How are the impacts of tourism managed?

Question 1

Define sustainable tourism

Answer 1

• form of tourism that is allowed to continue:
• without causing damage,
• leaving negative impacts on surrounding society&culture
• should address needs of visitors, industry and local communities

Question 2

Define management

Answer 2

• making decisions which benefit natural environment visited by tourists & lives of local population
• ensures that site & features remains in prime condition
• -tourism planning and management help ensure economy, culture & environment of region sustained for future generation
• tourists activities should not excessively use site’s resources & damage environment

Question 3

Define conservation

Answer 3

• careful management&use of resources to ensure prevention of depletion
• important for fragile environments (easily affected by change)

Question 4

Examples of fragile environments

Answer 4

• mangroves&coral reefs
• these environments easily disturbed by e.g :
  1. dumping of waste from tourist facilities
  2. removal of vegetation to build infrastructure eg roads&buildings
  3. disposal of waste into rivers, lakes or coastal environments thru fuel leaks from boats

Question 5

How can conservation of fragile environments and promoting sustainable tourism be made possible?

Answer 5

• help of laws and regulations
• support from local people
• e.g. Great Barrier Reef (which held a spot in the UNESCO World Heritage List 1981), receives abt 14 mil tourists a year. Threatened by tourism activities like fuel leaks from pleasure boats mainly in marinas&harbours
• Clean Water Act program implemented, ensures water quality is maintained
• also threatened by removal of coral as souvenirs

Question 6

How does sustainable tourism manage leakages?

Answer 6

• involves minimizing leakages from tourist revenues
• countries have different approaches in reducing leakages eg:
  1. training locals to perform skilled tourism jobs eg management&marketing
  2. developing home-stay accommodations (visitors pay locals directly for accommodation)
  3. promote local food and drinks in restaurants, provides a market for local food producers&distributors

Question 7

Define UNESCO and its role

Answer 7

• united nations educational, scientific,&cultural organization
• very involved in conservation&protection of cultural&natural heritage around the world
• provides funding for conservation activities
• provides assistance to sites in immediate danger
• no. of UNESCO World Heritage Sites has increase from 12 in 1978 to abt 1000 by 2012

Question 8

What are the benefits of a well-protected environment/tourist site?

Answer 8

• attracts both new and returning tourists
• repeated steady arrival of tourists will continue to benefit locals economically
• income from tourism motivate locals to care properly for sites that tourists visit, ensuring a regular&viable stream of income from tourism in future

Question 9

Tensions in managing the impacts of tourism

Answer 9

• tourism can produce tensions due to differences between needs or expectations of diff groups: tourists, locals, environment
• these can cause tensions between needs or expectations of:
  1. tourists&locals
  2. tourists&environment
• these tensions need to be balanced when managing impact of tourism

Question 10

Tensions between tourists&locals

Answer 10

• Tensions can arise when needs of tourists conflict with needs of locals
• e.g tourists may want to wear skimpy clothing on hot sunny days
• this can make people of conservative countries to feel uncomfortable as it goes against their values

Question 11

Tensions between tourists&locals example: Bali, Indonesia (Brief intro about the tourist site)

Answer 11

• island of Bali in Indonesia is visited by many tourists for natural landscape eg mountains, rain forests&food
• its cultural landscape is a World Heritage Site
• renowned for its Hindu Temples, art, dance & other heritage&customs
• in 2012, Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency recorded 2.9 mil tourists arriving to Bali
• islands population of 4.2 mil, large inflow of tourists cause tension between them and locals

Question 12

Tensions between tourists and locals (Bali tensions examples- Congestion)

Answer 12

• tourist sites eg Kuta often congested, busloads of ever-increasing foreign tourists, more difficult for locals to carry out daily business

Question 13

Tensions between tourists and locals (Bali tensions examples- Water supply)

Answer 13

• large no. of hotels, resorts, convention centres, other tourism facilities; deprive locals of water supply
• ‘A political ecology of water equity and tourism” by Dr Stroma Cole, tourism industry consume 65% of island water supply, water shortage in certain areas
• most vulnerable are the poorest, rely on dug wells that have now dried up
• poor cannot afford to be connected to city’s water supply

Question 14

Tensions between tourists and locals (Bali tensions examples- Respect local customs)

Answer 14

• sometimes fail to respect local customs

- e.g. many locals do not approve of public display of affection, tourists think its acceptable

Question 15

Tensions between tourists and environment (Intro)

Answer 15

thou attractions depend on tourists income for conservation, too much inflow of tourists may lead to destruction of natural environment

Question 16

Tensions between locals and environment (Machu Picchu, Peru) (Intro)

Answer 16

• in present-day Cusco, Peru, built by Inca civilization
• rich history, breathtaking landscape, attract abt 3300 visitors daily (Cusco Regional Director Of Culture, Ministry of Culture, 2011)
• site’s popularity led to tensions between needs of tourists and the need to conserve the environment

