Ecotourism and Tourism Industry - Essay Example

ECOTOURISM Tourism industry relies largely upon the human interest for embracing newer experiences in life as an escape from the monotonous routine of daily chores that dries them. Tour operators and policy makers around the world has understood the potential of this trend and turned it into a money spinning activity. They also keep evolving new styles and trends in the industry to sustain the consumers’ interest. The industry has grown in an exponential rate all across the world. The trend witnessed a transition as it slanted towards nature-oriented and adventurous travel. Thus a new concept of Ecotourism emerged. Ecotourism is focused primarily on exploring the nature and learning from it. Most countries encourage this because it attracts a large number of tourists to the land, which helps improve the economy. It typically occurs in areas that are naturally well-endowed, and it is expected to contribute to the conservation and preservation of such areas. Though all the promotional activities in tourism, especially that of ecotourism, are done in the guise of love for the environment and efforts to protect it, the underlying motive is profit making. Visiting exotic cultures and pristine sceneries of the host land provide the tourists a rare and unique experience, and they readily spend huge sums of money to be able to share it. The local tour operators and government seize this potential and promote the tourist activities. Most of the time the result is that the environment that they proclaim to protect is often exposed to deterioration. Though cultural exchange is upheld as one of the benefits of ecotourism, the reality is that culture is being sold as brands. The safaris into an African jungle or a visit to the backwaters of Kerala by herds of tourists are not helping the environment improve; instead these only cause trouble to the natural resources of the area. But the stakeholders like tour operators, agents, local administration and government etc are deriving monetary benefits which motivate them to promote such activities instead of discouraging it and saving the environment from harm. Thus one can easily see that profit making is the main objective of all the propaganda about ecotourism. Ecotourism has become a much sought after means for the intensified economic growth and is well illustrated in its rapid expansion worldwide over the past two decades. The fact that more and more nations are waking up to the economic potentialities of ecotourism that has turned almost all pristine places across the world as the potential hub for easy money proves the theory that the basic interest behind its promotion is profit motive. Eco-tourism is almost an umbrella word for a variety of activities provided by a wide range of operators from various exotic places around the globe. Despite the absence of a clear definition there is no difficulty in perceiving certain general characteristic features of ecotourism. It is all about nature-based forms of tourism with a motivation of appreciation and observation of traditional cultures existing in local areas. Further, it lays emphasis on educational aims such as familiarising the people with the exotic cultures, and subsequently developing a temperamental compatibility between host and guest culture. Part of its aim is to benefit the host communities economically for supporting in their efforts in protecting the natural areas for the purpose of conservation. Such plans in the form of ecotourism are expected to give a thrust to the natives’ standard of life since each country can offer something original for the tourists who want anything natural and indigenous. Hence there is always a huge influx of tourists to naturally endowed areas to embark on a halcyon sojourn, rubbing shoulders with exotic life styles, trekking on mountains, in close rapport with wild animals and hobnobbing with natives that are projected as the icons of cultural variety. These activities are educative as well as entertaining while exposing the tourists to a world hitherto unknown to them. But only a few fail to detect the gleam of gold that shimmers beneath the layers of propaganda by a host community that strives to push its chubby baby into a Midas embrace. Various measures are in place to retain the interests of the visitors by portraying the culture of area as most immaculate and the joys provided are unique in its kind. Considering this growing importance of ecotourism the United Nations observed the year 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism and has made a clarion call to the international agencies, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and the private entrepreneurs for undertaking supportive activities for the further expansion of ecotourism. (WTO 2002). Along with this the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) too are making concerted efforts for the fructification of this aim, even at the cost of exhausting their potential to undertake programs at the international level. Involving the host communities in the tourism process is purported to create substantial employment opportunities, and thereby it promulgates an idea of eliminating the evils of poverty that rules many of these communities. However, in actual fact this is only false propaganda as the tour operators are only keen about profit making. Subsequently it will pave the way for financial motives. Ecotourism, in principle, plans to boost countries with an ailing economy, such as African, Latin American, and certain Asian countries. (Hall and Lew, 1998). Hence, the organizers have to focus on the indigenous features of these places and bill them to attract sightseers, which again entail huge costs. By extending hospitality to tourists the policy makers believe to boost the economy of the host communities. Thus the revenue earned will escalate and it is designed to be conducted in a sustainable manner. One should not lose sight