The document discusses tourism in regions affected by natural disasters. It notes that while tourism is an important economic driver, natural disasters can negatively impact tourism activities. Some key points made include: - Many disaster-prone regions rely heavily on tourism income to aid recovery efforts after disasters strike. - However, increased tourism has also led to rises in issues like human trafficking, child prostitution, and disease transmission in some areas. - Strategies are needed to encourage tourism in disaster-prone areas in a responsible way that protects local communities and the environment, while still providing economic benefits.

1. Tourism in Natural Disaster Affected Regions
Sample Essay
In most nations, tourism is an important part of the economy.
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), international
travels are bound to increase from 2004 to 2020. Nevertheless, natural
disasters affect tourism activities that include the Boxing Day events of
2004 (Zhang, 2005) and the recent Cyclone Nargis devastation in
Burma. Tourists are vulnerable to various natural disasters because
they are attracted to exotic regions where their risk is high including
the avalanches and hurricanes (Terry and Goff, 2012).
As such, tourism activities have a risky nature and the affected areas
have led to a debate that attempts to determine whether tourism
activities ought to be encouraged in such places. Tourism activities in
the regions that are affected by natural disasters are supported by this
essay as long as the application of appropriate precautions is done to
avert danger that may affect human life as well as to ensure that all
affected regions benefit from these activities.
Most regions that natural disasters affect depend on income that
comes from tourism activities in financing their recovery efforts.
Actually, reports by Tourism Concern (2005) indicate that relief efforts
of the tourist agencies and individual tourists have benefited the
nations that tsunamis have affected in the past. Following the
occurrence of such disasters, disaster concepts in the tourism industry
have also been developed. These facilitate the efforts that are aimed at
increasing comprehension of the natural disasters. The International
Ecotourism Society (2013) indicates that most photographers were
tourists and images that were used in analyzing disasters came from
tourists.
According to Hannum, Park and Butler (2010), tourism ought to
continue since the new leisure consumers’ generation will emerge

2. because the South East Asia’s working population is bound to more
than triple by 2050. Another factor that contributes to optimism
regarding the increase in the tourism activities is economic
development that has not been precedent. Most residents of the areas
that have faced destructive effects that natural disasters pose are
enduring poverty and economic hardships. Some tourists take
advantage of this to lure such residents into prostitution of underage
individuals. Rigg, Grundy-Warr, Law and Tan-Mullins (2008, pp. 137-
154) note that authorities of the countries that the natural disasters
affect find improving tourism in the areas that are prone to such
disasters beneficial because it enables the local people to rebuild lives
after the disasters.
According to Tarlow (2005), the visits of tourists can be transformed to
life-changing experiences by improving the lives of local people who are
facing the effects of the disasters. Although disease levels results from
increased prostitution which indicates social morals’ and ethics’
erosion, most sex workers get money that they use to support families.
Bond and Falk (2013) for instance note that recruitment of sex workers
occur among rural families. Their parents are paid lump sum amounts
that they use to ensure family subsistence with their meager earnings.
The negative effect of this is that this practice has led to increased
prostitution and sex tourism. There has been intensification of this
practice to a level where children of countries that have high natural
disasters incidences including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and
Thailand have become more vulnerable to dealers and tourists who
need cheap sex trade and labor. Failure by the media to report
increasing women and children vulnerability to domestic and
international trafficking as well as sex trade worsened the situation.
Morse (2005) contends that most reports by the media comprised of a
generalized condemnation of sex tourism and/or child trafficking in
areas affected by natural disasters. These reports did not provide

3. specific information regarding the exact dynamics of child prostitution
and trafficking in these areas.
In the areas that natural disasters occur, tourism activities lead to
spreading of HIV/AIDS. Sex tourism can make families that earn low
income financially stable. However, the formed contract through
payments that are made to a family binds a sex worker to a job and the
obligation that the worker has for the family goes beyond negative
feelings towards their job. The process of recovering from a natural
disaster has also been complicated by tourism in some cases (The
International Ecotourism Society, 2013). For example, hastening
tourism development’s investment following the tsunami that hit the
Indian Ocean in 2004 hampered smooth transition of the local people
to normal life because they were not prepared (Tourism Concern,
2005).
Tourism ought to be encouraged within the regions that natural
disasters affect as long as appropriate precautions are taken to
minimize property destruction as well as to avert threat that human life
faces. The governments of most regions that are prone to disasters are
unable to deal with the adverse effects that tourism faces from these
disasters due to pressure from international financiers as well as
unbalanced economic development pace which forces them to attract
foreign investors regardless of the cost. Countries that face natural
disasters are affected the most because these natural forces are
destructive in nature and this hampers development initiatives.
Complicity of legal business owners such as brothel owners and
hoteliers is taken advantage of by tourists who use their businesses to
facilitate sex trade activities.
There are also situations where this vice has been supported by the
governments in the past. For instance, according to Hechler (1995),
before preventive policies were adopted, 1987 was the tourism year
that the Thailand’s Tourism Authority named using the slogan, “The
one fruit of Thailand more delicious than durian-its young women.”

