What is Sustainable Tourism? (Video)

All forms of tourism touch the environment in which it takes place. The effects of this contact between tourists and the environment must be carefully managed for tourism to remain sustainable.

But what exactly is sustainable tourism? In this post and video, we will try to explain.

The effects of the contact between tourism and its environment may be positive or negative, and they may be strong or weak. Examples of negative effects of tourism include large carbon footprints, strain on natural resources, disturbance of flora and fauna, and interruption of locals' way of life. Everyone involved in tourism have a responsibility to make sure that their activity does not have too many strong negative effects on the places that are visited.

Effects of Tourism

A certain number of negative effects may be acceptable as they may be compensated for by strong, positive effects. Examples of positive effects of tourism include economic benefits, better understanding of cultural differences, and increased awareness of environmental issues. If the costs of tourism to a place consistently outweighs the benefits, however, then tourism to this place is not sustainable in the long run. Sustainable tourism may thus be defined as follows:

 

Sustainable tourism is tourism that in the long term has more positive than negative effects on the environment.

 

It should be emphasized that the term environment in the first definition refers not only to the natural environment, but also to the cultural, social, and economic environments. When determining how tourism is impacting the environment, it is common to use a so-called PSE-analysis where the letters PSE stand for:

 

Physical Impacts: Effects on the natural and cultural environment.

Social Impacts: Effects on the social environment.

Economic Impacts: Effects on the economic environment.

 

Another way to remember these three factors, is to think of the three P's: People, Planet and Profit.

The Triple Bottom Line

These three factors are also referred to as the triple bottom line. Although the focus is usually on the triple bottom line of tourist destinations, an environmental evaluation of tourism activity should also include the effects tourism has on transit regions as well as home areas.

The first use of the term sustainability as a measure of human activity is usually credited the UN report, Our Common Future, from 1987. In this report, sustainable development was defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Inserting the word tourism into this definition gives us a good, second or alternative definition of sustainable tourism:

 

Sustainable tourism is tourism that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

 

The needs referred to in our second definition include the needs of both organizations and individuals and both visitors and locals. Responsible tourists and tourism companies must therefore behave and operate in a way that does not endanger the chances of future generations of tourists and tourism companies to continue exploring and experiencing a healthy and prosperous planet.

 

So be a responsible tourist and support tourism companies and destinations that practice sustainable tourism. Only if each and every one involved in tourism takes their share of the common responsibility, can we continue to travel and experience our planet for years and generations to come.