The Economic Problems for The Sustainable Tourism Industry and Their Alleviation - Coursework Example

The economic problems for the sustainable tourism industry and their alleviation Introduction: Tourism is the world’s largest industry, and has turned the still sleepy coastlines to crowded over-developed resorts with multi-storey hotels, bars and casinos. Tourism is becoming important to the communities around the world and to develop tourism that is sustainable also becomes a primary concern. Communities are the basic reason for the tourist to travel, their need to experience the way of life of different communities, their culture, and the nature of different communities. Tourism growth prospects are ever growing. Every country has got an advantage from this field. World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates show that “in 2002 travel, tourism and related activities will contribute 11% to the world’s GDP, rising to 12% by 2010. The industry is currently estimated to generate 1 in every 12.8 jobs or 7.8% of the total workforce. This percentage is expected to rise to 8.6% by 2012. Tourism is also the world’s largest employer, accounting for more than 255 million jobs, or 10.7% of the global labour force.” (WTTC 2002). It is clear that ecotourism, in the strictest sense of the word, still only accounts for a small proportion of the total tourism market. Current estimates are between 3-7% of the market (WTTC, WTO, Earth Council 1996). Taking the WTO’s full definition of tourism, there’s a risk that ecotourism alone will fail to fully realize the potential to support more sustainable development across the entire sector – suggesting that there may be real benefits trying to make all of the Travel and Tourism industry more sustainable. The magnitude of the tourism industry can be clearly seen from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) statistics. The WTTC estimates that “in the year 2002, travel, tourism and related activities will contribute to approximately 10% of the world’s GDP, growing to 10.6% by 2012. The industry is currently estimated to help generate 1 in every 12.8 jobs, 7.8% of total employment. This will rise to 8.6% by 2012.” (WTTC 2002). Tim Forsyth, lecturer in environment and development at the Geography and Environment department at the London School of Economics, explores the concept and practice of sustainable tourism. He argues that the best way to accommodate the inevitable increase in mass tourism is to encourage the practice of tourism and development as a positive experience for the local people, the tourism companies and the tourists themselves. “Sustainability is perceived and described as an essential part of the ideology of the New World Order and all the trends and tendencies that are associated with it.” These tendencies, almost movements, include a new consumerism, whose semantic ally is sustainability. (Mowforth and Munt, p 80). The term sustainability in the tourism context is explained differently by the various conservatives, governments, politician, local bodies and the tourist themselves. “It begins with a consideration of the development of the mass consumption of tourism and it leads into a new form of consumerism in the industry. A brief survey of the terminology of the new forms of tourism is followed by an analysis of a range of definitions of these new forms. This leads on to examinations of, first, a number of principles often applied to sustainability in tourism and, second, the tools and techniques commonly used to measure and describe sustainability. Finally, we speculate on the intertwined futures of sustainability and tourism.” (Mowforth and Munt, p 80). Mowforth and Munt continue to demand that if sustainable tourism is really to be achieved then there is a need to politicize the tourism industry in order to promote its movement towards sustainability and away from its tendency to dominate, corrupt and transform nature, culture and society (1998: 123). Sustainable tourism is tourism development that avoids damage to the environment, economy and cultures of the locations where it takes place. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development is a positive experience for local people; tourism companies; and tourists themselves. Under sustainable tourism, it may be unlikely to experience the kind of boom and bust that led to the rapid growth, and then despoliation of locations such as the east coast of Spain in the 1970s. Sustainable tourism is quite different from eco tourism. Eco tourism became popular in the 1980s which focused exclusive on wildlife nature or exotic culture. Recent research shows that eco tourism is not good for the environment or the people who get attention. It makes them independent to the tourism. Sustainable tourism is not eco tourism. Ecotourism does not involve more mainstream beach-or city-based tourism, where impacts are much greater than any nature-based tourism. Sustainable tourism, therefore, is an attempt to improve the impacts of all types of tourism, and this implies seeking ways to build partnerships between tourism companies and local governments or managers of resorts. It requires co-operation between concerned companies and the managers of destinations and not require an interest from consumers. The recognition of a clear market demand for a greenly or an environmentally friendly can be said as sustainable tourism. It may not be profitable or sustainable to encourage market demand for green tourism as this demand may not occur, and also may not lead to sustainable tourism. The World Tourism Organisation explains sustainable tourism as “tourism which leads to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems” In addition they describe the development of sustainable tourism as a process which meets the needs of present tourists and host communities whilst protecting and enhancing needs in the future (World Tourism Organization 1996). Sustainable tourism does not have to be advertised as environmentally or culturally sensitive in order to succeed. It is indicated that profit can’t be increased simply by adopting some general environmental