Tourism Flashcards

Question

A Model of Carrying Capacity

Answer 1

Students should be able to: (i) define ecotourism (ii) demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how ecotourism can bring: - social, economic and environmental benefits - negative impacts: social (displacement of local communities and threats to indigenous cultures), economic (leakage), environmental (greenwashing and damage to fragile environments) (iii) discuss the challenges in establishing effective international regulation and explain how each of the following measures is used to regulate ecotourism: - the Québec Declaration - Global Ecotourism Conference 2007 - Green Globe Scheme - UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Answer 2

If ecotourism is carefully regulated and managed it can lead to a number of potential benefits to an area and its communities. **~Social Benefits~** Many ecotourism destinations are in LEDCs where there are few job opportunities for young people. This frequently leads to out migration of those in the economically active age groups. Over time this process results in an ageing population and has a detrimental effect on social sustainability. Potential job opportunities created by ecotourism can halt, or at least curtail this out-migration. Ecotourism projects are planned and managed at local level involving large numbers of the indigenous population working as guides, preparing food and providing accommodation. Engagement in such activities can help sustain a local community. In addition, many ecotourists are accommodated in eco lodges (groups of small wooden huts built in clearings in the forest) or in local people's houses. This creates the opportunity for interaction between the tourists and local people, helps sustain traditional cultures and increases mutual understanding. The revenue from ecotourism can help fund projects that will lead to an increase in the standard of living. Examples include improved sanitation, water supply, health care, education, power supply and communications. Increased awareness of the needs of these communities can also encourage aid donations from tourists. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme launched in 2015 highlighted sustainable tourism, including ecotourism as a means of empowering women. This can be achieved partly by involving women in producing and selling local craft products. It has been shown that women's rights have been strengthened in this way. **~Economic Benefits~** As mentioned earlier, ecotourism creates employment opportunities and wealth that can be used to raise the standard of living in these destinations. Income is earned through the provision of essential services such as food, accommodation and entertainment for tourists. Education and training schemes enhance the level of skills of the local people who are then better equipped to gain higher paid jobs. In the best examples of ecotourism, all or most of the profit remains in the local area and is either invested into new projects or is paid in wages to the community. In turn this leads to a fall in poverty levels, an increase in disposable income and a greater demand for consumer goods. **~Environmental Benefits~** The main focus of ecotourism is based around an appreciation of the natural environment and the need for sustainable use of resources. In the best examples of ecotourism the principles of sustainability are incorporated through the use of biodegradable soaps and packaging, green energy such as solar power, recycling and conservation of water resources. In addition, local products are used where possible to reduce the need for imports. By employing guides trained in ecosystem protection methods, damage to fragile environments is minimised. Information programmes designed to heighten awareness of the need to safeguard fragile environments have been shown to increase support for protected land status such as marine parks and wildlife reserves. Funding for conservation practices is gained from entrance fees charged at parks or for safari tours.

