But then, Mahatma Gandhi said in 1925: Man can not eat money nor drink it.

A prosperous tourism industry with dead and sick people means nothing.

Tourism can be destructive to the environment. However, there is a new way of developing tourism – sustainable tourism.

Sustainable tourism or eco-tourism is the only way to earn money and be environment-friendly, at the same time. The travel industry must be a part of the tourism industry.

Consider, for example, the carrying capacity of a place or the number of visitors which can be accommodated without damage to the environment. The government of Bhutan stopped the mass entry of tourists climbing the Himalayas and today limited the number to 100 a year.

Consider also that tourists trample on the vegetation and pick wild flowers.

A carefully planned and a carefully managed tourism site brings benefits to all. The infrastructure must be complimentary to the natural landscape. Nature trails must be carefully planned and tropical shrubs must be left alone. Consider tribal communities, they must not be displaced.

Other considerations:

1. The supply of water. Water is finite. Extravagant use of water as in mock volcanoes bathed at night in lights, 200-feet long aquarium, swimming pool and dolphin tanks is not healthy for the environment.

2. Golf is a major component of tourism. Environment societies worked out the creation of a Golf Development Commission in the early 90’s, which committee stopped the conversion of rice lands and forests into golf courses. The effect on agriculture and trees are disastrous. The impact on the environment is enormous, because golf courses consume hundreds of thousands of gallons of water daily to water the grass. Some 800,000 gallons for a 80-hectare course.

Golf courses use large amounts of chemical fertilizers to grow the grass and large amounts of chemical pesticide to kill insects that live in the grass. Golf courses use ground corals or sand to put up markers.

3. Tourism breeds prostitution, drug addiction and pedophile practice. The effect on the morals of our young and old can not be quantified. The social and medical costs are mind-boggling.

The tourism industry must wake-up now. Because the clock is ticking.