Matthew Murchie, 15, St Joseph's College
There's no doubt that tourism brings economic progress. However, it causes so much damage to the culture and environment of a place that the benefits far outweigh the financial gains.
Many places are tourist attractions because of their rich and diverse culture. These traditions have been developed over hundreds of years. But tourism has become such a big business that some of these traditions have been destroyed.
Take Buddhist monasteries, for example. They are no longer quiet and peaceful places as hundreds of tourists flock to the temples daily, taking pictures and chatting loudly. This sort of damage cannot be reversed, regardless of the benefits brought by tourism. There are only a few places on earth where the environment has not been polluted by humans. By transforming beautiful shorelines into crowded beach resorts or building hotels and roads in snowy mountains, we are destroying the natural beauty that once made these places attractive.
Tourism may bring in a lot of money but that won't help a place repair the damage caused to its culture and environment.
Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 20, University of Hong Kong