principles, such as recycling waste, planning for long-term sustainability, and seeking local partnerships for resort management. If these actions result in cleaner, less crowded, holiday resorts, then they are in effect sustainable tourism without being labelled so. Increasing the integration of tourism companies, so that individual companies have greater control over the marketing of holidays, transportation of tourists, and then management of resorts, can bring profit to this industry. Such integration may help avoid the disappointment and destruction of resorts that occurs when tourists interested in conventional mass tourism are sent to sites perhaps better suited to bird watchers or hill walkers. This can help the tourist to take sapourus according to their tastes. But this implies that smaller tourism companies cannot enter the market, and this could result in higher prices as there is no competition from the smaller companies. Since the 1980s, the British tourism industry has experienced rapid cuts in prices as a result of stiff competition between major companies such as Airtours, First Choice, and Thompson. But it is generally the presence of competition from smaller, less regulated companies that leads to the rapid over-development of resorts or the reluctance of large companies to increase their costs. It depends on providing the right incentive to companies and resort managers to reduce the negative impact of tourism. The sustainable tourism has the potential to promote social development through employment creation, income redistribution and poverty alleviation. As sustainable tourism has an educational element it can foster understanding between people and cultures and provide cultural exchange between hosts and guests. This increases the chances for people to understand each other. During the first Global Summit on Peace Through Tourism (November 2000), more than 450 world leaders of the travel and tourism industry ratified an "Amman Declaration" that recognized travel and tourism as a global peace industry. The document committed itself to building a culture of peace through tourism that supports tourism as a fundamental human activity. "Peaceful relationships among all people should be promoted and nurtured through sustainable tourism", the document said. It called for protection and restoration of historical monuments and landmarks, accessible to all people, as "valuable assets for humanity and legacies for future generations". Preservation and wise use of the environment, coupled with ecological balance, "are essential to the future of tourism" while acknowledging "ancient wisdom and care for the Earth" (International Institute for Peace Through Tourism). Sustainable Tourism can add to the vitality of communities in many ways. Examples are events and festivals of the local residents where they have been the primary participants and spectators. Often these are refreshed and developed in response to tourists’ interests. The jobs created by tourism can act as a very important motivation to reduce emigration from rural areas. Local people can also increase their influence on tourism development, as well as improve their job opportunities and earnings prospects through tourism-related professional training, development of business and organizational skills. In the name of tourism the community’s facilities like better transportation, infrastructure, restaurants, and services are developed which otherwise would not have happened so efficiently. Economic Problems: First of all tourism industry is not as clean and non-polluting as many people assert. A major problem is the lack of understanding of what sustainable tourism is all about which would lead to violation of environmental standards and regulations. The interest of tourist sector is the natural resources and there would be an increased amount of stress to the resource. This would create a conflict between tourism sector and the local resources. It is argued that sustainable tourism is about the negotiation between tourism companies, local governments and communities in an effort to improve the impact of all types of tourism. Some researches indicate that such tourism may not in fact benefit these communities as it might lead to them becoming dependent on the tourist economy, without developing skills that would allow them flexibility in the economy and be more of a long term guarantee. People are aware that the damage caused by tourism on environment is much less than most of the other industries. People, when buying the various tourism packages, swear to spend a portion on the environment friendly activities, but rarely do their practice what they promise. Tourism brings changes into a society but this could not always be a good change. With the introduction of tourism it brings a different behaviour trends and norms, which would be contrary to the tradition followed by the host. It would bring in a conflict with its cultural identity and pose a threat to the traditional values. It has been associated with violation of human rights, many countries have experienced increase in crime rates, alcohol and drug abuse and prostitution during the years, and tourism has made a contribution to the cause. Tourism business is characterised by a high degree of monopoly which implies the concentration of services and profits to very few big transnational corporations. In many countries, tourism facilities mostly belong to foreigners.  