Article from http://www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/soc-drawbacks.htm

If a poor country that is rich in cultural heritage realizes that it can get its money from tourism, they will most certainly do whatever it takes to increase the number of visitors; even if this means changing cultural expressions to suit the tastes of tourists and having locals stage “authenticity”. Short-term, this might not have any effect on the society but in the long run, people might become so accustomed and used to that false culture that they forget what their real culture is and eventually accept this new culture as their own. This will be very tragic because a country’s culture should be something that the locals treasure and can all relate to, and it should not change. However, with globalization, some countries may forgo their cultural identity for the sake of increasing tourism rates. For example, creating molas, (blouses worn by Kuna women in Colombia) is an art that began with designs that reflected the conception of the world, of nature, and of the spiritual life of the Kuna Nation. Now it is increasingly being transformed, through tourism, into a commercial trade which causes loss of its spiritual value and quality. This is changing the designs of the molas to correspond to the interests of the tourists, while at the same time the Kuna women are losing their knowledge of the old designs and the interpretations and meanings of the mola designs.

Because tourism involves movement of people to different geographical locations, and establishment of social relations between people who would otherwise not meet, cultural clashes can take place as a result of differences in cultures, ethnic and religious groups, values and lifestyles, languages, and levels of prosperity. The result can be an overexploitation of limits of acceptable change in society and limits of acceptable change in the culture of the host of the local community. The attitude of local residents towards tourism development may unfold through the stages of euphoria, where visitors are very welcome, through apathy, irritation and potentially antagonism, when anti-tourist attitudes begin growing among local people. Many tourists, after visiting a certain area, and being exposed to its culture for just a few days, tend to form stereotypes of the area’s people. Stereotypes are often offensive and this will be harmful towards the relationships between the locals and tourists; even though the tourists themselves might not be aware of it. In many Muslim countries, strict standards exist regarding the appearance and behaviour of Muslim women, who must carefully cover themselves in public. Tourists in these countries often disregard or are unaware of these standards, ignoring the prevalent dress code, appearing in revealing shorts, skirts or even bikinis, sunbathing topless at the beach or consuming large quantities of alcohol openly. Besides disapproval from locals arising, this kind of behavior could well be an incentive for impressionable locals, especially youth, to disregard their own religion.