The Extent to Which the Project Aspires to and Achieves Sustainable Practices - Research Proposal Example

Sustainable Tourism 1. Evaluate the meaning and nature of 'ecotourism' and its' relationship to sustainability through a review of relevant literature. Select a case study ecotourism project and analyse the extent to which the project aspires to and achieves sustainable practices. Introduction In recent years the image of the Third World in western minds has emerged in part from that of cataclysmic crisis - of famine and starvation, deprivation and war - to represent the opportunity for an exciting 'new style' holiday. Offering the attraction of environmental beauty and ecological and cultural diversity, travel to many Third World countries has been promoted, especially among the middle classes, as an opportunity for adventurous, 'off-the-beaten-track' holidays and as a means of preserving fragile, exotic and threatened landscapes and providing a culturally enhancing encounter. At the same time, some Third World governments have seized upon this new-found interest and have promoted tourism as an opportunity to earn much-needed foreign exchange - another attempt to break from the confines of 'under-development'. There is something contradictory in viewing the Third World through an analysis of tourism. At one extreme there is the association of the Third World with fundamentalist terrorism, a risk to the security of the west, or overpopulation, poverty and disease. At the other there are also more subtle manipulations by the tourism industry of friendly Third World peoples, natural and pristine environments and ecological and cultural diversity. Both extremes, we will argue, form an important element in understanding contemporary Third World tourism. Importantly, and central to the line of argument developed in the paper, tourism is a way of representing the world to ourselves and to others. It cannot be understood as just a means of having some enjoyment and a break from the routine of every day, an entirely innocent affair with some unfortunate incidental impacts. Rather, a deeper understanding of tourism is needed to appreciate fully its content and expression as well as its potential impact. This research paper focuses on new and purportedly sustainable forms of tourism to Third World destinations in the context of a world undergoing accelerated processes of globalisation. The focus is relatively tight in two important respects. There are now many studies of tourism, especially tourism in the Third World, that catalogue and discuss its growth and impacts. In particular, studies have tended to highlight the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts of conventional package tourism. Rather than adding to this body of work, we focus particularly on the under-researched 'new' forms of tourism promoted in the First World and patronised almost exclusively by North Americans, Europeans and Australasians. Although proportionately small relative to all forms of Third World tourism, the new forms of tourism are significant in terms of both the claims that are made about them and the rate at which they are growing. Second, we do not seek to add to the growing number of accounts which attempt to identify sustainable tourism development (in terms of the environment, economy and culture) or prescribe good practice methods and tools for achieving this goal. Many of these have emerged from First World sources and necessarily involve judging the sustainability or otherwise of varying types of Third World tourism development. Instead, we explore the way in which the claim, or discourse, of sustainability is used and applied to new forms of tourism (for example, the way in which ecotourism - a new form of tourism - is premised upon the notion of sustainability). One way of capturing this important difference in our approach is to state that this is a thesis paper and discussion is about sustainability and Third World tourism, rather than sustainable Third World tourism. The former approach, adopted here, signals the need for a critical analysis of the issues, while the latter implies the need to define and prescribe models of good practice. Literature Review Rather than commencing a study of Third World tourism with the environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts of tourism (worthy though these are as research considerations in themselves), the starting point here involves seeking to understand how socio-cultural, economic and political processes operate on and through tourism. In other words, it is necessary to take a step back in the analysis of tourism. This stems in part from the weaknesses present in the tourism literature. As Britton observes: Although over-simplifying, we could characterise the 'geography of tourism' as being primarily concerned with: the description of travel flows; microscale spatial structure and land use of tourist places and facilities; economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts of tourist activity; impacts of tourism in third world countries; geographic patterns of recreation and leisure pastimes; and the planning implications of all these topics … These are vital elements of the study of travel and tourism. But these sections are dealt within descriptive and weakly theorised ways. (2001:451) This problem is of fundamental importance