Managing Sustainable Tourism - Research Paper Example

Running head: Sustainable Tourism Solutions Introduction Economists around the world predict that the growthin international tourism will continue to be experienced into the future. The tourism industry has been recognized as one of the fastest growing sectors. Its continued growth poses numerous challenges on biological ecosystems and indigenous culture around the world since the industry interacts very closely with the two factors. For the promotion of sustainable tourism the tourists should be sensitive to the dangers they are likely to pose to their destinations and they should therefore protect their destinations and the tourism industry in general. The tourists can achieve this by acquiring adequate information in advance concerning the politics, economy and culture of the communities they intend to visit, by respecting and anticipating the local cultures of the communities visited their assumptions and expectations. They should contribute positively to intercultural tolerance and understanding and also take part in the community based organizations aimed at conserving the environment (Edgell, 2006). Traditional approach to tourism Traditional tourism based on the carrying capacity led to the damaging of the economy, culture and the environment of the tourist's destinations. Through this approach, the local people experienced negative effects on their local economy, their cultures were diluted and their environment was severely damaged. Traditional tourism could in most cases result to both social and economic costs to the locals. The traditional tourism exerted a lot pressure on the natural environment and resources. The disposal of solid and liquid waste arising from the tourism is a major problem to most of the developing countries; due to lack of capacity to treat such wastes (United Nations, 2001). The disposal of such wastes in their untreated form contributes significantly to the reduction of natural resources such as the fresh water. The solid and liquid waste from the tourism industry also contaminated the marine environment thereby destroying the marine ecosystem (Miller, & Louise, 2006). The traditional tourism approach lacked a very important element which made it no to be sustainable and was doomed to break at one point or another. It failed to include all the stakeholders in its management. The management of tourism under this approach was mainly the duty of the government with the rest of the stakeholder playing virtually no role. The local communities therefore perceived tourism as an activity that was in no way aimed at benefiting them. The government on the other hand could not give back to the tourism industry from the revenues it had collected and thus there were no funds which were destined to conserve the environment which had been affected by tourism activities (Weaver, 2006). By blocking relevant stakeholders from all levels of tourism planning implementation and development blocked major contributions for addressing several concerns brought about by tourism. For tourism to be successful it is very important to bring all the stakeholders on board an element that was clearly lacking in the traditional carrying capacity approach. This has led to the development of new approaches so as to address the challenges brought about by traditional tourism practices (Swarbrooke, 1999). Modern approaches to tourism Environmental management based tourism development is one of the new approaches; it is favoured because it appreciates the fact that tourism plays a leading role in the economic development at the community, regional, national and international levels. It achieves this by utilizing natural environments and resources as its main physical inputs. While making use of these natural environments and resources it is very important to reduce negative impacts to the environment as much as possible so as to be certain that their availability in the future is assured. By conserving the natural environments and resources enough revenue from the industry is obtained a portion of which is reinvested back to the industry and this ensures its growth and sustainability. Such reinvestments should always be guided towards enhancing that the resources retain their good quality and that the management capacity at various levels is well built. A complex relationship exists between tourism and the environment, such that the tourism industry has significant and inevitable impacts such as use of resources, waste management, pollution and effects related to tourism transport (Srinivas, n.d.). Tourism planners and managers can use environmental based tourism approach to address various issues arising from the tourism industry. The environmental ecological aspects which constitute the destinations for tourists should be viewed as ecosystems with natural networks for creating life. These ecosystems are very important since they stabilize climate, store and purify water, produce food, recycle wastes and also support the other living organisms. It is therefore, very important for the stakeholders to formulate policies aimed at preserving the natural environment and resources. The formulation of these policies is very significant and should be made while achieving goals for economic development, especially eliminating poverty at the national, community, international and regional levels. The role of different stakeholders is very important in the formulation of these policies. These stakeholders include the community, non governmental organisations, the international community, government and the tourism industry. All the stakeholders should be actively involved in the policy formulation process and aware in the management of sustainable tourism development (Harris, R., G. & Williams, 2002). Sustainable tourism approach based on the community is another method of managing tourism development in a sustainable manner. In this approach the local community are actively involved in the tourism activities taking place in their areas. They are allowed to manage tourism development and also raise revenue from these activities to develop their local areas. This approach has been applied in Northern Thailand which has rich historical, natural and cultural attractions which have all played a leading role in mass tourism development in the country. Development of tourism in Thailand originated from Bangkok to all other parts of Thailand. The natural, historical and cultural attractions together with the friendly people of the country made Thailand to be an attractive destination to very many tourists. The main hill tribe groups in northern part of Thailand; these include the Hmong, Lisu, Lahu, Mien, Shan, Haw Chinese and Akha. By the year 1990 tourism based on hill tribes was very much organized. However, some visitors have not been systematically monitored by the tourism authority of Thailand. In the past couple of years the province of Mae Hong Son has developed into a very significant tourist destination since it is covered by mountains, the forests are dense and the northern part of the country has also diverse culture and ethnicity. Some of the hill tribes have been affected by the negative impacts of tourism on their way of