Next destination: Sustainable tourism

By Sam Nortey Jr. l International Herald Tribune

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is claiming the environmental damage done by mass tourism includes soil erosion, pollution of land and oceans, natural habitat loss, pressure on endangered species, heightened vulnerability to forest fires and increased strain on water resources.

PARIS - The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that total 2006 tourism industry receipts — including everything from airlines to resorts — amounted to $730 billion.

In 2005 the top 10 country destinations received more than 330 million visitors. By 2010, tourism will eclipse oil as the largest industry on the planet, said Cleo van Rijk, an official in the organization's market intelligence section, in Madrid.

The environmental damage done by mass tourism includes soil erosion, pollution of land and oceans, natural habitat loss, pressure on endangered species, heightened vulnerability to forest fires and increased strain on water resources, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Paris.

Research by the UN Environment Program shows that about 80 percent of spending by vacationers on all-inclusive package tours goes to airlines, hotels and other international companies, often with headquarters in the travelers' home countries, and not to local businesses or workers.

Furthermore, once a destination is sold as a tourism product, and the tourism demand for souvenirs, arts, entertainment and other commodities begins to exert influence, basic changes in human values may occur. Sacred sites, rituals, and objects may not be respected when they are perceived as goods to trade.

"If not managed properly, a tourism program can easily become extractive, over time reducing the value of a destination rather than enhancing it," said Paul Bennett, the founder of Context Travel, an operator specializing in cultural walking tours.

"This is obvious in places like Rome, Paris, and Florence — European cities that are among the most touristed places on the planet, and where the presence of huge crowds diminishes the meaning of monuments," Bennett said.

In an effort to address these negative impacts, some tour operators have started including sustainable development standards in their contracts with service suppliers, offering training, advice and occasionally financial incentives to hotels and other providers that may need to clean up their environmental act.

In 2002, a Finnish tour operator, Aurinkomatkat, introduced minimum environmental criteria into its hotel contracts, requiring hotels to be connected to a wastewater treatment system, and to implement water- and energy-saving measures. Hotels that meet the Aurinkomatkat criteria benefit from long-term cost savings, said Tom Selänniemi, Aurikomatkat's manager for sustainable tourism, and the chairman of the Tour Operator's Initiative, a network of tour operators committed to sustainable development.

Aurikomatkat has contracts with 900 partner hotels and serves 350,000 customers annually, each of whom used to consume about 150 liters, or 40 gallons, of water a day, Selänniemi said. Since it introduced its conservation contracts, average daily water consumption has fallen by some 10 to 30 liters per client, adding up to an annual saving of as much as 3.8 billion liters of water.

Another approach has been taken by Premier Tours, a Philadelphia-based specialist in safari tours to southern and eastern Africa. Premier donates $25 for each client to the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust. Among other programs, the trust helps impoverished local children, offering them a wildlife camp experience where they are taught about conservation, geography and geology, as well as art, nutrition, health and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Since the start of this program, inspired by a visit to Africa by the American actor Paul Newman in 2001, two participants have become employed by Wildlife Safaris, said Julian Harrison, the president of Premier Tours.

"Things have come full circle. Not only have we helped break the cycle of poverty for these individuals, but they now are fully involved in the promotion and preservation of the environment," Harrison said.

Printable Version | published Jun 07, 2007

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