as it has led to an absence of an adequate theoretical critique for understanding the dynamics of tourism and the social activities it involves. There are, therefore, two identifiable groups of research. The first is concerned primarily with auditing, categorising, listing and grouping the outputs or consequences of tourism; the second approach is concerned primarily with conceptualising the forces which impact on tourism and, through an analysis of these forces, providing a broader context for understanding tourism. The crucial difference in the latter approach is that tourism is seen as a focal lens through which broader considerations can be taken into account, and it confirms the multidisciplinary foundation upon which tourism research is built as the only way in which tourism can be comprehended. As a personal activity, tourism is practised by a diverse range of the population; as an industry, it is multisectoral; and as a means of economic and cultural exchange, it has many facets and forms. Any comprehensive analysis of the field must therefore be multidisciplinary; and of necessity a study of tourism must be a net importer of ideas, themes and concepts from the broader social sciences. Accordingly, our discussion draws on economics, development theory, environmental theory, social theory, politics, geography and international relations, for example. Inevitably, this breadth of consideration will mean that a number of relevant aspects are not examined in depth, and do not necessarily cover the complexity of the matters under discussion. At the same time as using the concepts of a range of academic and intellectual fields in order better to understand tourism, the study of tourism helps us to illuminate more general economic, political, social, geographical and environmental processes. We try not to see tourism as a discrete field of study. Rather, it is an activity which helps us to understand the world. Tourism might also be regarded as a key word. The meanings attached to it are many and varied, and 'tourism' and 'tourist' have in some quarters become derided and ridiculed. How often are people heard to describe their holidays as being 'well away from tourists and the main tourism areas'? In other quarters, Third World tourism is regarded negatively, and the word symbolises a range of problems: environmental degradation, the distortion of national economies, the corruption of traditional cultures, and, on a trivial level for the individual, unsanitary conditions and food poisoning. The emergence of new forms of tourism (prefixed with sustainable and eco-, for example) is testimony to the identification of the problem and the attempt to signal that these new forms aim to overcome the problem and to be something that plain old 'tourism' is not. The second theme is the uneven and unequal development which underlines the relationship especially between the First World and Third World (but also at inter- and intra-regional and intra-national levels), and through which we argue all forms of tourism are best understood. At its most basic level this theme is reflected in the fact that it is people from the First World who make up the significant bulk of international tourists and it is they who have the resources to make relatively expensive journeys for pleasure. Equally, processes of uneven development are reflected through the growing elite and newly wealthy classes in some Third World countries who are now able to participate in tourism. And of course tourism development is also highly uneven geographically. Areas that are in fashion today may fall from grace tomorrow. This theme seeks to demonstrate why a critical understanding of tourism can be expanded through an analysis that places relationships of power at the heart of the enquiry. These relationships range from the political, economic and military power of First World countries in contrast to Third World countries, the power wielded by international multilateral donors (from the World Bank to the European Union), the power of local elites in contrast to the local populations in tourist destination communities, and the power invested in tourists themselves. Our contention is that an analysis of tourism must start from an understanding and critical assessment of the relationships of power involved. The final theme is the geographical focus of the analysis, the so-called Third World. The history of development studies has thrown up a variety of terms that attempt to represent and categorise countries according to their wealth and social well-being. In particular, the terminology attached to countries lower down the 'human development index' (a widely adopted index ranking countries on a number of criteria) has been keenly disputed - should they be described as 'poorer', 'lower income', 'developing', 'under-developed', 'the South', 'Third World', or indeed 'non-viable economies' (de Rivero, 2001) or 'slow economies' (Toffler, quoted in Sachs, 1999)? All such terms possess their advocates and detractors, reflect political priorities and dispositions, and no one term will suit all audiences. The problem of definition is made more acute when rapidly changing economic factors mean that old categories no longer hold good, and the meaning of development is constantly contested (Nederveen Pieterse, 2001). Within the industry, tourism to protected