life but most of them have been able to maintain their culture despite the high levels of tourists' activities in their region. The uncontrolled access to the remote locations of this region brought about problems with the management of waste which eventually threatened the entire ecology (Richards & Hall, 2000). Community based tourism was in this case applicable and was developed as a means of overcoming or reducing the negative effects brought about by tourism activities in the rural and remote areas. The community based sustainable tourism was developed with the aim of empowering the local people economically so that they could be self reliant, support human rights of people, improve their living standards and help the people raise their income levels. Community participation, local knowledge, exchange of cultural practices with the tourists and local capabilities assist in sustaining of both natural and cultural resources. Community based tourism was first practiced at Huay Hee; this village became a very successful model to other villages and communities in northern Thailand. Community based tourism in northern Thailand had a holistic approach and it included management of natural resource, development of sustainable tourism, strengthening of the civil society, prevention of drug and substance abuse and training the youths in leadership skills (Pacione, 1999). Through community based tourism in Thailand the people's awareness on environmental issues was increased. Village men were trained on the expected behaviour of tourists during treks. The village women provided meals, sold items which have been weaved in a traditional manner and also taking care of the tourists while in their communities. Part of the revenue arising from tourism was saved in a fund within the villages, these funds could be used to grow orchids, help in the conservation of the forests, support travel and education that was related to the tourism industry. The community based tourism in the province of Mae Hong Son can be used by other communities around the world as a model to show how tourism managed at local level is capable of yielding good fruits (Hall, 2008). Indonesia is a good example that has well adopted the approach of community based ecotourism. The main reason for the country using this approach is the general guideline of national development. In this case the government of Indonesia mandates that the development of ecotourism is an objective and that communities ought to increase their capacity by developing programs that are sustainable. In order to enhance the achievement sustainable development in the implementation of community based eco tourism the most important factors are participating in the decision making process by the community and accessing the tourism market. This would play a big role in achieving effective management and planning of the tourism activities. Communities also acquire capacity building through training that enables them to acquire new skills necessary for the management of ecotourism (Herremans, 2006). There are two cases of community based eco tourism in Indonesia. The first is the one at the islands of Togean in Central Sulawesi; it is a major tourist destination in the country. The region has a lot of wealth in terms of cultural diversity, historical relics which are interesting, ethnic groups which are unique and various natural attractions. The inhabitants of this region are mainly farmers and fishermen and practice commerce and trade to a small extent. The development of ecotourism posed real threat to the marine environment, expansion of accommodations that are poorly planned and transportation problems. An ecotourism programme was developed by the Conservation International Indonesia through meetings at community level so as to develop capacity among the community members for them to have the required skills for handling ecotourism. This training involved a process of building consensus at community and regional level. This would aid in the development of a strategy for ecotourism, ecotourism based on the community and the carrying out of international and national marketing to promote the islands of Togean as a region of conservation of integrated biodiversity and participation of the community in environmental education and ecotourism. The second includes the developing ecotourism that is community based in the Gunung Halium National Park (GHNP) this national park is the only remaining lowland forest in west Java and has a diverse fauna and flora. The villages surrounding the park were developed to be good destinations for ecotourism. Mechanisms were developed for the villagers to enable them manage the resources of the park. In both cases the there was distribution of wealth from the park among the community members (Williams, 2004). Conclusion Traditional approaches of managing sustainable tourism had several shortcomings. Their continued use could have eventually resulted to slowed growth rate of tourism and earnings arising from the industry. For countries like Indonesia and Thailand which have taken steps in practicing sustainable tourism is a good measure which should be adopted by other countries if they are to continue enjoying the benefits of tourism. For tourism to be sustainable it is very important to consider the natural environment and resources, peoples' culture and traditions for these are the factors that lead to the growth of the industry. Community based tourism should be adopted in a healthy way as it will lead to bettering the lives of the local communities by improving their living standards as well as taking an active role in conserving their environment. Reference: Edgell, D. L. (2006): Managing sustainable tourism: a legacy for the future; ISBN 0789027712, Haworth Press. Hall, C.M. (2008): Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships; ISBN 0132046520, Prentice Hall. Harris, R. G. & Williams, P. (2002): Sustainable tourism: a global perspective; ISBN 0750689463, Butterworth-Heinemann. Herremans, I.M. (2006): Cases in sustainable tourism: an experiential approach to making decisions; ISBN 0789027658, Haworth Press Miller, G. & Louise T. (2006): Monitoring for a sustainable tourism transition: the challenge of developing and using indicators; ISBN 0851990517 CABI. Pacione, M. (1999): Applied Geography: Principles and Practice: an Introduction to Useful Research in Physical, Environmental and Human Geography; ISBN 0415182689, Routledge. Swarbrooke, J. (1999): Sustainable tourism management; ISBN 0851993141, CABI Srinivas, H. (n.d.): The Sustainable Tourism Gateway; Retrieved on 30th April from, http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/eco-tour.html. Richards, G. & Hall, D.R. (2000): Tourism and Sustainable Community Development; ISBN 0203464915, Routledge. United Nations (2001): MANAGING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT; Retrieved on 30th April from, http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TPTS_pubs/Toreview_No22_2141.p df. Williams, S. (2004): Tourism: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences; ISBN 0415243750, Taylor & Francis. Weaver, D.B. (2006): Sustainable tourism: theory and practice; ISBN 075066438X, Butterworth-Heinemann Read More