Travel today is cheaper and easier than ever before. Budget airlines, low-cost accommodation, and online booking platforms have opened the door for millions of people to see the world. What was once something only the wealthy could do is now possible for students, young workers, and families with limited budgets. This wider access is clearly a good thing, but it also raises questions. Saving money often comes with hidden costs, for the environment, for local communities, and sometimes even for the travellers themselves. The challenge is how to keep the benefits of low-cost travel without ignoring its downsides.

 

The main advantage of travelling cheaply is obvious: affordability. People who once could only dream of going abroad can now do it, often for less than the cost of a weekend at home. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism contributed nearly 10.9 trillion US dollars to the global economy in 2024 and supported over 350 million jobs. For many, travel is not just a holiday, it is a chance to learn, experience new cultures, and connect with the world. On top of that, low-cost travel can sometimes be better for the planet. Choosing buses or trains instead of planes, or staying in smaller, local places rather than big hotels, reduces waste and energy use. A study in Nature found that tourism makes up about 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, so the way we travel matters a lot.

 

Low-cost travel can also help poorer regions. In rural or developing areas, even small amounts of money spent by visitors can make a difference. Local guesthouses, family-owned restaurants, and community tours all benefit when budget travellers choose to spend directly with them. Some studies show that under the right conditions, tourism can help reduce poverty and bring more fairness to how money is shared in local economies.

 

But there are clear downsides. One of the biggest is the environment. The rise of budget airlines means more people are taking short flights that may cost less than a train ticket. While this makes travel accessible, it also adds to carbon emissions. Between 2009 and 2019, emissions from tourism grew by around 3.5% each year, almost double the growth of the global economy. And while improvements are being made, travel still represents a significant share of global emissions.

 

Another issue is that not all the money travellers spend actually stays in the country they visit. A lot goes back to foreign-owned airlines, big hotel chains, or tour operators. This means local workers and small businesses may see only a small part of the profit, even though they deal with higher living costs, busier streets, and stretched resources. In some destinations, cheap travel can make life harder for locals rather than better. A clear example of this is found in Southeast Asia, where “begpacking” tourists, backpackers who travel with almost no money and rely on locals to feed them, house them, or even fund their onward journey, have become a controversial phenomenon. In countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, visitors have been seen playing guitar or holding handmade signs asking for donations on busy streets. While these travellers often describe themselves as adventurers living authentically, many locals see it as exploitation. For communities where people work hard just to get by, being asked to support a foreigner’s holiday can feel deeply unfair. Local authorities in places such as Bali have even had to step in, sending “begpackers” to embassies or urging them to leave, as their presence strained communities instead of benefiting them.

 

There are also risks when things are too cheap. Super low-cost accommodation can rely on poor working conditions or unsafe standards. Large groups of budget travellers can put stress on fragile environments, from beaches to mountain trails, or overwhelm cities with waste and overcrowding. France, for example, has seen its carbon footprint rise with the boom in cheap flights, showing that affordable travel often comes with hidden environmental costs.

 

So the picture is mixed. Low-cost travel itself is not automatically good or bad, it depends on how we approach it. Travellers can help by making small changes: choosing local businesses, avoiding unnecessary flights, staying longer instead of taking multiple short trips, and paying fair prices rather than pushing for bargains that hurt workers. Governments and businesses also play a role by managing tourism better, investing in infrastructure, and making sure local communities get their fair share.

 

In the end, low-cost travel has brought freedom and opportunity to millions, and it would be wrong to see it only as a problem. But every cheap ticket has a price, even if the traveller does not pay it directly. That price might be felt by the climate, by a local community, or by workers behind the scenes. The goal is not to stop people from travelling cheaply, but to do it in a way that respects the places we visit and the people who live there. If done thoughtfully, low-cost travel can remain a doorway to discovery while also supporting a more sustainable and fair future.

Far Hut