areas and pristine wilderness is one of the most rapidly growing sectors. This is what Boo describes as the ecotourism sector which 'has rapidly evolved from a pastime of a select few, to a range of activities that encompasses many people pursuing a wide variety of interests in nature' (2000:2). It also goes under several other names or descriptors which will be examined in the following section. Published data on the increase in the importance of new forms of tourism are difficult to come by. Where they exist, they do so for specific sites, parks, or tours, and their overall significance in the tourism industry is still difficult to measure. For Costa Rica, a country renowned for its national parks and its promotion of ecotourism, the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism's annual surveys of visitors have regularly shown that around 70 per cent of its tourists (both national and international) visit its protected areas. Costa Rica may not be representative of Third World countries in this sense, although it is often held out as a model of tourism development for others to follow. Evidence seems to suggest an increasing share of the tourism market for types of tourism which may (or, as we shall see, may not) be referred to as 'responsible', 'sustainable', 'alternative' or 'environmentally friendly', and an increase in holiday journeys to Third World countries. In the UK in 2001, the Tear Fund (2002) reports that one in ten holidays taken by British people were to Third World countries (that is, 4.3 million holidays), and points out that many of the favourite new tourist destinations are among the poorest countries in the world. It is noteworthy that many estimates are generally not dissimilar to the estimated 10-12 per cent of the First World population interested in the issues which concern the socio-environmental movement (WTO/OMT, 1995). It is clear that one of the difficulties in measuring this growth is the uncertainty of what is being measured. The terminology associated with the type of tourism and the different definitions of these types varies, as does the debate about their degree of sustainability. The terminology and definitions of the new forms of tourism are discussed in the next two sections. Methodology It would be tempting to dismiss the terminology as insignificant and of little consequence to the notion of sustainability except inasmuch as it provides us with descriptive labels. But the use of these terms represents an attempt to distance the activities associated with the new forms of tourism from what are presumed to be the unsustainable activities pursued by the mass. Frank Barrett of the UK Independent newspaper calls this 'a reaction to the naffness of package holidays' (Barrett, 1989). But, sustainability is a goal and/or claim of various sectors of the mass tourism industry as well as the sector of the industry which can be described as 'new'. With this burgeoning list of new terms has emerged a new range of travel agents and tour operators which offer their clients individually centred, flexible, personalised holidays. Phrases used to appeal to the tourist's desire for something different and exclusive include: 'designer' tourism from Cara Spencer Safaris; 'bespoke' itineraries from Journey Latin America. The markets associated with this are referred to as 'individuated' or 'specialised', as distinct from 'mass'. It is also necessary for operators to differentiate themselves from 'conventional' travel operators. Magic of the Orient, therefore, claim their holiday brochure is 'like no other', for it is a 'collection of ideas', and Roama Travel (specialising in treks and climbs in India and Nepal) establish that they are not 'a travel agent but a specialist tour operator'. Travel consultancies, a middle-class transformation of the travel agent, have also begun to appear. Marco Polo Travel Advisory Service, for example, offers a consultation service to the 'imaginative and independent traveller looking for an extra dimension' to their holiday. The small specialist operators catering for the new middle classes who form an increasingly significant market segment can translate their desire to be a twenty-first-century adventurer, explorer or 'traveller'. Urry (2000) argues that this represents a consumer reaction against being part of a mass; and, as we have discussed, the emergence of these specialised markets is a feature of a post-Fordist mode of consumption. In the same way that the new middle classes assume control of the 'new' activities through their exclusiveness, so the operators assume exclusivity, and therefore status, for themselves on the grounds of their specialised, individualised offerings. The messy word de-differentiation (a key feature of postmodernism) is used to convey a straightforward idea. It involves the way new tourism practices may no longer be about tourism per se, but embody other activities. On the one hand this means combining a variety of 'activities' such as adventure, trekking, climbing, sketching and mountain biking. More significantly, on the other hand, it means the marriage of different, often intellectual, spheres of activity with tourism (that is, academic, anthropological, archaeological, ecological and scientific tourisms). Discussion Ecotourism Faring badly during the UN's International Year of Ecotourism. Considered