of the fact that tourism with these concerted efforts has become an industry. There are several negative implications hidden beneath the purported benefits of ecotourism. The authorities are not in fact trying anything to protect the community or their culture and environment; their only motive is profit. From the primary vision of attracting tourists for appreciation and understanding the ecotourism enters the sphere of sheer commercial motives. Hence the host communities are drawn to an unhealthy competition to advertise their features and strong points worldwide. Such advertisements are possible if there is any particular cultural brand existing in the host community. There exists the danger of turning the whole host community with its food style, cultural fete, religious or tribal life into a brand. Turning culture into brands is a question of ethics while turning geographical and wildlife features into brands become even more important. Wildlife sanctuaries are marketed with a special focus on certain species of animals or birds of the place. The tour packages will have descriptions on these. For example Kangaroos and Kolas in Australia, lion tailed monkeys of India, and marine Iguana of Galapagos Islands. Subsequently, these efforts will give rise to the commoditisation of tourism. The places where poverty strengthened its clutches are more vulnerable to this tendency. As David A Fennel relates, a group of tourists visiting Mexico was invited by a native to view a Jaguar (2003, 178). The jaguar was bound to a fence with a chain. It was done under the impression that the tourist normally would like to see a live jaguar in close proximity. It is evidently an example to the sordid aspect of commodetization. Same is the case with sex tourism. Parallel to the growth of tourism industry sexual exploitation of children and flesh trade has also risen to alarming proportions. The lure of easy money prompts young people to sell their body to the visiting tourists. It often takes place for paltry gifts and a small wad of currency. This in fact is a seamy side of tourism which does not figure anywhere in the policy making discussions, and the authorities concerned, more often than not, connive with them. In several places in Asia, organized flesh trade takes place under the nose of law enforcement agencies, and often the reticent authority relegates itself to the role of a safe façade shielding such activities. Commercialization takes place in another form of child labour and an estimated 13-19 million children and young people below 18 years age are employed in tourism industry worldwide. (ILO, 2001). They are subjected to inhuman work pressures to meet targets though the wages are paid in compensation are pittance as compared to the sums the industry is raking in. Tourism centres without proper crime detection mechanism will culminate in a lot of law and order issues. As we know, urbanization is a key factor in the escalation of crimes. The situation ensuing from mass tourism can turn an entire locality into a hot bed for criminals and anti-social elements if ethically motivated machinery is not there to control the situation. Hence, murder, theft, and extortion can take place. Activities like drug peddling and immoral trafficking can thrive in such conditions if proper checks are not in place. If the commercial viability of a tourist centre is studied closely one will realize the truth that all economic developments through tourism are just superficial. On the other hand, mass tourism widens the gap between haves and have-nots. While the tourism operators of a particular area will become economically benefited and can have easy access to the luxurious life, the rest of the population are lurched in the squalors of poverty and financial crisis. An example to the context is the income inequality in Taman Negara national Park in western Malaysia. It is a privately owned park housing 260 visitors at a time. It has a draw of 65% staff from local population with monthly income US $ 120, while their fellow Malaysians earn an average income of about US$ 40 in the year 1999. (ILO Report on Human Resources, 2001). This huge disparity in the income earned by the people of the same community has led to social tension as the price of essential goods began to skyrocket. A desperate native began to engage in illegal hunting and fishing in the park, throwing all protective regulations to wind. Instead of distributing the inundating wealth in society on an egalitarian basis, most of the tourism centres are functioning in a manner that typically contradicts the visions of the policy makers. The tourists who take sojourn in a host community tend to spend large amounts of money in seeking pleasure. As a result, local people naturally establish ties with tourists and adapt many features that are hitherto alien to the host culture. By selling cultural brands like souvenirs some of the natives can earn far more than the rest of the population. Hence, they develop a tendency to sell pirated version of indigenous products because of scarcity of products in large volumes so as to satisfy the surging demand. Thus the people reduce themselves to mere sellers of the products in demand rather than upholding or promoting the popularity of their cultural heritage. It is obvious that tourism can provide job opportunities to the host community. But the distribution of job is flawed with its failure to ensure quality jobs to all. A nation is a culture composite with diverse social, political, religious and economic activities, and if any of its geographic centres is over burdened with unhealthy interventions, it will have far-reaching consequences. On the one hand it may be showing the signs of great future prospects but most often policy makers and operators are reticent or blind to perceive its negative implications. The tall claims about job prospects are only eyewashes when the ground realities are taken into account. Only a negligible