In many countries, as tourism
grows, prices for land, water, food, houses, soil and other goods rise
to the point that locals cannot afford them. For example in Morocco and
according to a study done in 2006, 600 houses in the medina of
Marrakesh, and 380 houses in Essaouira, were bought by European
tourists, which contributed to an increase in house prices in many
Moroccan cities (in Casablanca the prices doubled in three years).1
It has been calculated that in the Balearic Islands, a tourist produces
50% more waste than a local.2
In the Tunisian regions of Hammamet and Nabeul, water and local labor have moved from agriculture to tourism because it pays better. In the region of Djerba there has been an increase in tourism, however, local economy has not benefited from it as all goods consumed by tourists are imported. According to a study done 20 years ago in the Mediterranean, the average consumption of water per person per day for people living in hotels was 400 liters, whilst for locals was 70 litres.3
Public goods and traditional means of living are offered to tourists but negated to locals. In the Catalan region of Penedès (Spain), young farmers have problems buying land as older locals see that land is overvalued when sold for building tourist residencies and thus they wait for it to gain value, sell it at a higher price and have get more profit.4
Els The 24 golf grounds in the Dominican Republic need double the amount of water than all the natural industry in the country. In the Honduran island of Roatán, several natural zones, restricting hunting and fishing, have been protected in order to attract tourists. I will stop hunting iguanas when they stop destroying land to make new ports and hotels and I will fish [king prawns] until they go extinct, says a local fisherman.5