Chapter 3

• Sustainable Tourism: Ensuring continued employment oppotunities and income growth

  • Locals have stable employment and income
  • Skills training provided to ensure career progression and income growth
  • Locals with seasonal employment gain skills allowing them to get employed in off peak seasons
• Sustainable tourism: Provision of social services that raise standard of living

  • Revenue used to build schools and hospitals
  • Locals receive education and healthcare, raising standard of living
  • More education -> better employment -> higher income
• Sustainable tourism: Respecting authencity of communities, practise and art form

  • Practices continue to be meaningful for locals = continued practice and preservation
  • Attractions can be sensitively developed to showcase authentic culture
  • Tourist can be advice on how to be respectful to avoid conflict with locals
• Sustainable tourism: Contributes to intercultural understanding and tolerance

  • Exchanges enhance understanding, tolerance and better appreciation
  • Local cultures meaningful to tourist, locals continue to practice and preserve culture
  • Positive experience = continued exchange and attracts tourist
  • Negative experience = conflicts btw local and tourist, tourism discouraged
• Sustainable tourism: Maintaing essential ecological processes

  • Ensures environment thrives and fulfil present and future demands of people
  • Stakeholders can work together to minimise deforestation and maintain ecological processes
  • Allows continual supply of water and food
• Sustainable tourism: Conserve natural heritage and biodiversity

  • Establish National parks where sites are protected from threats like illegal poaching of endangered animals to allow them to recover
  • Government can manage tourist numbers and waste generated in the area
  • Conserves natural beauty and biodiversity
• Stakeholder's influence in sustainable tourism development:

  • Government, international organisations, businesses, locals and tourist need to work together
  • Common understanding of sustainable tourism needs to be established
  • All stakeholders have a say and a consensus must be reached
• Government: Establish policies and creating plans

  • Set policies and plans other stakeholder have to follow
  • Helps to ensure minimal damage to environment and maximise benefit to locals

  Example: Sentosa, Singapore

  • Authorities brought together stakeholders to come up with plan to conserve island's rich history, protect the island's biodiversity and achieve carbon neutral status by 2030
• Government: Enforcing regulations

  • Enforcing regulations on type of tourism activity and number of tourists entering
  • Critical in ensuring policies and plans are adhered to

  Example: Bhutan

  • Tourist can only enter in trips organised by licensed tour opperators
  • Opperators ensure tourist follow the law to minimise impact of tourism such as walking on designated paths
• Government limited by: Poor enforcement

  • Govn lacks resources or political influence or face corruption may not be able to ensure regulations are followed
  • Hinders sustainable tourism development
• Government limited by: Decision to priorities economic development

  • Government may neglect social and environmental sustainability

  Example: Mount Everest, Nepal

  • Hundreds of tourist interested in climbing but poor enforcements of waste disposal caused mountain to be increasingly polluted
  • If tighter regulations were imposed, less tourist will come, reducing income from tourism
• International organisations in ensuring sustainable tourism:

  • Has knowledge, financial and technical expertises
  • Can provide consultancy, financial assistance and raise public awareness on how to contribute to sustainability

  Example: Ha Tay province, Vietnam

  • United Nations World Tourism Organisations provided consultancy and technical assistance that allow locals to attract tourist and make money by selling hand made goods
  • Also provided financial assistance to improve facilities and attract more tourist
• Limitations of international organisations: Lack of understanding of local context

  • Organisation comprises of members from difference backgrounds
  • Members have different understanding of an issue and may not understand local context of issue
  • Locals may not support their actions
• Limitations of international organisations: Lack of funding

  • Organisations tend to be non profit, making it challenging to choose projects to provide funding for
  • Some plans may not be implemented without funding
• Businesses in promoting sustainable tourism:

  • Has insentive to keep tourism profitable and have financial resources
  • Can influence by seeking advice from other stakeholders and participating in decision making for sustainable tourism development

  Example: Quicksilver Cruises, Australia

  • Specalise in tours of Great Barrier Reef
  • Works with planning authorities to promote ecotourism
  • Partners with marine biologists to observe and monitor marine ecosystem, helping authorities in managing the reef
• Limitations of Businesses:

  • May prioritise profits by polluting environment and exploiting resources
  • Different businesses may have different understanding and measures of sustainability
  • Businesses may market themselves as sustainable even if they are not in an act of greenwashing
• Local influence in sustainable tourism: Seeking advice from stakeholders

  • Locals can then adopt sustainable tourism practices that are tried and tested

  Example: Singapore

  • Locals get advice from National Environment Agency to pursue sustainable tourism practices such as waste managment and recycling when holding international meetings
• Local involvement in sustainable tourism: Participate in decision making

  • Can provide suggestion to minimise harmful effect of tourism such as protecting flora and fauna
  • Can engage in community tourism projects to ensure benefits gained from tourism stays with locals
• Limitations of local involvement:

  • Locals may lack information on applying for financial or techinical assistance thus causing them to lack funds to carry out plans for developing tourism
  • Locals may pursue unsustainable tourism practices that brings in higher income to support themselves and their familes
• Tourist involvement in sustainable tourism: Developing genuine interest in destination and wanting to improve it

  • Tourist choose tours or services that prioritise sustainable tourism or channel their revenue into environmental conservation
  • Tourist may involve in environmental conservation or community project that benefits locals

  Example: China sea turtle volunteering conservation programme

  • Tourist patrol beach for sea turtles and their nest, protecting them from poachers
• Tourist involvement in sustainable tourism: Interacting responsibly with environment and people

  • Tourist can read up on local practice and culture before travelling
  • Be mindful of their attire and behaviour to show respect to locals customs and culture