by Third World protagonists as an elite form of western defined pleasure and by First World proponents as a means of protecting ecologically valuable Third World destination habitats. Unashamedly focused on the environment, with largely incidental benefits for local host communities. Sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism concentrates on environmental issues - relabelled from ecotourism. Although pro-poor tourism advocates would agree with much that sustainable tourism stands for, the overall objective of sustainable tourism is not to reduce poverty, though this may happen as a result of sustainable tourism development. The tour operators describe new tourist activities in short advertising 'bites', such as 'spectacular views of active volcano', 'surrounded by exuberant evergreen forest', 'exciting thrills of white water rafting' and many more. Specialised ecotour operators may develop these along the lines of: 'it is our pleasure to give the visitors personalised, low-impact, rustic excursions to national parks, Mayan archaeological sites, and natural wonders of Guatemala' (Ultra-Unlimited, 1991). Not surprisingly, the destination communities stress the importance of their own involvement in all stages of planning and operating tours. In its lengthy definition of ecotourism, the Talamanca Association for Ecotourism and Conservation in Costa Rica (ATEC) includes the following: Ecotourism means more than bird books and binoculars … more than native art hanging on hotel walls or ethnic dishes on the restaurant menu. Ecotourism is not mass tourism behind a green mask. Ecotourism means a constant struggle to defend the earth and to protect and sustain traditional communities. Ecotourism is a cooperative relationship between the non-wealthy local community and those sincere, open-minded tourists who want to enjoy themselves in a Third World setting. (ATEC, 1991:1) Conclusion The debate is currently not one of whether local communities should be involved in the development of tourism to their areas, but how they should be involved and whether 'involvement' means 'control'. This struggle for power and control over the tourist activities and financial benefits is at its sharpest at the destination end. The degree of control is generally perceived as being a significant element of sustainability. In most relevant texts these communities are referred to as 'hosts', but we try to avoid this term as it generally conveys the idea that the resident populations in these communities are willing partners in the activity. In some instances, this may be the case, but, as we shall see, in others it is not. Governments are more concerned with the national planning strategies required to exploit the potential of their natural environments - in some cases without destroying them. But all too often, ministers who speak radically, convincingly and frequently about protection of the nation's environmental and cultural treasures are the same people. References Asociación de Talamanca para el Ecoturismo y la Conservación (ATEC) (Talamanca Association for Eco-tourism and Conservation) (1991) What is Eco-tourism?, Limón, Costa Rica. Barrett, F. (1989) The Independent Guide to Real Holidays Abroad, London: Independent. Britton, S. (2001) 'Tourism, capital and place: towards a critical geography of tourism', Environment & Planning D: Society & Space 9, 4: 451-78. Boo, E. (1990) Ecotourism: The Potentials and Pitfalls, vols 1 and 2, Baltimore, Maryland: World Wildlife Fund. Baker, L. (2001) 'Enterprise at the expense of the environment?', Environmental News Network www.enn.com, 7 March. Barnett, T. (2002) 'Behind the eco-label', In Focus 42: 4-5. Bianchi, R. (2002) 'Conceptualising the relations of place and power in tourism development', Tourism, Culture and Communication, New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation. Cattarinich, X. (2001) Pro-poor Tourism Initiatives in Developing Countries: Analysis of Secondary Case Studies, Pro-Poor Tourism Working Paper no. 8. de Rivero, O. (2001) The Myth of Development: The Non-viable Economies of the 21st Century, London: Zed Books. Denny, C. (2001) 'Profit motive', Guardian Weekly 15-21 November: 27. Hettne, B. (2002) 'Current trends and future options in development studies', in V. Desai and R. Potter (eds) The Companion to Development Studies, London: Arnold. Nederveen Pieterse, J. (2000) 'After post-development', Third World Quarterly 21, 2: 175-91. Sachs, W. (1999) Planet Dialectics: Explorations in Environment and Development, London: Zed Books. Tourism Concern (undated) Trekking in the Himalayas, information sheet, London: Tourism Concern. Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team (2000) 'Call for a fundamental reassessment of the UN International Year of Ecotourism 2002: Letter to Oliver Hillel, UNEP Tourism Programme Coordinator', TIM-Team, Bangkok, Thailand. Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team (2001) 'Mekong Region: tourism and indigenous peoples', Clearinghouse for Reviewing Ecotourism 12, TIM-Team, Bangkok, Thailand. Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team (2002) 'UN "International Year of Ecotourism 2002" in a deep muddle - scrap it!', Clearinghouse for Reviewing Ecotourism 19, TIM-Team, Bangkok, Thailand. Urry, J. (2000) 'The consumption of "tourism"', Sociology 24: 23-35. Read More