Tourism is what people do when they visit a place outside their usual environment. By some accounts, tourism is the world’s biggest industry. According to The World Tourism Organization, it employs up to 10% of the world's workforce. But what e xactly is this phenomenon we call tourism? Simply put : «T ourism is what people do when they visit a place outside their usual environment. » I t is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that is steadily getting more attention in international research communities. As a field of study, it is concerned with the following key questions: Who? (t ravels) W here? Why? When? H ow? As with most topics of interest, there are many ways of defining tourism, however, and various definitions have been put forward to serve various purposes. But one thing everyone agrees to is that tourism has to do with travel - i.e. movement between relatively distant locations. But not all forms of travel are considered touris...
What is Sustainable Tourism? (Video)
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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.
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