The Effect of Tourism on the Environment. Case of Study in the District of Pogradec, Albania

• Author: Denada Olli
• Pages: 299-305

Performance and Risks in the European Economy

299

The Effect of Tourism on the Environment.

Case of Study in the District of Pogradec, Albania

Denada Olli1

Abstract: Nowadays tourism is considered as a quality development of the tourist industry related both to the

goods and to the services being offered and also to the organization and to the leading of the tourism itself. The

increasing trend of the touristic flow and also the development of many tourist attractions have made it

necessary the need of the use of the touristic tools in order to be successful. Therefore, tourism obtains a lot of

meanings: it is a summary of relationships and occurrences of two different characters: the social and also the

economical one; the last gets the priority. Regardless the aspect, tourism brings benefits. Nowadays it is closely

connected to the environment where it operates. Even though they are closely related, tourism and the

environment seem to be controversial to each other. The quality of the environment is an important part of the

product that the tourism offers, but at the same time many acti vities which are related to this industry might

bring undesirable effects on the environment. In this way the development should not be considered as

something independent but as closely related to the environment. Tourism has the potential to increase the

public awareness to the importance of the environment. This may lead to many activities done to protect the

environment and to the consciousness needed on its benefits. In this way, tourism may contribute to the

protection of the environment and also to the right use of the natural resources.

Key words: natural resources; quality of the environment; nature protection; environment; tourism

JEL classification: Z32

Based on a study the aim of this paper is to:

 Identify the impacts and the affect of the tourism on the environment by minimizing the negative

impacts and by maximizing the positive ones.

 Identify the economical benefits of the tourism, the way they contribute to the protection of the

environment and also the role it plays in the awareness that the society should obtain in order to

keep the environment safe.

 Show that the uncontrolled tourism brings the environmental degradation.

The Methodology of the Research

The research was based on the information gathered from the primary and secondary data. The primary

data was obtained by the questionnaire, by interviewing the residents, the businessmen and also the

tourists who visit these destinations, in order to understand the importance of the environment and

tourism in their community. 100 questionnaires were used on the behalf of this study. It was an easy

1PhD candidate, University “Fan σoli” of Korça, Korça, Albania, Address: Bulevardi Rilindasit 11, Korçë, Albania, Tel.:

++35569 7351969, fax no ++355 82 242230, Corresponding author: ollidenada@gmail.com.