Homewood Travel and Tourism: Responsible Tourism A2 Travel and Tourism: Responsible Tourism Revision Guide Responsible Tourism You will need to be able to define Responsible Tourism: “Responsible Tourism is a general definition of any form of tourism that operates in such a way that it minimises and negative impacts that it has and maximises potential positive impacts.” You will need to be able to identify and describe the principles of Responsible Tourism: 1. Minimises the negative economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts 2. Creates economic benefits for local people and improves their quality of life 3. Promotes the conservation of natural and cultural heritage 4. Promotes the respect between tourists and local people You must be able to describe and explain your own development ideas and justify them using the principles. You must be able to evaluate to what extent existing or proposed developments support the principles of Responsible Tourism using examples to justify your own proposals of responsible tourism. 1
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Homewood Travel and Tourism: Responsible Tourism
A2 Travel and Tourism: Responsible Tourism Revision Guide
Responsible Tourism
You will need to be able to define Responsible Tourism:
“Responsible Tourism is a general definition of any form of tourism that operates in such a way that it minimises and negative impacts that it has and maximises potential positive impacts.”
You will need to be able to identify and describe the principles of Responsible Tourism:
1. Minimises the negative economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts
2. Creates economic benefits for local people and improves their quality of life
3. Promotes the conservation of natural and cultural heritage4. Promotes the respect between tourists and local people
You must be able to describe and explain your own development ideas and justify them using the principles.
You must be able to evaluate to what extent existing or proposed developments support the principles of Responsible Tourism using examples to justify your own proposals of responsible tourism.
The Agents Involved in Tourism Development
You must be able to identify and describe which organisations belong to the three main sectors involved in tourism development. You must also be able to describe and explain the role or organisations within each sector in terms of tourist development.
1. Private Sector Organisations
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a. Landowners – provide land for developmentb. Development companies – developers are in business to
make money out of their tourism developmentc. Consultancies – companies or individuals who provide
specialist adviced. Travel organisations – airlines and tour operators often
start tourism development by introducing services to a destination
e. Leisure and entertainment organisations – tend to enter the development at the later stages
2. Public Sector Organisationsa. Local authorities – develop and promote tourism in local
area working with private and voluntary sectorb. National government – the DCMS provide grants and
support for many tourism developments via the “Tomorrows Tourism” strategy
c. National and regional tourist boards – have the role to implement national government policy in their country or region
d. UK regional development agencies – set up in 2003 and develop economic development policy for the region which is implemented by the RTB’s
e. Non-governmental organisations – mainly funded by the DCMS but have no links to national government e.g. English Heritage
3. Voluntary Sector Bodiesa. Community groups – formed to contribute to local
tourism specific issues. Not pressure groups as localisedb. Pressure groups – influence development plans and
strategies often concerned with the negative impacts tourism can bring e.g. Tourism Concern
c. Registered charities – independent of government, many pressure groups are also charities. The work done by charities influences tourism development e.g. national trust
You must know the reasons organisations have for being involved in tourism development.
Private Sector Organisations
Public Sector Organisations
Voluntary Sector Organisations
Mainly commercial Profit making but
Increasingly customer care
Concern for environment
Mainly non-commercial but maximise economic contribution of tourism locally and nationally to enhance community experience
Mixture of non-commercial e.g. education, raising awareness, responsible tourism and commercial e.g. need to fund themselves to survive
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Develop tourism policy and strategy and deliver it and all levels
You will need to be able to state suitable objectives for organisations and explain similarities and differences between the objectives of different organisations.
Environmental education for local people and tourists.Preservation of wildlife habitats.Regeneration.Conservation.Stimulation of environmental improvements.
Promoting cultural understanding between local people (hosts) and tourists.Encouraging positive host-tourist interactions. Improving the local people’s ‘quality of life through providing community amenities as well as tourist amenities.
Enhancing the image of the area.Creating a regional or national identity.
You must know about how development objectives create conflicts and how these conflicts can be resolved.
The Impacts of Tourism Development
You must be able to interpret information on destinations to explain the positive and negative impacts on a destination’s economy, environment and on the people who live there.
Economic
Positive NegativeIncreased domestic income and foreign currency earnings.Benefits of the multiplier effect.Increased opportunities for employment of locals (direct and indirect).Improved infrastructure.
Leakage.Change form traditional employment opportunities.Seasonal unemployment.Increased living costs for local community e.g. rising house prices.
Environmental
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Positive NegativeEnvironmental education for local people and tourists.Improved assets.Landscaping.Conservation and habitat preservationRegeneration of derelict areas
Traffic congestion.Erosion of land.Loss of natural habitats.Decreasing biodiversity and pollution (air, water, noise, visual).