Answer 3

As stated earlier, ecotourism is controversial and there are examples of destinations advertising holidays in remote fragile environments which do not comply with its essential criteria. Many of these destinations are adversely affected by the development of a tourism product which is not based on the principles of sustainability. **~Negative Social Impacts~** **Displacement of local communities and threats to indigenous cultures** There are many reported incidents of local people being removed, sometimes forcibly, from their villages to make way for so-called ecotourism projects. Such practices also threaten traditional cultures. The Maasai people in East Africa are one example of a community displaced from their traditional grazing lands by the creation of one of the world's best-known wildlife parks, the Maasai Mara. The Maasai are a nomadic pastoralist community whose grazing lands extend across large parts of East Africa including the countries of Kenya and Tanzania. Approximately 70% of the national parks and game reserves in this area occupy land that was formerly used as grazing land by the Maasai. They have been denied access to grazing land in the protected areas, putting their only livelihood at risk. Most received no compensation and few have secured employment in the reserves, as most of the jobs go to more educated workers. Furthermore, tourism is not managed locally and the profits are not used for the benefit of the local community. In some cases game reserves were created without informing or consulting local people, who found out about the situation only when they received an eviction notice. Several thousand Maasai were removed from game reserves in Tanzania to make way for an exclusive game-hunting area. In 2009, a mass eviction left more than 200 homes burned and 3000 people homeless. The Maasai traditional way of life is under threat from ecotourism in other ways. Attempts to relocate the Maasai in permanent settlements endangers their culture, which is based around a nomadic way of life. This has had a negative impact on some Maasai people, leading to an increase in alcoholism and prostitution. Mingling with tourists has brought the Maasai into contact with western diseases such as measles and chickenpox to which they have little immunity. The Maasai people are also viewed as a 'backdrop to the ecotourist experience and many feel exploited as they are photographed by wealthy western visitors. The presence of affluent ecotourists has also encouraged the development of markets in wildlife souvenirs such as ivory. These practices are at odds with conservation policies and are happening in many other destinations worldwide. In Botswana, the San people maintain a traditional hunting and gathering culture. They are known for their extensive knowledge of medicinal plants, spiritual healing and elaborate dance rituals. Between is edge of medicinal plants spotly removed from their ancestral home in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Their homes were dismantled, schools and health services were shut down, their water supply was destroyed and lives were threatened. In 2006, the San won a legal case that claimed their eviction from the reserve was unlawful and granted them the right to return home. However, they have been banned from hunting and must apply for permits to enter the reserve. **~Negative Economic Impacts~** **Leakage** According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) only half of the tourist spending in LEDCs remains there. The remainder goes to foreign developers based in the wealthier MEDCs. This process is known as leakage. Leakage is not confined to ecotourism but its effects are particularly damaging in that sector because many ecotourism developments occur in LEDCs. Leakage can occur when the developments are owned by foreign companies such as major hotel chains. For example in Belize, a Central American country where ecotourism has developed, over 90% of recent developments are large-scale luxury hotels owned by international companies. Profits generated in these hotels return to the parent company. In these circumstances the only economic benefit to the local community is derived from employment opportunities. Many of these are low paid and seasonal. Better paid jobs, such as managers, are allocated to skilled workers from within the hotel network and are mainly from outside the local area. Leakage can also occur when products for the tourism development are imported rather than using local products. Partly this may be due to limited local availability but a desire to maximise profits in the developer's country is also significant. Whatever the reason, this leakage constitutes a loss of income to the country concerned. **~Negative Environmental Impacts~** **Greenwashing and damage to fragile environments** Since there is no mechanism for imposing internationally agreed legal requirements on ecotourism developments there are incidences where these have been largely ignored. Ecotourism is a financially rewarding enterprise and some developers have sought to increase the range of holidays on offer by providing luxury holidays disguised as 'sustainable' or environmentally friendly. For example, luxury hotels in fragile environments that claim to have an energy saving policy. Such activities are described as 'greenwashing. Many of these hotels are foreign owned with little involvement with the local community apart from low-level skilled jobs. They are often located on prime natural sites with landscaped gardens and swimming pools. This leads to leakage of revenue back to the headquarters usually in richer MEDCs. Luxury hotels and their guests have limited social integration with the local community. They pose a threat to fragile environments because of their unsustainable use of scarce resources including water. Greenwashing can cause actual damage to fragile environments through increased pressure from tourists. In the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya considerable damage has been caused to the natural vegetation by the large numbers of safari minibuses which transport tourists through the reserve. Once the natural vegetation is damaged the area becomes prone to invasion by secondary vegetation types. In addition, the increased number of vehicles poses a threat to the wildlife. Coral reefs are especially vulnerable to tourist pressure. Reefs are damaged by boat anchors, tourists breaking off pieces of coral as souvenirs, and pollution. In Belize, so-called ecotourism developments have resulted in serious environmental degradation issues including: •Mangrove swamps have been drained to make way for a landing strip, destroying important nesting grounds for birds. The coral reef has been damaged and there is over fishing, leading to a decline in lobster numbers. • Unsupervised groups of tourists are permitted to visit nature reserves and they often fail to take sufficient care of the environment. Fragile environments are also threatened by any form of development. The building of infrastructure, even for the most compliant of ecotourism developments, is potentially damaging. The clearance of forested land to build water treatment plants for eco lodges in Costa Rica reduced the habitat for squirrel monkeys. In other places, the inadequacy of sanitation facilities has resulted in waste and sewage being dumped in rivers.

