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

The physical influences that the increasing tourism flow, and its consequent developments, has on a destination can cause severe social stress as it impacts the local community. Damage to cultural resources arise from vandalism and littering, especially at sacred or holy places. A common problem at archaeological sites is that poorly paid guards supplement their income by selling cultural artifacts to tourists. Degradation of cultural sites may occur when historic sites and buildings are unprotected and the traditionally built environment is replaced or virtually disappears. As an example of how local people can suffer from tourism development, in coastal areas construction of shoreline hotels and tourist faculties often cuts off access for the locals to traditional fishing ground and even recreational use of the areas. There many cases where local residents have lost access to local natural resources because of tourism development. On Boracay Island in the Philippines, one quarter of the island has been bought by outside corporations, generating a crisis in water supply and only limited infrastructure benefits for residents. Similarly, in Bali, Indonesia, prime agricultural land and water supplies have been diverted for large hotels and golf courses, while at Pangandaran, village beach land, traditionally used for grazing, repairing boats and nets, and festivals, was sold to entrepreneurs for construction of a five-star hotel.

Tourism can create more serious situations where ethical and even criminal issues are involved. Crime rates typically increase with the growth and urbanization of an area and growth of mass tourism. The presence of a large number of tourists with a lot of money to spend, and often carrying valuables such as cameras and passports, increases the attraction for criminals. This is accompanied by activities like robbery and drug dealing which causes social tension and makes life more dangerous. Due to the high risk of criminal attacks, armed guards are sometimes hired to protect these areas often face aggressive reactions from locals. After all, who would want fully armed guards with machine guns near their homes? Tourism also increases the rate of child labour because they are cheap and flexible employees. An estimated 13-19 million children and young people below 18 years of age are employed in the industry worldwide. However, these figures take no account of the number of children working in the informal sector in ancillary activities. Child labour in tourism is common in both developing and in developed countries. Many boys and girls below 12 years of age are engaged in small business activities related to hotels and restaurants, the entertainment sector or the souvenir trade, often as porters or street or beach vendors. They are frequently subjected to harsh working and employment conditions. Tourism can also result in an increase in prostitution and sex tourism. Tourism might not be the cause of sexual exploitation, but it provides easy access to it. The lure of this easy money has caused many people, including children, to trade their bodies in exchange for basic necessities and even air tickets out of the country.