Tourism Impacts and EU Transport & Trade Policies

Consequences of Tourism

Demographic Impacts

Tourism attracts people seeking employment in the sector, which can halt outward migration from certain developing areas. Conversely, it can lead to excessive population congestion during peak times, potentially saturating local services.

Economic Impacts

Tourism can generate significant benefits:

• Creates employment opportunities.
• Provides high yields.
• Fosters the development of other economic activities.

However, there are potential drawbacks:

• Jobs created may be precarious and temporary.
• Revenue often flows back to the origin areas of tourist businesses rather than staying local.
• Goods consumed by tourists are frequently imported, potentially undermining local production.
• Prices for goods and services can increase, harming the local population.
• Land speculation may occur.
• An excessive economic dependence on the tourism sector can develop.
• Territorial imbalances can be accentuated as tourism concentrates in specific areas.

Social Impacts

Tourism inevitably changes the local way of life. While it can sometimes stimulate modernization, it also risks causing a loss of local identity and traditional customs.

Environmental Impacts

Quality tourism relies on an environmentally sound setting, and efforts are often made to rehabilitate degraded areas. Nevertheless, tourism development can:

• Alter landscapes through the construction of buildings and infrastructure.
• Generate air, noise, soil, and water pollution.
• Increase waste production.
• Lead to the overexploitation of resources like water and soil.

Sustainable Tourism

To enhance the positive effects of tourism while mitigating the negative, sustainable tourism is actively promoted. Its primary goal is to balance economic and social development with the careful preservation of environmental values and cultural heritage.

EU Transport and Trade Policies

EU Transport Policy

The European Union's Transport Policy includes the following objectives:

• Promote improvements to trans-European transport infrastructure, particularly in peripheral regions.
• Enhance intermodal transport (using multiple modes of transportation).
• Reduce the environmental impact of transport, requiring prior environmental impact assessments for relevant projects.

EU Trade Policy

The European Union's Trade Policy operates on the principle that member countries constitute a single market. Consequently, their internal and external trade policies are harmonized.

Internal Trade Policy

This is based on the customs union, which eliminates customs duties and procedures between member countries. Key advantages include:

• Suspension of border procedures and controls within the EU.
• Increased competition, which tends to favor lower prices for consumers.

External Trade Policy

This policy involves:

• A common external tariff applied to products imported from non-EU countries ('third countries').
• A system of preferences that reduces or eliminates tariffs for certain developing countries.
• Negotiation and implementation of free trade agreements with various countries and regions worldwide.