Answer 4

Ecotourism has made a significant contribution to economic and social development in areas, especially LEDCs. It has also promoted and sustained conservation practices. However, as the previous section highlighted, there are many examples of ecotourism having had negative impacts including displacement of local communities, leakage, greenwashing and damage to fragile environments. In some areas attention has focussed on short-term economic gain without any real regard for the long-term impacts on local society or the environment. The term 'ecotourism' is frequently applied incorrectly to any form of tourism developments in remote or natural environments. Five star luxury 'eco lodges' in the Maasai Mara game reserves and in the rainforests of Costa Rica are just two examples of this practice. Transport improvements have made even the most remote areas accessible and as tourists seek new tourism opportunities there is a growing threat to environmentally sensitive areas such as Alaska. These areas generally have a low carrying capacity and require effective management policies to prevent serious damage. Ecotourism is relatively recent, developing since the 1980s, and it has taken time for management policies and regulation to become established. Although there is general agreement on the need for the management of ecotourism, establishing effective regulation has proved difficult. Some examples of these challenges are listed below: • Ecotourism destinations cover a wide range of physical and cultural environments. Each presents a unique set of issues which have to be addressed. • Establishing effective regulation across international boundaries is difficult and relies on agreements between tour operators and providers. Monitoring the level of compliance with regulation is also challenging. • Ensuring that the criteria used to grant an ecotourism certificate or award is sufficiently rigorous. •Raising awareness to ecotourism regulators that in some LEDC situations ecotourism is the main source of employment and income. • Safeguarding the human rights of indigenous communities including their entitlement to shelter and livelihoods must be considered in all ecotourism projects. Local communities should be involved in these projects. •Ensuring that the profits from ecotourism are shared with the indigenous population or used to fund social projects such as education and health care. The emphasis on sustainability that emerged from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was a landmark event promoting the inclusion of the principles of sustainability in all aspects of development. Several global initiatives emerged from the Rio Summit leading up to the new millennium. The United Nations also recognised the contribution of tourism, including ecotourism, in raising living standards in LEDCs through the Millennium Development Goals programme. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) designated 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism. The UNWTO organised a World Ecotourism Summit in Québec in May 2002.

Answer 5

In May 2002, over one thousand delegates from 132 countries stended the would Ecotourism Summit in Québec to discuss means of ecotourism regulation. The delegates at the summit recognised the growing interest in ecotourism and the economic potential it offered to indigenous communities especially in LEDCs. They also recognised that ecotourism could contribute significantly to conservation of environmentally sensitive areas. However, there was also a recognition that unregulated ecotourism could result in environmental damage, economic leakage and ultimately have serious negative impacts on local and indigenous communities. Their findings and recommendations were published in the Québec Declaration. Forty-eight recommendations were made to five main organisations and groups involved in the delivery of ecotourism: 1. National, regional and local governments 2. The private sector including tour operators 3. NGOs 4. International agencies 5. Local indigenous communities The wide range of organisations and groups included in the Declaration emphasised the complexity in finding a sustainable approach to ecotourism. The recommendations in the Declaration focussed on two main aims: 1. To ensure the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability are incorporated in all ecotourism destinations. 2. To encourage all ecotourism providers to conduct self-regulation schemes. Self-regulation schemes involved the use of sustainability indicators and environmental impact assessments which would monitor the impact of ecotourism projects. The findings of these assessments were to be made public. Many ecotourism destinations undertake self-regulation and gain membership of recognised ecotourism certification schemes. Examples include the Eco Warrior Awards (Kenya) and The Rainforest Alliance (an international scheme).

