GREENING TOURISM

The world is our home, playground and recreation center rolled into one. Every
nook and cranny beholds something that is interesting, worthy to be protected and
conserved.
Every mans dream is to travel around the globe, and to experience whatever it
offers, may it be under the sea, in the green thickets, up above the close, or among
other people.
However, to travel around the world and explore every corner of it entails a price,
a price of which is it yet to be seen. Is it worth the risk?
Tourism, according to Britannica Online Encyclopedia, is the spending of time
away from home for the purpose of enjoyment, relaxation and pleasure while using
commercial provision of services. By judging the aforementioned definition of tourism,
we could imply that tourism offers a boosting factor to the economy of a particular place
or state. Today, tourism plays a major role in the strengthening of the economy, as such
that it is even being seen by some countries, most notably small-island-states with no
virtually-usable natural resources such as Maldives, as their major source of inputs in
their economy. This fact is further strengthened by the World Travel and Tourism
Councils latest Economic Impact Research, which shows that travel and tourism
contributed US$6.3 trillion to GDP (Gross Domestic Product), taking into account the
direct, indirect and induced impacts of tourism, and is projected to grow by about 2.7%
in 2012. This figures are statistically impressive as set against the current global
economic backdrop, where many economies are slowing or are showing below-trend or
negative growth.
As a result, tourism offers livelihood to people living in or near tourism hotspots.
Tourism generates different kinds of jobs that could cover all kinds of fields and skills,
from drivers, lodging staff, pilots, and workers to business unit managers, scientists for
maintenance, doctors, etc. In fact, in 2011, travel and tourism generated 98 million jobs
or nearly 1 in 12 jobs.
In addition, tourism helps in worldwide conservation efforts. As it brings
individuals closer to specific natural wonders, people would begin to understand the call
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of preserving and conserving these natural wonders. It is also a tool to finance the
ongoing conservation projects on these wonders, which in turn, increases its economic
significance.
Sadly, however, studies have disproved many notable assumptions about
tourism. In fact, tourism offers unstable, seasonal income generations which tend to
fluctuate, and further degrades the natural environment of the tourist spot, most notably
on fragile isolated island ecosystems (Sawkar et.al 1998).
Mainstream tourism does not guarantee a sustainable livelihood to local people,
as it operates only seasonally, marked by fluctuations on the arrival of tourists on a per
annum basis. This fact is further worsened by the fact that there are not much policies
relating tourism, as such that the development of these policies are only an ad hoc
basis that depends upon the traffic of tourists.
Tourism helps in the increase of environmental damage, as it can cause the
same forms of pollution as any industry: soil (solid waste and litter), water, air, noise,
sewage & chemicals, and even visual pollution. One study estimated that a single
transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions produced by all other
sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly. Litter
and solid waste will come from unknowing tourists and tourism companies (cruise ships
and such), further adding to local problems on solid waste management. Sounds from
buses, airplanes, ships and tourists themselves could distract animal activity and fuel
change to animal behavior. Current infrastructures destroy the beauty and serenity of
scenic coastlines and distort the vista of picturesque mountain scenery.
Tourism also increases the chance for endangered floral and faunal species to
be harmed or exposed to public, which in turn, upsets the local ecosystem. Plants are
susceptible to be trampled and collected illegally. Animals are in danger of being
poached for trophy sport or may be disturbed which may be an indirect cause of their
death. Furthermore, tourism also increases the chance for invasive species to spread
and displace local wildlife in their respective niches, which may result to the extinction of
the latter.
Because of these problems, many ecologists and environmentalists felt the need
for a way to conserve nature without eradicating tourism itself, as tourism can be a
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major factor in the growth of the countrys economy. Thus, Hctor Ceballos-Lascurin in
1983 gave rise to the development of ecotourism (eco-tourism in some sources), which
is a more sustainable and eco-friendly form of tourism.
Ecotourism, as its name suggests, is a greener form of tourism. However,
theres more to ecotourism than just being environment-friendly. Ecotourism also
focuses on local cultures, wilderness adventures, volunteering, personal growth and
learning new ways to live on our vulnerable planet. It is typically defined as travel to
destinations where the flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions.
Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the adverse effects of
traditional tourism on the natural environment, and enhance the cultural integrity of local
people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, initiatives
by hospitality providers to promote recycling, energy efficiency, water re-use, and the
creation of economic opportunities for local communities are an integral part of
ecotourism.
Ecotourism promotes sustainable development. The protection and conservation
of the environment promotes sustainable development, as there would be no natural
resource that may be degraded, which in turn, would promote sustainable livelihood to
local people. Since ecotourism has a commitment to the greening of the tourism
industry, chances are, its effect would not be limited to tourism alones, as it can
motivate other industries to become green, which will benefit millions people.
Furthermore, ecotourism is more constant as it preserves the beauty of natural
wonders, therefore, its economic output is much stable than that of mainstream tourism.
Since many of our natural wonders are situated in Third World countries, ecotourism
provides the fund needed to protect and maintain these sites.
As ecotourisms main thrust is to preserve and conserve the environment, as
