Higher incomes ad paid holidays allow great numbers of people to travel for pure pleasure and recreation (McLaren 9) .
The world tourism organization claims that tourism is currently the worlds largest industry. With annual revenues of almost 3 trillion, its economic impact is second to that of only the weapons industry (Mclaren 13).
You and I are tourists, even if we are traveling to learn about or change the world. Unless we are willing to stay home, reject the transportation systems, communication lines, and technologies and the tremendous amount of resources we consume each time we travel, we need to understand not only our participation in the promotion of the global tourism industry, but also its importance and potential as a tool for change. .
Good.
There is no doubt that the direct and indirect benefits of tourism have been impressive and far-reaching in the case of Greater Yellowstone. In fact, Joseph Sax, author of Mountains Without Handrails, cites evidence that the impetus for the establishment for of Yellowstone and several other national parks came from the lobbying efforts of early tourism promoters. Sax notes that while the popular account of the founding of Yellowstone "holds that the idea for the park was conceived by one of the early exploratory parties," in fact , "an agency for the Northern Pacific Railroad company, passed on to Washington a suggestion. "let Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever" (Glick 63). .
Tourism can raise awareness of and action for the global nature of problems like poverty, pollution, and cultural erosion.
It is possible to maximize the positive economice , environmental, and social impacts of tourism, and reduce or eliminate the negative. Tourism projects, especially those with a "nature tourism" orientation, are becoming a standard component of efforts to establish sustainable economies in areas adjacent to protected wildlands around the world.