Spatial dimension of tourism in the Anthropocene

Abstract

Tourism has a significant impact on social and economic changes affecting societies and the Earth as a whole. The impact of tourism on the environment is a very broad one, not least as tourists are associated with excess pollution, especially of water and air. Many traces induced by tourism can be detected globally, because tourism is part of the geophysical forces operating on the planetary scale. The tourism "over-crowding" brings about change on the planet and leaves its Anthropocene traces. Only recently has the Anthropocene become a subject of tourism-specific study. However, as the rapid growth of global tourism stopped suddenly at the beginning of 2020 as a result of the global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, a window of opportunity arose for exploring tourism's potentially reduced impact on the planet, and hence its fate and role in the Anthropocene. The author proposes a few priority areas for future research. © 2022 Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Science. All rights reserved.