  Example: Bali, Indonesia

  • Tourist need to be aware that they have to dress modestly when visiting religous sites
  • Tourist can look out for their environment by not littering or vandalising areas they visit
• Limitations of tourist involvement

  • Sustainable options may be expensive due to cost needed to ensure experiences are sustainable, thus some may not be keen to pay
  • Varied understanding of sustainable tourism and ways to determine it
  • Tourist may be confused if the practises of a tour group is truely sustainable
• Other challenges faced by stakeholders:

  • Difference in understanding -> conflict of ideas and coming to a consensus is difficult
  • Varying control over resources -> those with more power have more 'say' and may overwright perspective of other stakeholders
  • Varying priorities -> difficulty negociating among them (eg locals want lower people but govn oppose due to lower profits), trade offs must be compromised on and accepted
• Example of challenges maintaining sustainable tourism: Isle of Man, UK

  • Conflict between planners, businesses and locals made it diffcult to plan for revitalisation
  • Planners keen to allow island to be used for motocycle racing, locals not willing due to potental damage to environment and they feel their views are not heard
• Eco-tourism:

  • Conserves natural environment while benefitting local communities
  • Involves many stake holders

  Example: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

  • 97% of island's total area is declared as a national park
  • Authorities limited number of tourist and restricted the areas where tourist explored. They also collected an entrance fee of 100USD
  • Locals also involved in eco-tourism by offering home stays and tours for tourist
• Eco-tourism strategy: Educate tourist

  • Increases tourist's knowledge and appreciation of nature
  • Tourist more motivated to take action to conserve and minimise damage to environment
• Eco-tourism strategy: Measures to minimise negative impacts

  • Revenue collected channelled to conservation such as hiring of park rangers
  • Park rangers set up law to protect environment and enforces them
  • Damage to environment minimised
• Hard eco-tourism:

  • Strong commitment to conserving environment
  • Small number of tourist
  • Few to no service and amenities provided, experience is more challenging
  • Supplied by specialist tour operators

  Example: Galapagos Island, Ecuador

  • Ecotourist visit to camp and hike, planning schedule with guide
  • Stays in local homes for accommodation
• Soft eco-tourism:

  • Moderate amount of environmental conservation
  • Large number tourist
  • Services provided, experience more physically comfortable
  • Supplied by mass market tour operators

  Example: Soft eco-tourist to Galapagos Island

  • Tourist take part in guided tour walks and rely on guide to plan trip
  • Tourist prefer to stay in high quality accommodation such as yachts and cruises
• Limitation of eco-tourism: Uncertainty of continuity of efforts

  • Does not work well with large number of tours and tourist
  • Presence of tourist destroy environment
  • Strong desire to earn profits, making aims of eco-tourism compromised

  Example: Galapagos Island

  • Increased number of tourist caused erosion of trail and disturbance to wild life and plants
  • Oil spills from boats resulted in serious water pollution
• Limitations of eco-tourism: Uncertainty in involving local (top down approach)

  • Manpower needs require businesses to hire non-locals
  • Locals may not be equip with skills needed and Government and businesses do not train them
  • Benefits to locals not maximised

  Example: Kufri, India

  • Economic leakage occurs when locals do not have necessary skills
  • Non-locals end up taking up the jobs
• Community based tourism (By locals, for locals):

  • Small scale tourism experience that is managed by locals
  • Maximises local involvement and benefits in tourism
• Strategy in CBT: Encouraging locals to participate in decision making

  • Locals gain knowledge of their needs, allowing them to make decisions that ensures their needs are met
  • Communities can suggest ways to develop tourism without disrespecting their heritage
  • Locals will continue to support tourism and environment continues to thrive
• Strategy in CBT: Measures to increase economic and social benefits

  • Locals encouraged to set up businesses, providing them with employment and source of income
  • Tourist could also visit farms to allow farmers to get higher income
  • Revenue generated can be used to build schools and hospitals, increasing standard of living
• Strategy in CBT: Educate tourist

  • Promotes positive interaction and understanding between locals and tourist
  • Tourist develop respect for local culture

  Example: Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary

  • Tourist live in local homes and participate in daily activities
  • Tourist appreciate local culture and environment
  • Locals preserve heritage and environment
• Limitations of CBT: Loss of culture

  • CBT may result in commodification of local culture, making it lose authenticity

  Example: Kyrgyzstan

  • Commodification has been observed in CBT projects
  • In traditional boats, theres now modern furniture and beds to increase tourist comfort
• Limitations of CBT: Competition with large scale tourism development

  • Locals may lack skills to develop tourism industry themselves such as being unable to communicate with tourist
  • Locals also lack finances to start new tourism attractions
  • Large scale tourism developments have greater finances to do marketing and attract more tourist

  Example: Ha Pottery Village, Vietnam

  • Locals succeed in attracting tourist keen to learn about local culture
  • However, locals face competition from more established pottery villages in central Vietnam as they do not have highly skilled artisans
• Pro poor tourism:

  • Tourism development that aims to improving livelihood of poor through training and access to micro-finance
  • Any type of tourism can be classified as pro poor if it focusing on improving livelihood of poor

  Example: Villages around China's Three Parallel Rivers Region

  • Authorities offered financial assistance to villagers to set up businesses such as homestays and restaurants to attract tourist who came for the scenary
  • Some put cultural performances for tourist
  • Local communities experience an increase in the standard of living
• Strategy of PPT: Training

  • Locals gain new skills to gain employment
  • For example, locals can learn how to bring tourist around or how to manage a tourism business
• Strategy of PPT: Increase access to micro financing

  • Allows the poor to set up businesses allowing them to benefit economically from tourism
  • Communication materials may be designed so locals can understand how they could apply for micro-financing