percentage of skilled labourers can reap the prospects while the majority are reduced to the level of street vendors, errand boys, and unskilled travel guides. They are the disgruntled lot who remain as the by-products of the tourism market. Ecotourism operators as well as policy makers usually make high decibel praises about its growth rate and support for regional development without encroaching upon nature. The term eco-tourism is plausibly suggestive of conducting tourism activities without negative impact upon ecology. Once a tourism centre comes into existence, several unhealthy situations will prop up along with it. It is usual to see too many restaurants, mega-resorts, shopping malls, recreations clubs, and even golf course in certain locations that surround tourist centres. The reason for their existence is mainly attributed to the profit deriving from the tourist presence. Otherwise the whole place would have been a place untouched by commercial interests. The human intervention at these places on such a large-scale results in to environmental risks and a substitute term for ecotourism is ‘eco-terrorism.’ The pressure exerted on environment through tourism activities is setting the alarm bell for a rethinking, because the marketability of ecotourism rests mainly on the quality of environment both natural and manmade. Tapping of natural potential with a view to enthral the tourists remains as a top priority in all policy making and marketing decisions, and these activities are complex in many ways. Therefore, a tourism hub requires infrastructure support to facilitate tourist demands and the quality of infrastructure will determine the quantum of visitors. Ensuring a state of the art facility spells extreme pressure on the ecosystem of the given area. Ecosystem is a geographic area comprising all living organisms, their physical surroundings, and the natural cycle that sustain them. It is an irony that most of the ecotourism destinations are located at ecologically fragile areas such as alpine regions, rain forests, wetlands, mangroves, and coral reefs. The threats to these ecosystems are always escalating along with ecotourism, and thereby endangering the life of rare and endangered macro and micro organisms. Depletion of natural resources on a vast scale has already jeopardized nature, with water resources either being polluted or channelled for recreation purposes while the local population is queuing up for a can of water from public water distribution. The incidences of water scarcity due to tourism operations are common in several major tourist centres. Tourism can exert great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply. Disproportionate demand and supply trigger unbearable pressure on the local population, especially in the season based tourism operations. When the large volume of tourists flock at a place in a particular season all the mechanism of everyday life will be substituted or reallocated to satisfy the guests. Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, in the provision of tourist facilities can be caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision and the use of building material. The negative impact ensuing from fuel wood collection and land clearing on woodlands and forests are taking place on a big scale. What is otherwise a serene natural backdrop, with the pollution resulting from influx of tourists, turns out to be an unhealthy place for inhabitation. It happens mainly because of the solid waste and littering in rivers, scenic areas, and at roadsides. It is again intensified by the conspicuous absence of proper waste disposal mechanism. As per UNEP Report the Wider Caribbean Region stretching from Florida to French Guiana generates 82,000 tons of garbage every year. On average, passenger on a cruise ship produces 3.5 kilograms of garbage daily in comparison with 0.8 kilograms of garbage generated by an ordinary man on shore. (UNEP 1999). Transport emissions and emanation from energy production and use are linked to acid rain, global warming, and photochemical pollution. Air pollution from tourist transportation has impacts on the global level, particularly from carbon dioxide emissions from frequent transportation energy use. Noise pollution from increased vehicular movement also causes distress to wildlife, especially in sensitive areas. Yet, despite all these, there are promoters for ecotourism. Ultimately, what motivates them other than the colour of money? Though ecotourism professes to bring people to the fold of nature, it mostly fails to integrate its structures with natural features with indigenous architectural features. Thus it gives rise to aesthetic pollution that stems mostly from unscrupulous infrastructure planning plausibly done to satisfy private entrepreneurs’ commercial interests. Are we aware of the risks, or are we just pretending that everything is fine when we get our dues? The obvious is that when you give, you get. You compromise your ecological balance and you increase your balance elsewhere. Isn’t that every host community doing while propagating cultural integration? Thus it is conspicuous for anybody to recognize that ecotourism is not exactly what most of us promulgate it to be. In fact, to suggest that the tourism industry is concerned with anything other than its own interest, which essentially remains profit, is distressingly naive. WORKS CITED Fennel, David.A. (2003). Ethics and Tourism. New York: Tyler & Francis Co Hall, Michael.C and Lew, Alan.A (Eds.). (1998). Sustainable Tourism: A Geographical Perspective. New York: Longman, Harlow. ILO. (2001). Report on Human Resources Development, Employment, and Globalization in the hotel, catering, and tourism sector. UNEP. (1999). Our Planet. Magazine for environmentally sustainable development, Volume 10, No. 3. WTO. (2002). Sustainable Development of Tourism: Good Practices. http://pub.world.tourism.org./ecotourism accessed on 1st November 2006. Read More