Answer 6

Five years after the Québec Declaration, The Global Ecotourism Conference (GEC07) took place in Oslo (Norway). GEC07 had two main aims: • To assess the achievements and challenges to ecotourism since 2002. • To renew the commitment of national and regional ecotourism organisations to policies that would strengthen the industry's role in conservation and sustainable development. **Achievements from 2002-2007 include:** •An increasing number of countries and regions had developed ecotourism self-regulation strategies. • Many ecotourism projects aimed to provide sustainable livelihoods to local people and contribute to conservation • Increased awareness of environmental issues such as climate change and their impacts on indigenous communities. • The number of tourists visiting an ecotourism destination continued to grow. • The wider travel and tourism industry had adopted some of the principles of sustainability that had been pioneered by ecotourism. • Tourism in general and ecotourism in particular was recognised as a means of supporting the Millennium Development Goals programme target of poverty alleviation. However, in spite of the achievements since the Ouebec Declaration, a number of challenges still remained in 2007 including: • Many of the world's natural areas remained under threat and there was a substantial loss of biodiversity in a number of areas. The increase in the number of tourists contributed to this increased pressure. • The term ecotourism was still being applied loosely, leading to greenwashing. • As many ecotourism destinations required long-distance flights the carbon footprint of the industry remained large and needed a concerted effort to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. • Local communities were not fully involved in the delivery of ecotourism in their destination. In response to these challenges GEC07 set out four themes and a number of actions that built upon the achievements of the Québec Declaration and addressed the outstanding challenge. In contrast to the Québec Declaration, which made recommendations specific to five main organisations or groups and focussed on self-regulation schemes, GEC07 applied their proposals to all involved in the delivery of ecotourism and set out strategies to be employed.

Answer 7

The emphasis on self-regulation schemes for ecotourism has often been criticised because it is difficult to have equal standards across such a wide range of destinations. Partly in response to this a number of global certification schemes have been developed. The Green Globe Scheme, developed in Los Angeles between 1992 and 1994 following the Rio Summit in 1992, is one of the best-known examples of a global certification scheme. It is a structured assessment of the sustainability of all aspects of a tourism product including travel to and from the destination, as well as hotel policies on energy use, recycling and building materials used. The scheme is wide ranging and is not restricted to ecotourism but can be applied to all components of tourism, including beach holidays and cruise ships. The Green Globe Scheme assesses sustainability across 44 core criteria, grouped into four areas which are supported by 380 compliance indicators. These indicators are adapted to specific destinations and the entire scheme is reviewed and updated twice annually. To guarantee compliance, an independent auditor works with the tour companies on site. It is in use in over 90 countries. Three levels of certification are available: 1. Green Globe Standard - awarded to new members who have met all the required criteria. 2. Gold Member status - awarded to those who have held the standard award for five consecutive years. 3. Platinum status - may be awarded to those who have been members for at lest ten years.

Answer 8

The UN Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites is a global strategy employed to protect sites that display some cultural, scientific or historical importance. Cultural and historical sites have been selected because they exhibit unique and remarkable human endeavour. Examples include the Italian cities of Florence and Venice, and the remains of ancient settlements and temples. Scientific sites are chosen for unique geological or ecological importance. Coral reefs, areas with rich biodiversity and volcanic areas are examples of such sites. UNESCO World Heritage Site designation was introduced in 1972. It followed a petition to the USA and Europe from Egypt and Sudan in the late 1950s concerning possible threats posed by the building of the Aswan Dam to archaeological sites, including temples dating back to 15 BC. In return for financial and technological assistance in preserving these sites Egypt donated the remains of the three temples to Europe and the Temple of Dendur to the USA. The temple was removed and reconstructed in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This incident raised awareness of the financial burden a country, especially an LEDC, incurred in protecting valuable sites. A special UN committee discussed this issue and proposed the designation of World Heritage Site status. A UNESCO World Heritage designation **aims** to: • encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage. encourage member countries to set up management plans and reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites. • help safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training. • provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger. • support public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation. • encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage. • encourage international co-operation in the conservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage. Countries wishing to avail of this designation must create a **Tentative List of sites** that could be potentially proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List. Once proposed, these sites are evaluated by one of UNESCO's advisory bodies. To be added to the List, each site must demonstrate it has Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and meet at least one of ten criteria. Whether to add a site to the World Heritage List is decided by the World Heritage Committee, which meets once a year. There are a number of **advantages** from this designation including: • funding and technical assistance in the formulation of management and conservation plans. • World Heritage Site status raises public awareness of the significance of the location and increases its tourism potential. • the use of 'endangered species' and 'endangered site emphasises the urgent need for conservation. • designated sites are legally protected by international treaties even in times of war. Therefore, having a UNESCO World Heritage designation provides excellent protection for a fragile environment.

Tourism Flashcards

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