Question 17

Tensions between locals and environment (Machu Picchu, Peru) examples - litter

Answer 17

• physically abled tourists opt to use “Inca Trail” due to stunning scenery and landscape
• home to diverse range of rare indigenous fauna and flora
• slowly being eroded by more than 75 000 tourists that hike on it each year
• leave behind rubbish e.g water bottles, plastic wrappers

Question 18

Tensions between locals and environment (Machu Picchu, Peru) examples - helicopter

Answer 18

• tourists prefer using helicopters due to convenience

- in 2010, authorities banned helicopters from site, worried that noise will disturb the indigenous wildlife

Question 19

Tensions between locals and environment (footsteps damaging site)

Answer 19

• sheer weight, combined footsteps of tourists visiting Machu Picchu every year
• slowly damage land and artifacts on the site

Question 20

Measures for managing tensions

Answer 20

• gov plays important role
• many countries set up agencies and organizations to manage
• may impose measures to help balance the needs of tourists, locals and environment

Question 21

Examples of measures for managing tensions

Answer 21

• limit no. of visitors, minimize congestion and degradation
• withhold permission tourist activities/projects that might harm environment e.g. landscape, fauna and flora
• employing staff to maintain, repair a site, prevent tourists from tampering with it
• holding discussions with locals regarding their needs and concerns
• restricting tourists from some areas only locals can enter

Question 22

Importance of balancing needs

Answer 22

• can be difficult
• e.g. residents happy abt limiting no. of visitors to a site, business owners might complain due to low pedestrian
• e.g. needs of locals for jobs may defeat attempts at conservation
• due to these tensions various grps and stakeholders have a responsibility to ensure balance between conflicting interests

Question 23

Responsibilities of local communities (Define local community)

Answer 23

• a group of ppl living in same territory
• can play a key role in conserving and protecting tourist areas
• also benefit economically from tourism, esp thru community-based tourism

Question 24

Responsibilities of local communities (define community-based tourism)

Answer 24

• has close contact with and mainly benefits local communities
• may be done in partnership with a gov or NGO
• one successful community-based tourism e.g. Candirejo Village in Central Java, Indonesia

Question 25

Candirejo Village (Indonesia) example (Community-based tourism)

Answer 25

• villagers set up a cooperative in 2003 to manage and implement community’s tourism-related programmes (with support of gov)
• participated in decision-making thru discussions and consultations with the cooperative abt the programmes to be carried out e.g. developing homestay accommodations, developing organic farms, organizing public transport
• programmes trained villagers to produce handicrafts, provide catering, work as tour guides
• by 2004, village reported 63 new jobs, 5 new businesses, 12,5 percent increase in average income per villager from 2001-2003

Question 26

Responsibilities of visitors

Answer 26

• respect both environment and local population of plc they are visiting, should not cause damage or offense
• report by the Tourism Sustainability Group in 2007 encouraged tourists to select holiday destinations based on conservation efforts by place
• becos some tourists want to minimise carbon footprint while on holiday
• consider factors eg amt of water used, amt of waste recycled at these destinations
• more rewarded knowing that they’ve done their best in not damaging environments

Question 27

Responsibilities of tour operators

Answer 27

• may belong to associations that are increasingly concerned with conserving and protecting sites visited by tourists
• unspoilt landscapes, rich biodiversity, unique cultures deteriorate, lesser tourists

Question 28

Responsibilities of tour operators (example)

Answer 28

• a group known as Phuket Alternative Tours (PAT), set up by a team of tour operators in 2006
• those who want to work in this group are required to sign an Environmental and Cultural Code Of Practice
• members required to follow guidelines
• operate in an environmentally sustainable way, seek to enhance natural environment and way industry uses it, create awareness abt environmental conservation for visitors

Question 29

Responsibilities of planning authorities

Answer 29

• can greatly influence future quality of environments by
• determining no. of visitors a site can cope with
• allocating space for infrastructure e.g. roads and hotels
• most important grp in ensuring sites are protected
• should consider local sensitivities of area while maintaining its physical and socio-cultural condition

Question 30

Responsibilities of planning authorities (example)

Answer 30

• Singapore Tourism Board (STB) ensures that it attracts large no. of tourists
• also accounts for the need to conserve national heritage
• implemented programmes to conserve ethnic districts of SG
• involve enhancing cultural zones of Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Little India
• visitors and locals can better appreciate rich heritage

Question 31

Responsibilities of NGOs

Answer 31

• non-profit, operate independently

- a number of NGOs are concerned with tourism’s impact on natural and human environments

Question 32

Responsibilities of NGOs (example)

Answer 32

-since 1990s The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) has developed guideline, conducted trng courses, provided technical assistance and published research papers related to tourism and environment