Furthermore, in local host communities in many countries a relatively small number of people are involved in tourism industry. One reason is that tourism industries purchase most of their inputs, be that materials, products or services in their country of origin. As a result a considerable amount of foreign exchange revenues leak from the destination countries. There has been a pressure placed on governments to raise revenues from tourism, leading to large scale mega projects over small scale projects, which won’t provide them a good return. Sustainable tourism is also a major generator of wastes. In most tourist regions, sewage, waste water and solid waste disposal are not properly managed or planned. Lastly, tourism is also responsible for a considerable proportion of increased volumes and mileage in global transport and hence the associated environmentally damaging pollutant emissions. The tourism industry has not shown sufficient willingness to compensate the cost of conservation of biodiversity by for instance protected areas, even though they profit from it. Possible solutions: The industrys definition of sustainability is unlikely to become much clearer, but the techniques of conveying it, especially to the tourists, will become more refined, more complex and more sophisticated. “This applies to operators and service providers in both the mainstream industry and the new forms of the industry and at all scales and sizes. As the large operators diversify their activities, they are likely to associate their new products increasingly with the notion of sustainability; and as new operators emerge to cater for new, alternative forms of tourism, so they too will increasingly deploy links with conservation, ecology and matters ethical, to their own ends”. (Mowforth, M. & Munt, I. 2003). Local communities should continue to adapt themselves to offer the type of holiday that the new tourists demand. It gives the opportunity for the host country to improve their infrastructure despite their structural inequalities. This is to alter the relationship between the interest group and their adaptation to external factors. These are after all largely commercial businesses and must make a profit. This would help them a new form of tourism which would help them regain the rebalancing of power. Local communities should be assisted in providing guidelines to the prevailing system of work for them and to promote their own project or development. This will help the local community to extend. The local communities often offer what the tourist demand, but they need to change this pattern and offer a progressive environment. Generally tourism should promote sustainability and so they should adopt environment friendly technologies or measures to minimize the consumption of local resources. They should provide a better waste disposal system protect the sensitive regions and make efforts for preservation of those areas, along with conservation of the natural resources like water, land. The tourism business should promote activities that are identifiable with the communities’ culture. It should respect the cultural integrity and heritage of the tourism destination. This might be accomplished by implying code of conduct to the industry. The tourist should be informed and educated about the destination of their travel. Sustainable tourism could help the locals if they are provided employment rather than hiring people from other regions, the locals would be more knowledgable of that region. A focus should be also given to the small scale tourism and not always the big ones. It is the government and tourism industry’s responsibility to provide fairness and transparency in all transactions relating to this industry. CONCLUSION: The objective of this paper is to assess the problems and its possible solutions of sustainable tourism development. This study has focused on what the tourism industry itself can do in order to augment and improve its environmental, cultural, social and economic profile and make sure this is sustainable. Tourism industry does not significantly take into consideration the socio-cultural, economic and environmental needs of the host economy. Within the industry it is important that both small and large-scale tourism operators are included in the collaboration and that they participate in solving problems related to tourism development. As mentioned earlier a sustainable development of the tourism industry can only be ensured through participation of all local residents in the destination countries. There is a need for a willingness and ability for the partners to work with this kind of a bottom-up approach. In this context both environment and social NGOs have an important role to play by putting pressure on the industry and facilitating contracts and local participation for community development. Governments in both destination- and countries of origin for tourists and investors are responsible for providing appropriate legislation for sustainable tourism development and to follow up the tourism projects with sufficient monitoring and appropriate sanctioning. Exchange of successful experiences of sustainable tourism projects is an important factor in this connection. Despite these problems, such destinations have the potential to contribute to sustainable tourism development. This requires a planning process that satisfies the needs of tourists and tour operators while being sensitive to the socio-cultural, economic and environmental needs of host countries and destinations. Sustainable tourism is an attempt to improve the impacts of all types of tourism, and this implies seeking ways to build partnerships between tourism companies and local governments or managers of resorts. Sustainable development briefly is a way of thinking about economic development that is inclusive of the environment. Development cannot take place upon a deteriorating environmental resource base; neither can the environment be protected when development excludes the cost of its destruction. “The main aim of sustainable development is poverty alleviation, that is satisfying the needs of the worlds population but achieving this in a way that does not threaten the earths resources, nor the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs”. (Mowforth & Munt., Derek.). Works Cited Mowforth, M. & Munt, I. (2003). Tourism and Sustainability: New Tourism and the Third World. London: Routledge Rob, Harris., Tony, Griffin., & Peter, Williams. Sustainable tourism: A Global Perspective. Derek, Hall. Richards, Greg. (2000). Tourism and sustainable community Development. Routledge. Andrew, Holde. (2003). Environment and Tourism. Routledge. World Travel and Tourism Council. (2007). Graphic Alliance. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from www.wttc.org/eng/wttc-research/tourism Read More