially in very hot or cold destinations, busses often leave their motor running while the tourist go out for an excursion because tourists want to have an nice air-conditioned bus when the outside temperature is around 30°C.
· Noise pollution from airplanes, cars and busses causes distress to the wildlife and habitat. When pristine areas are entered with tourist busses, they not only leave behind toxic gasses but also cause noise pollution as well by disturbing the wildlife.
Basically, in areas with high concentrations of tourist activities, e.g. appealing
natural attractions, littering forms a problem and can be a major despoiler
of the natural environment - rivers, scenic areas, and roadsides.
Cruise ships in the Caribbean are an example of this. In 1995, it is estimated
that cruise ships in Caribbean produced more than 70,000 tons of waste each
year.
Solid waste and littering can degrade the physical appearance of the water surface
and cause the death of marine animals.
In mountain areas, trekking tourists cause a great deal of waste as well. Tourists on expedition leave behind their garbage. Garbage, oxygen cylinders and even complete camping equipment are left behind. Some trails frequently visited by tourists have been nicknamed "Coca-Cola trail" and "Toiletpaper trail"
Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities has in many occasions
led to sewage pollution. Wastewater has polluted the surrounding sea and lakes,
damaging the flora and fauna.
Sewage runoff causes serious damage to coral reefs because it stimulates the growth of algae, which cover the filter-feeding corals, hindering their ability to survive.
The environment is additionally impacted through oil spills and discharges of
toxic chemicals by recreational cruising..
Too often tourism fails to integrate its structures with the natural architectural features of the surroundings. Large dominant resorts of varying design are out of place in any natural environment and may contrast seriously with the indigenous structural design.
Absence of land-use planning and building regulations in many destinations have facilitated sprawling developments along coastlines, valleys and scenic routes.
Generally preferred "attractive landscape sites", such as, sandy beaches, lakes, riversides, and mountain tops and slopes, are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems. Typically, physical impacts include the degradation of such ecosystems.
An ecosystem is typified as a geographic area including all the living organisms (people, plants, animals, and microorganisms), their physical surroundings (such as soil, water, and air), and the natural cycles that sustain them.
The ecosystems most threatened with degradation are the ecologically fragile areas, such as rain forests, wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. Great threats and pressure on the carrying capacity is placed upon these ecosystems, seeing that such places habitually have a high tourism attraction and tourism developments often take place in or close to these pristine areas.
·Trampling
Tourists using the same trail over and over again trample the vegetation eventually
causing loss of biodiversity.
·Intrusion of ecosystems by construction developments
or tourist activities
Habitat is also degraded by tourism leisure activities. For example, deer watching
or hunting causes stress for the animals and alters their natural behavior when
tourist come to close.
· Anchoring, boating and shore side activities
In marine areas (around coastal waters, reefs, beach and shoreline, offshore
waters, uplands and lagoons) many tourist activities occur just in or around
fragile ecosystems. Tourists gathering souvenirs from the coral reef, anchoring,
sport fishing and scuba diving, yachting, and cruising are activities that can
cause direct degradation of marine ecosystems.
·Deforestation and intensified
or unsustainable use of land
Due to lack of more suitable sites for construction of tourism facilities and
infrastructure, coastal wetlands are often drained and filled. The result is
severe disturbance and erosion of the local ecosystem, even destruction in the
long term.
·Introduction of exogenous species (insects, cultivated plants and diseases local populations are not used to) can result from tourism.
| From: UNEP Tourism and Environment Initiative |