By Harry Turner – 

One of the most visible effects of industrialisation is air pollution; chemical contamination that damages human health and wellbeing and affects the natural environment and influences life in ways we don’t fully know.  Recently, a study was undertaken to see if air pollution affected people’s perceptions of the tourist sector [1].

Figure 1 Cairo in smog, 2007 (Sturm58 via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Air pollution has dramatic effects on human health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 7 million people die from cancer, strokes and heart diseases that are linked to air pollution [2]. The look and feel of places are “affected by physical elements, such as sunlight, cloudiness and air quality” [3], showing that we are unconsciously biased away from more polluted areas. This is due to the health risks and the appeal of the tourist destination. For example, “natural resources and … non-priced features” [4] (such as the physical landscape) are often important tourist attractions, these get obscured by smog and particulate haze (see Figure 1). As well as this, tourists interact with local service providers when purchasing food, accommodation, and transport, as well as undertaking activities such as sightseeing, shopping and entertainment. Tourists are likely to be worried before air pollution issues are considered due to suspicion of strangers and culture shock.

The researchers conducted several surveys with similar aims, but different scenarios. The scenario began with looking at images/reports of air pollution in a city that they would hypothetically visit. The survey involved a hypothetical scenario where the participant was served an undercooked meal in the polluted city and were asked to respond. Their reaction was scored from 1 (believing it was an accident) to 7 (believing it was disregard for quality and health) and put through a statistical analysis test. In the polluted city, mean suspicion rates were 4.14 (maximum of 7). The test was done again with a cleaner city, mean suspicion rates dropped to 3.43 [1]. In the written section of the survey, 50% had negative perceptions of the pollution (words like “unhealthy” and “sick”), and 60% displayed a change in mood when discussing the hypothetical scenarios (words like “worry” and uncomfortable”).

The surveys showed that people were already suspicious or pessimistic of the local tourist sector, this was exacerbated by their perception of air pollution. This fear was much worse when they didn’t know the effects on their feelings, but it was noted that these effects were “reversed” [1] when they were told information about air quality.

This concept is very important as the tourist industry needs as much support as possible post Covid-19, especially in “low- and middle- income countries {who are] disproportionately” affected [2] by air pollution. Despite the statistical analysis tests used, I would personally survey more people to get a wider range of views and a more accurate picture idea of the concepts (only 135 people undertook the survey). Despite this, the article can be used by many to reduce this unconscious bias against polluted tourist areas.

References and further reading

[1]        Hou, Y., Huang, Y., Li, G., Zhang, K. (2019) Tourists and Air Pollution: How and Why Air Pollution Magnifies Tourists’ Suspicions of Service Providers. Journal of Travel Research. 59(4), 661-673.

[2]        World Health Organisation (2021) 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, but more countries are taking action. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/02-05-2018-9-out-of-10-people-worldwide-breathe-polluted-air-but-more-countries-are-taking-action (Accessed 30 November 2021)

[3]        Wang L., Fang B., Law R. (2018) Effect of air quality in the place of origin on outbound tourism demand: Disposable income as a moderator. Travel Management. 68, 152-161.

[4]        Anaman A., Looi N. (2000) Economic Impact of Haze-Related Air Pollution on the Tourism Industry in Brunei Darussalam. Economic Analysis and Policy. 30(2), 133-143