opposed to other forms of tourism, the whole ecosystem, including the habitat, is being
preserved, which in turn, provides a sense of uniqueness to these areas, as different
types of ecosystems, together with trademark species, differ and vary from area to area.
In addition, ecotourism also teaches tourists to actively engage in conservation and
preservation efforts, as ecotourism packages offer activities such as on-site specie
watching, tree plantings, talks and seminars and animal breeding programs which
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propagate the sense of saving and protecting the environment to the participants.
Because of the variety of activities and the its teachings to our generation,
ecotourism is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing types of tourism
demonstrating increases of 10% to 30% per annum (Lew 1997) and generating an
estimated 7% of all international travels (Lindberg 1997).
Aside from the conservation of the environment, there are many more benefits
we could get from ecotourism.
First, ecotourism is a participatory kind of tourism, in which all of the people living
in the locale are involved in the establishment of ecotourism in the area. As ecotourism
also efforts to utilize local people, such as native tribal groups, as either primary tour
guides, activity speakers, or even as living cultural monuments, more emphasis are
being placed upon these people, giving them more rights and privileges, like what
happened to the Masai herdsmen of the Serengeti plains and the Aetas of Subic Bay.
Ecotourism also provides sustainable livelihood, as been discussed briefly earlier, to
these local people. These native tribes would be able to utilize their natural
surroundings but staying true to their culture as well as to their practices of hunting and
gathering lifestyle (provided that they are still under the jurisdiction on state national
laws upon this matter), they will even receive salaries as being a part of the park.
Moreover, ecotourists would harbor positive feelings upon finishing an ecotourism
vacation trip. Adults would get up close and personal with animals in the wild and
understand more than what they understand from mere textbooks and other materials.
In addition, ecotourism will provide a child with milestones in life, that an early age,
he/she could understand the interaction of man and environment, and how environment
shapes mans culture.
Second, ecotourism would increase the sensitivity of the host nations to its
physical, cultural and social environment. Through ecotourism, many nations would find
a peaceful ways to mediate political instability and turmoil, like what the famed Peace
Parks did to the nations of Africa. Also, ecotourism could open the door for the
importance of cultural groups and the society to the development of nation, as
ecotourism promotes the active participation of everybody to further its goals and
principles.
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Still, a lot of skeptics doubt the potential of ecotourism. Ecotourism, they said, are
simply marketing ploys to promote nature-based travels. Let us put in mind that
ecotourism promotes a sustainable sphere in which both local people, tourists and the
Nature benefit from, a thrust that most capitalistic ventures dont have. Many of
ecotourism trips are being managed by micro, small and medium-sized ecotourism
companies, as well as community based and NGO-based ecotourism operations,
following the overall promotional strategies and programs carried out by the National
Tourism Administration of the host country, as stipulated by the Qubec Declaration on
Ecotourism of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World
Tourism Organization (WTO) last 2002. Therefore, ecotourism is definitely not a
marketing strategy to attract tourists.
Critics also point out that ecotourism inherits the same problem from mainstream
tourism, in which that actual human interference could harm tourist spots and the ways
of the animals, as such that ecotourism should not be pursued as there will be no
significant change in the context of conservation. Actually, there is indeed some truth in
their statement, as because there are some tourists who would not mind littering and
doing unnecessary actions for the sake of personal enjoyment. As an answer to this, the
UNEP and WTO have formulated policies and general guidelines in which tourists,
companies, host communities, host countries and international organizations should
follow, as such that tourists would have maximum enjoyment and learning, and
companies, host communities and countries would earn maximum profit without having
a damaging effect on the local tourist spot and its existing ecosystem and the
indigenous groups living in it. These policies and guidelines have been condensed in
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)/Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
for Sustainable Tourism (Malaysia 2001) and in WTO and UNEPs Global Codes of
Ethics for Tourism (1999), World Ecotourism Summit (Canada 2002) and Davos
Declaration (Switzerland 2007).
Ecotourism could still be considered a child in its own right, still developing,
reforming and changing itself to fulfill its goal and its advocacy. There may still be risks
along the way, concerns to be tackled, and problems to be answered, but the hundreds
of organisms slowly going extinct, thousands of cultural and natural wonders being
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degraded, and millions of miles of nature slowly being turned to a filthy, barren
wasteland, ecotourism, after all, is needed in this world.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sawkar, K., Noronha, L., Mascarenhas, A., Chauhan, O.S., & Saeed, S. (1998) Tourism
and Environment: Case Studies on Goa, India, and the Maldives. Washington
DC: The World Bank.

Godwin, P. 2001. Wildlife Without Borders. National Geographic 200 (3): 2-32.
Lindberg, K. and B. McKercher. 1997. Ecotourism: A Critical Overview. Pacific Tourism
Review 1(1): 65-79.

Lew. A.A. (1997) The Ecotourism Market in the Asia Pacific Region: A Survey of Asia
Pacific and North American Tour Operators. Retrieved January 10, 2013 from
http://www.for.nau.edu/~alew/ecotsvy.html.
United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.). Davos Declaration Climate Change
And Tourism Responding To Global Challenges. Retrieved January 10, 2013
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