Establishing Responsible Tourism in Culture - Essay Example

Running header: Responsible tourism Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: Essay plan Title: Establishing responsible tourism I. Introduction A) Overview of the benefits of tourism B) Negative effects of tourism necessitating introduction of responsible tourism II. Body A) Definition/ description of responsible tourism i) Definition of responsible tourism ii) Responsible tourism , culture and environment B) Dubai as a case study on establishing responsible tourism i) Value of tourism to Dubai ii) Efforts by Dubai’s department of tourism and commerce towards establishing responsible tourism C) Kenya ‘s efforts towards responsible tourism i) Value of tourism in Kenya ii) Kenya’s efforts in establishing responsible tourism III) Conclusion A) Responsible tourism will reduce negative effects of tourism B) There is need to involve local communities in responsible tourism efforts. Establishing responsible tourism Many countries consider tourism as a very important means of boosting their economies through foreign exchange and is a means of job creation in addition to promoting investment and sale of crafts and local artifacts among others. It is for this reason that many countries invest a lot of money and effort in a bid to boost their tourism industry. However despite the advantages, tourism has been blamed for reducing cultural heritage and the environmental assets to an economic commodity while ignoring the people’s social cultural values (James, 2007). It has also led to altering and destruction of original cultural features and destroying of the monuments and works of art. It results in acculturation that affects attitudes, alters popular beliefs hence altering people’s culture and beliefs. It is as a result of the negative effects of tourism that the concept of responsible tourism was developed. This paper uses to cases to discuss how responsible tourism can be established. Responsible tourism Responsible tourism can be defined as a tourism which encourages better understanding of people and respects their culture and protects natural and social environment of the host country. It represents an approach to engaging with tourism whether one is a tourist, a local, a business at a destination or the host government. Responsible tourism emphasizes that the stakeholders should be responsible for the tourism activities they engage in which should result in improved tourism. The objective of responsible tourism is the creation of better places for people to live in and visit. According to the Cape Town declaration, responsible tourism should be characterized by minimization of negative economic, environmental as well as social effects of tourism. Responsible tourism should also generate greater economic returns to the locals and enhances their well beings, improves their working conditions and access to the industry. The approach calls for involvement of the local community in the decisions that affect their lives as well as life chances while making positive contribution towards the conservation of natural and cultural heritage and maintenance of world’s diversity (Boniface, 2003). As such, responsible tourism should provide more enjoyable experiences for the tourists by providing more meaningful connections with the locals as well as a greater understanding of local cultural, environmental and social issues. This is because the approach is cultural sensitive and strives for respect between the tourists and the locals/ hosts and builds local pride as well as confidence. Responsible tourism operates such that the tourists are able to enjoy their visits while at the same time respecting the hosts’ culture and the local environment. This implies that local people such as the Maasai of East Africa get a fair say on tourism and receive money from the profits generated from the game reserves (Prentice, 2004). Tourism greatly results in environmental degradation and part of the aim of responsible tourism is ensuring that the environment is conserved An example of a place where responsible tourism is being established is Dubai. Tourism in Dubai is of paramount importance to the government’s strategy of maintaining the foreign exchange flow. Dubai is an important tourist center as it has many tourist facilities and has key attractions including the weather, political climate stability as well as security. It is for this reason that tourism activities have rapidly grown in Dubai during the last decade. Dubai’s tourism resources may be grouped into cultural heritage resources which include museums, art galleries as well as historic landscapes and buildings. It is worth noting that increased tourism activities in Dubai has brought with it some undesirable effects such as environmental degradation as well as cultural erosion owing to the introduction of foreign cultures. It is as a result of these effects that the authorities in Dubai have come to embrace the responsibility tourism approach in a bid to minimize the negative effects and introduce positive benefits (Shaikha, 2009). This is in a bid to ensure sustainability of the industry as well as the local culture. The authorities through the department of tourism and commerce have come up with various measures aimed at establishing sustainable tourism in Dubai. As part of the effort, Dubai intends to position itself as a heritage city. A number of attractive well preserved buildings that retract the different historical periods of Dubai as well as the importance of such historical events are being established. There is also a growing concern of Dubai’s cultural values as well as increasing awareness of their present and potential importance of tourism. The cultural and heritage sites form the basis upon which heritage tourism in Dubai can be developed. In addition this effort to establish responsible tourism in Dubai is expected to provide the basis upon which Dubai’s cultural heritage will be conserved. The Dubai’s department of tourism and commerce also recognizes the need to incorporate environmental conservation in its bid to establish responsible tourism. This is aimed at preserving the environment and hence maintains Dubai as a choice destination for tourists and for the good of the locals. In this effort, Dubai aims at increasing its green areas by about 4 percent annually , open new parks while providing more landscaping that includes use of artificial grass to conserve water loss. In 2009, the department of tourism and commerce