Just some examples I pulled up in some quick searches. One specific to Cape Cod that I know of that’s not mentioned here is the damage to fragile beach environments due to trampling delicate beach grasses by tourists who either don’t know any better or don’t care. The beach grass there is easily killed by walking on it, which not only destroys the environment that many creatures depend on, but also leads to rapid destabilisation and erosion and full on loss of the beaches within a handful of years (5 to 10 at most). It’s such an issue that there are constant beach patrols of environmental officers across more than a hundred miles of beaches every summer.
https://invisiblepeople.tv/how-tourism-negatively-impacts-homelessness/
https://assets.moravian.edu/static/soar/proposals/2017/Keshodkar_LaBare_Proposal.pdf
https://www.flasprings.com/blog/drug-and-alcohol-addiction-in-tourism-hotspots/
https://wewantrelief.com/the-nexus-between-cape-cod-tourism-and-substance-abuse/
https://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/one.html
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9389488/
https://www.uni.lu/en/news/the-dark-side-of-tourism/
https://mize.tech/blog/the-true-impact-of-the-tourism-industry-on-the-environment/
Just some examples I pulled up in some quick searches. One specific to Cape Cod that I know of that’s not mentioned here is the damage to fragile beach environments due to trampling delicate beach grasses by tourists who either don’t know any better or don’t care. The beach grass there is easily killed by walking on it, which not only destroys the environment that many creatures depend on, but also leads to rapid destabilisation and erosion and full on loss of the beaches within a handful of years (5 to 10 at most). It’s such an issue that there are constant beach patrols of environmental officers across more than a hundred miles of beaches every summer.