What I’m about…
A few years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to live in South America in the beautiful country of Uruguay. For two years I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I traveled all across the country, met thousands of people and saw many different living conditions. My heart ached for those who were still living in small, one-room homes with dirt floors, no electricity or indoor plumbing. I was confused with the disparity in classes, the middle class almost non-existent in most areas. I soon realized that tourism played a huge role in how wealthy an area and its surrounding regions were. Lower-class citizens had more job opportunities when tourism was in season. The upper-class citizens who owned businesses thrived as well. In all tourism seemed and seems like a positive necessity for many 3rd world countries. Such is the case in other countries with popular tourist locations.
More specifically…
If you haven’t already derived it from my title, the location of topic is the beautiful Cusco Peru. The purpose of this blog is to inform the lay traveler of the impacts, both positive and negative, they will have on the location they visit and it’s surrounding regions and residents, Cusco, Peru in particular.
Tourism, good or bad?
There are many areas in the world that have benefited from tourism. Cusco is one of these areas. However, with the increase of tourism over the last decade, Peru has seen the negative effects. Some of these consequences have been an increase in taxes for local citizens and business owners, decrease in government support for education programs and environmental regulations.
A few years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to live in South America in the beautiful country of Uruguay. For two years I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I traveled all across the country, met thousands of people and saw many different living conditions. My heart ached for those who were still living in small, one-room homes with dirt floors, no electricity or indoor plumbing. I was confused with the disparity in classes, the middle class almost non-existent in most areas. I soon realized that tourism played a huge role in how wealthy an area and its surrounding regions were. Lower-class citizens had more job opportunities when tourism was in season. The upper-class citizens who owned businesses thrived as well. In all tourism seemed and seems like a positive necessity for many 3rd world countries. Such is the case in other countries with popular tourist locations.
More specifically…
If you haven’t already derived it from my title, the location of topic is the beautiful Cusco Peru. The purpose of this blog is to inform the lay traveler of the impacts, both positive and negative, they will have on the location they visit and it’s surrounding regions and residents, Cusco, Peru in particular.
Tourism, good or bad?
There are many areas in the world that have benefited from tourism. Cusco is one of these areas. However, with the increase of tourism over the last decade, Peru has seen the negative effects. Some of these consequences have been an increase in taxes for local citizens and business owners, decrease in government support for education programs and environmental regulations.