Socio-cultural
Positive NegativePreservation of customs and crafts.Revival of festivals and ceremonies.Provision of community facilities and public services.Improved infrastructure for local community.
Conflicts with and influence on local community.Crime.Prostitution.Staged authenticity of festivals and events.Loss of cultural identity.
Case Study: Impacts of Tourism (MEDC)
Spain: Costa Del Sol
In just 40 years Spain has transformed its Mediterranean coastline from a string of sleepy fishing villages to international coastal
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resorts. In 1988 visitor numbers peaked at 7.5 million. By the late 1990’s Spanish resorts were in decline.
Impacts of Tourism in Spain
The Future
Due to poor media image, tourists begun turning their backs on Spain in the 1990’s as cheaper LEDC holidays became more available.
Steps have been taken to rejuvenate the Costa del Sol to attract visitors back all year round.
Further high rise development banned. Any new building must be low-rise and in traditional Spanish courtyard style. Resorts such as Marbella promoted as up-market.
Resort centres pedestrianised and planted with trees, marinas and by-passes built.
Development restricted to golf courses and luxury villas between resorts
Case Study: Impacts of Tourism (LEDC)
Kenya
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Most tourism in Kenya has developed along the Indian Ocean coast and in the game parks. Tourism has brought so economic benefits but also some social and environmental costs. Kenya developed as a mass tourism destination in the 1970’s, in 1997 $450 was earned from tourism.
Impacts of Tourism in Kenya
The Future
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Due to violent crime, tourist harassment, civil unrest, over-commercialisation of safaris and destruction of natural resources, visitor numbers dropped steeply in the 1990’s.
The Kenyan government is now acting to protect Kenya’s tourist industry by limiting the use of existing marine and game parks and taxing tourists and holiday companies that use them. It is also encouraging:
Sustainable tourism on Safari. The Tsavo Game Park has temporary camps, limited power supplies and trails in small groups that use local people.
Sustainable coastal tourism. At Lamu, visitors pay a local tax, stay in small guesthouses and observe local customs. There’s no development above tree height.
The Tourist Area Life Cycle
You must be able to identify and describe the characteristics of each stage of the TALC.
Stage DescriptionExploration Small numbers of visitors arrive seeking “unspoiled”
destinations creating few negative impacts. Attitudes of
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local people are positive towards tourism.Involvement Local people begin to provide resources (facilities, people,
events) for tourists. Tourist numbers increase.Development The number of tourists keeps increasing attracted by
natural and cultural attractions but also more human-made facilities are provided.
Consolidation Local economy begins to reply heavily on tourism, growth in facilities and easier access attracts more organized package tours – strain on environment growing.
Stagnation Saturation is reached in “mature” destinations. The quality of tourist services and amenities falls and environmental degradation is obvious. Local attitudes to tourism vary.
Decline
Or
Rejuvenation
Tourist numbers decrease, economy suffers in area, poor image of destination fails to attract back tourists.
Re-imaging and regeneration of area, new focus for tourism, new attractions, tourist numbers start to rise again.
You must be able to apply the TALC to different destinations and explain the link between changing impacts and popularity and appeal.
The Management of Responsible Tourism in Destinations
You must be able to explain in detail how positive impacts can be maximised and negative impacts minimised through a number of different principles and strategies.
Maximising Positive Impacts Minimising Negative ImpactsRetention of visitor spending.Widening access to facilities.Staff training and development.Investment of tourism income in community projects.Training and employment of local people and tourism education.
Visitor and traffic management.Planning control.Implementing changes as a result of environmental impact assessment and environmental audits.
You must be able to give examples of a range of destinations to support your answers from UK, Europe and Worldwide (MEDC and LEDC).
Maximising/Minimising Impacts Case Studies
See earlier case studies on Spain and Kenya also.
Naturetrek http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/
What is Naturetrek? Naturetrek is a Tour Operator that run Wildlife tours led by expert guides with a concern for conservation of habitat and species.
How does Naturetrek minimise Travel in small groups.
negative Impacts? Include walking on tour as much as possible.Provide a “Traveller’s Code” to their clients.Offer alternative options than travelling by plan to a destination (offset carbon emissions).
How does Naturetrek maximise the positive Impacts?
Wildlife tourism brings recognition to an area that may be often overlooked.Initiate employment of local people long term.Plan long term for wildlife conservation.Recognition, employment and conservation encourage local support.Money raised from wildlife tours is donated to conservation groups.
Zimbabwe – Central Africa, Operation Campfire
Under British colonial rule the indigenous population of Zimbabwe were forbidden from hunting. Prior to this hunting game had been an integral part of their culture not to mention a valuable food source.
