Gringo Trails, directed by Pegi Vail, is a documentary about the effects tourism has on the environment when travelers do not respect their destinations. It addresses key concerns of the quickly growing industry and questions whether our environments can keep up with its pace. Travelers naively overlook the pollution, erosion, and overpopulation of countries that become massive tourist destinations. The film also recognizes that these destinations lose their authentic cultures when they are focused on providing for tourists. The question, "what happens when a destination becomes too popular?", is represented well when a backpacker in Thailand decides to explore where no one has gone before. The man is on the hunt for an experience that has not been tainted by common tourist traps, a completely natural environment. A local takes him to an island where tourists usually have no way of getting to, he meets the natives of the island and spends a good amount of time learning about their culture. When it is time for him to leave the locals urge him not to tell anyone about the island to preserve its natural environment, but word gets out about the island and its tourism blows up immediately. Now there is hardly any of the authentic culture left on the island, millions of people come to the beach every year, polluting and disrespecting the land. This is the case for many countries, because the tourism industry grows so fast there is not enough planning prior to the expansion. The moral of the film is that we should give back to the communities we travel to and educate ourselves on other cultures and environments to safely and efficiently develop tourism.
Review of Gringo Trails