4. Durian is a fruit that is native to Thailand. Due to such traditions, it is
difficult for the strategies adopted currently to eliminate sex tourism.
Structures of governance in places that are prone to natural disasters
ought to have necessary measures in place in order to deal with
increased prostitution. Public education that teaches the dangers that
sexual malpractices have as well as the alternative ways of using
tourism for economic gains can be used to curb this prostitution.
Children registration that provides the list of the children who no longer
live with families can be used in curbing child trafficking (CNN, 2005;
UNICEF, 2005). Child trafficking incidences that result from tourism can
also be decreased through the provision of media reports about them
to create awareness regarding these inhumane acts at international
forums.
Public attention’s effectiveness can internationally be proven through
the adoption of preventive actions by Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and
India governments. This was after they were accused by the State’s
Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S department in 2004 of failing to
comply with standards of Trafficking Victims Act (TVPA), 2002.
According to Morse (2005), the target of this Act is to raise awareness
about child trafficking globally by reducing relations with nations that
do not take actions that are aimed at eliminating this challenge.
Affected regions ought to apply sufficient technologies that can detect
natural disasters as well as minimize the destructive effects of such
disasters.
Conclusion
It is important to encourage tourism in nations that are prone to
natural disasters. According to this discussion, it is apparent that
tourism activities have benefits that supersede their negative ones.
Tourism plays a vital role in the rehabilitation and restoration of
normalcy in the areas that are prone to disasters. My opinion is that it
is important to encourage tourism in the disaster prone areas that

5. include South East Asia although more precautions ought to be taken in
order to protect the local people and tourists from the effects of these
disasters which are naturally destructive. Human rights should be flout
or compromised by their activities.
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6. References
Bond, N., & Falk, J. (2013). Tourism and identity-related motivations:
why am I here (and
not there)? International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 15, no. 5,
pp. 430-442.
CNN. (2005). “Traffickers threaten Aceh orphans.” Available
at:<http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/04/indonesia.childr
en/> 914
January, 2014)
Ferguson, J. (2003). “Sex tourism a shared shame.” Herald Sun
(Melbourne, Australia).
Hannum, E., Park, H., & Butler, Y. G. (2010). Globalization, changing
demographics, and
educational challenges in East Asia. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
Hechler, D. (1995). “Don’t Buy Thai.” Available at
<http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8931/dbt-rep.htm#2>
(14 January,
2014)
Morse, JA. (2005). “Few Reports of Increased Human Trafficking in
Tsunami-hit
Nations.” (The Washington File, Bureau of International Information
Programs,
U.S. Department of State). Available at:
<http://malaysia.usembassy.gov/wf/wf0113_humantrafficking.htm>
(14 January,
2014)

7. Rigg, J., Grundy-Warr, C., Law, L., & Tan-Mullins, M. (2008). Grounding a
natural disaster:
Thailand and the 2004 tsunami. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 49, no. 2,
pp. 137-154.
Tarlow, P.E. (2005). Dark Tourism: the appealing ‘dark’ side of tourism
and more. In
M.Novelli (ed) Niche Tourism – Contemporary Issues, Trends and Cases,
Oxford:
Elsevier.
Terry, J. P., & Goff, J. R. (2012). Natural hazards in the Asia-Pacific
region: Recent
advances and emerging concepts. London: Geological Society of
London.
The International Ecotourism Society. (2013). How Can the Tourism
Industry Improve
Disaster Preparedness and Support Destinations’ Recovery Efforts?
Available at: <
http://www.ecotourism.org/news/how-can-tourism-industry-improve-
isaster-
preparedness-and-support-destinations-recovery-effort>
Tourism Concern. (2005). Post-tsunami reconstruction and tourism: a
second disaster?
Reports from tourism concern. Available
at:<http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/ShopMadeSimple/prod/5/7/23
1/Post-tsunami-
reconstruction-and-tourism-a-second-disaster.html>

8. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). 2005. “How to protect
children in the tsunami
zone.” Available at:
<http://www.unicef.org/media/media_24771.html> (14 January,
2014)
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