Under conservation laws two things happened:1. Many animal populations boomed and as they did so the search for food bought them into greater contact with humans. This led to the destruction of human food crops, farmland, property, and in some cases even death.2. It increased the number of illegal poachers who found sympathy with many locals as they were often trying to feed their families but risked their lives as they tried to evade the armed game wardens
'CAMPFIRE' stands for the Campaign and management programme for indigenous resources. What it originally stated was that villages would be allowed to cull a percentage of certain animals to provide a meat source. Many local villages came up with a system where by local butchers would sell the meat for a nominal fee and any profits would be shared amongst villagers.
However as the policy developed it became clear that game licences could be sold to tourists increasing the profits made in the scheme. These profits could then be re-invested into local projects that would be selected by the villagers. Initially a tourism industry developed around hunting safaris – this may not sound ideal but the animals would have been culled anyway. Selling hunting licences reduces illegal hunting and provides the villages with foreign capital.
Successes of the Project
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A good example of sustainable tourism as the wildlife resource is managed to benefit the population today but also conserve it for the future.
Poaching has been greatly reduced as the local population sees its food supplies increased and takes responsibility for conserving the wildlife.
Profits have been ploughed back into many worthwhile local projects such as schools and hospital.
Profits have been used to repair a reservoir providing irrigation for crops, a better water supply and through restocking a valuable food supply – fish.
Locals feel they are rediscovering some of their lost heritage as they are once again living from the wildlife resource. Operation Campfire is used in schools to stress the importance of wildlife and wildlife protection.
The scheme has been expanded and now includes “non- consumptive” tourists, which means tourists that want to photograph the animals – not shoot them. Apparently the animals prefer this second scheme and it means a tourist industry has grown around safaris for photographers.
Food yields have increased as electric fences paid for by Campfire protect crops. This reduces conflict with the animals, as marginal land is not used for farming.
The scheme has re-opened old migratory routes previously closed by the game parks. This has increased species diversity and allowed Operation Campfire to spread across much of Zimbabwe.
Snowdonia – North Wales. Management in a National Park
This Case Study really highlights the positives and negatives of tourism, how management can accentuate either of these.
Snowdonia is one of the UK’s national parks designed to protect areas of the countryside whilst allowing access for recreation. They are primarily owned by private landowner such as farmer and the forestry commission but provide access to the public. Snowdonia includes coastal and mountain landscapes including Snowdon, Wales and England highest mountain.
Good: Bad:
Economic
Jobs - tourism in the Snowdonia area provides the local population with a significant number of jobs directly and indirectly. This is particularly important at the moment as the farming industry is facing one of
House prices can be driven above the means of the locals by the demand for second homes/ holiday homes. This leaves the locals disgruntled and often with no option but to leave their home village/ town.
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its worse ever recessions and hill farmers are amongst the worst hit. By diversifying the farmers can generate an alternative source of income, i.e. B+ B, campsites, open farms.
Jobs can also be found working for the national parks themselves and these often incorporate training opportunities.
A large percentage of the community could potentially benefit directly or indirectly from tourism.
This is bad for the economy of the area as those forced to move are often the youngest and the potential earners of tomorrow. This point could also be classified under culture/ society as migration is forcing the dilution of cultures.
Dogs are a frequent problem as they worry livestock and the litter left can often injure animals.
Tourism in the UK is very seasonal – what happens in the winter months?
Environmental
Visiting different environments raises awareness of that environment and the unique and delicate nature of its flora and fauna. In Snowdonia information boards are used to raise the awareness of visitors. For example, walkers are damaging rare arctic alpine plant communities inadvertently. Hopefully information boards will highlight these problems and walkers will act accordingly.
Greater environmental awareness will hopefully lead to greater environmental respect both locally and globally.
Footpath erosion is a major problem on Snowdon. About 1 million people walk on the mountain every year with more than a third of those reaching the summit. What the walker’s boots start heavy rainfall can finish, as footpaths become streams and gullies washing soil off. As walkers stray from paths to find easier routes the problem spreads.
Leaving the marked footpaths can also inadvertently damage local flora such as the rare arctic alpine communities.
There are also problems with traffic congestion in the summer months particularly around popular spots. This can also lead to economic conflict as locals are prevented from do their jobs.
Culture and society
By providing jobs you are reducing migration so helping to preserve traditional rural societies. It should be noted however that the increase in house prices can counteract this effect.
As with more distant travel it is often good for different cultures to meet to break down racist stereotyping.
Dilution of culture as house prices force local to leave.
The traditional farming communities are being lost as farmers look to tourism for an income
Management Solutions
Open up new paths to the public and close those in most need of repair.
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Provide more information boards.
Invest money in too conservation – possibly the profits from the car parks.
Fence of delicate areas.
Promote certain areas but not others to try and limit the damage.
Limit the numbers of people allowed in the park as they do in New Zealand.
