Rachel has just written about sustainable tourism demand. Check out http://veilletourisme.ca/2008/04/04/evaluation-de-la-demande-en-matiere-de-tourisme-durable/?tagged=0

The Icarus Foundation -The Icarus Foundation is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to help Canada become a carbon neutral destination. Rachel is a founder and current board member. Check out their blog.

When you trek in Tibet and see pilgrims doing a kora (religious prostrations with shoes on their hands); or you trek to a remote village in west Africa, where the community welcomes you with smiles and a sample of their local drink; you are awed at the remoteness but amazed by the accessibility, and warmed by the culture and pride. When you see a beach floating in garbage or a once beautiful landscape paved with concrete you also realise that if principles of sustainable tourism are not put into action, then each one of these destinations will lose their appeal, profitability and environment.

It is critically important to develop a responsible sustainable tourism and travel industry. Some of the areas that need to be considered to move the industry and your business forward include:

• environmental management
• sensitivity to cultural and social dynamics
• sustainable management, training and customer service
• sound financial and business planning
• consideration and inclusion of all stakeholders
• long term vision and good governance
• marketing and communications programs to showcase these elements

Rachel's experiences traveling, her education in tourism and her work experience has led her to believe passionately in the principles of sustainable tourism. She has experience in both practical and theoretical implications of tourism and all facets of tourism development and management.

Tourism will never be completely sustainable as every industry has impacts but it can work towards being more sustainable in many ways.

ISSUE: As more regions and countries develop their tourism industry, it produces significant impacts on natural resources, consumption patterns, pollution and social systems. The need for sustainable/responsible planning and management is imperative for the industry to survive as a whole.

FACTS:
TOURISM IMPACTS:

• Over 842 million people travel internationally in 2007 and this is expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2010 (UNWTO, 2006)
• Travel and tourism is expected to represent 3.6% of total global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006, 10.3 per cent if include tourism related business (eg catering, cleaning). The global travel and tourism industry creates 10% of world employment (direct & indirect)
  
• The average tourist receipt is over US$700 per person
• At least 25 million people spread over 52 countries are displaced by violence, persecution and/or disasters - Tourism receipts in every country are affected by this.
• Worldwide the World Tourism Organisation currently records more than 600 million cross-border tourism and business trips with at least one overnight stay. On top of this there is an estimated 2,000 million or more trips within countries' internal borders.

• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:
• Biodiversity has declined by 40% from 1970 to 2000. During the same period, the ecologic footprint of man grew to exceed the biological capacity of the Earth by 20 per cent.
• The Western world (with 17% of the worlds' population) currently consumes 52% of total global energy.
• 1 acre of trees absorbes 2. 6tonnes of CO2 per year (Westonbirt Educational Team, 2003)
  
• 58% of the worlds coral reefs are at risk
• Seawater is expected to rise 70 cm in the next 10 years
• 70% of marine mammals are threatened
• By 2050 climate change could have directly led to the extinction of 30% of species, the death of 90% of coral reefs and the loss of half the Amazon rainforest.
• A species of animal or plant life disappears at a rate of one every three minutes
• Since 1970 a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity
• Half the world's population lives in urban areas and this figure is expected to increase. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 76% of the population live in urban areas
• By 2036, there will be 1200 million cars on earth - double the amount today
• A European uses 14x more energy than someone living in India
• For every 1 degree rise in temperature above 34 degrees celcius, yields of rice, maize and wheat in tropical areas could drop by 10%
• The average person in the UK uses approximately 150 litres of water per day
• Sources: FOC, 2002, WTO, 2000 & 2002, www.risingtide.co.uk, 2004, UN, 2003, Gov't of Canada, 2005, Science Musuem, 2006)

SOLUTION:

Sustainable tourism is about refocusing and re-adapting. A balance must be found between limits and usage so that continuous changing, monitoring and planning ensure that tourism can be managed. This requires thinking long-term (10, 20+ years) and realising that change is often cumulative, gradual and irreversible. Economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development must include the interests of all stakeholders including indigenous people, local communities, visitors, industry and government.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Address environmental and social concerns through policies, practices and initiatives with others. Ask yourself these questions. We can help you with policy development, environmental management, business planning and marketing efforts. Read more or contact us directly. Click here for definitions and information about sustainable tourism.

Last updated: April 22, 2008