introduced the first green tourism awards in its efforts towards establishment of responsible tourism by introducing the best environmental management practices in the booming tourism industry. The award is given to hotels that introduce initiatives which conserve the environment and develops awareness and an educational culture within the industry about responsible tourism. The introduction of the award is in an effort o reduce carbon emission in the tourism industry by 20 percent (Terracurve.com. 2009). In its efforts to preserve the Muslim culture and as part of responsibility tourism, Dubai has established various rules that outlaw behaviors by tourists that are not in line with the Dubai culture. For example, the law outlaws homosexuality and kissing in public places. In addition, the law requires visitors to obey Muslim religious restrictions whether they are Muslims or not. This way, Dubai ensures that the local Muslim culture is respected and the visitors and locals can coexist in harmony. Dubai’s efforts towards establishing responsible tourism should be increased if they are to bear any significant results. The local community ought to benefit more from tourism while efforts to maintain Dubai’s culture and cultural heritage should be heightened (John, 2006). Dubai’s cultural and historical sites as well as culture should form the basis upon which responsible tourism is established. Heritage tourism ought to be encouraged since it will offer benefits in the cultural, economic and educational sectors. Furthermore, establishment of responsible tourism in Dubai will provide the means through which cultural heritage will be conserved. Another country that has achieved considerable success in establishing responsible tourism practices is Kenya. Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner in Kenya and contributes more than 10 percent of the GDP. Although the country has been practicing mass tourism, it has realized that this is a major threat to the country’s ecotourism as well as cultural heritage. As such, there is a need for a delicate balance and responsible tourism has been the choice. This is aimed at establishing an environment whereby the tourists enjoy their stay in the country while preventing destruction of the things they go to see. Kenya through a USA government initiative NEPAD is establishing responsible tourism in the country (Itai, 2006). This initiative aims at ensuring that the communities benefit from tourism revenues accrued in their areas. The program creates awareness and understanding of the environment, livelihood and the challenges faced by the local communities. The communities who benefit from the initiative include those leaving at the coastal region as well as the Maasai community. In this case, the communities are encouraged to uphold their cultural practices which serve as a major tourist attraction while they benefit from some of the revenues accruing from tourism in their areas. Part of the imitative involves tourists visiting the local schools and identifying some of the problems faced by pupils .in most cases, the tourist volunteer to help. Another initiative being undertaken as part of responsible tourism in Kenya involves running small group safaris which usually have minimal negative impact on the areas visited. The small groups engage in walk safaris as well as bird watching tours which involve working deeply with the local communities something that creates mutual respect between the visitors and the local communities. Tourists also visit places out of the main world life circuit where they experience the rural country and hence redistribute tourism earnings to the local communities. Responsible tourism in Kenya also involves sensitizing the tourists as well as the locals on the effect of environmental and cultural degradation as a result of tourism. This way, the stakeholders in the tourism sector make steps aimed at preserving the environment as well as cultural heritage. The rich cultural diversity is part of the country’s tourist attraction. It is for this reason that it is being developed and promoted since it can promote a society’s culture while creating employment at local levels (James, 2007). With this in mind, responsible tourism in Kenya is based on ethics of care and respect for the local communities culture. In other words, Kenya as a tourist destination has adopted and encouraged responsible tourism strategies so as to strike a balance between the industry’s needs and those of the local people. Conclusion As seen from above, countries should strive to establish responsible tourism so as to minimize the negative effects of tourism while bringing in some positive benefits. Tourism ought to bring benefits to the host communities and motivate them to care for and maintain their heritage and cultural practices. The involvement of the indigenous people is necessary in establishing responsible tourism and promotes the protection of heritage resources for future generations. As such, there is need for developing an evaluation method of assessments aimed at reducing the negative effects of tourism by employing a variety of actions aimed at improving the quality of lives of the local people and ensuring their participation in planning and decision making regarding the tourism sector. In other words, responsible tourism ought to help people to better understand the significance of their culture/ cultural heritage and hence inform them of the need to conserve it and pass it to future generations. References: James, Guayule. (2007). Responsible tourism. London: University of California press. Boniface, Priscilla. Peter Fowler (2002).Heritage and tourism in the global village. London: Routledge. Prentice, Richard. (1993). Tourism and heritage attraction. Newyork: Oxford University press. Terracurve.com. (2009). Responsible travel, culture and lifestyle: Dubai tourism to reduce carbon emissions by 20% for 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011, from http://www.terracurve.com/2009/07/03/dubai-tourism-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-20- for-2011/ Shaikha, A. M. (2009). Dubai plans towards responsible tourism. Dubai tourism and commerce marketing journal, 3 (4), 15-20. John, H. M. (2006). Destination culture, Tourism, Museums and heritage. Avebury: Aldershot. Itai, M. N. (2006). Kenya promotes responsible tourism. Africa renewal, 20(3), 13. James, M .C. (2007). Responsible tourism and ecotourism in Kenya. Africa tourism journal. 11(2), 25. Read More