Sustainable tourism

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Tourism impacts
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Tourism impacts
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The next generation
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The technology fix - Ski Dubai , United Arab
Emirates
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Or is the answer in Sustainable Destination
Management?
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Sustainable Tourism and the role of Tourism in
Sustainable Development

• International declarations Brundtland 1987
  Agenda 21 - for tourism 1995.
• Sustainable development
• Development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987)

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Sustainable Tourism

• Sustainable development is simply one step
  beyond what was traditionally termed conservation
  - wise use of resources. ..... development based
  on acceptable levels of social and
  environmental change.
• Gunn, 1994.

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WTO definition of Sustainable Tourism

• Sustainable tourism development meets the needs
  of present tourists and host regions while
  protecting and enhancing opportunity for the
  future. It is envisaged as leading to management
  of all resources in such a way that economic,
  social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled
  while maintaining cultural integrity, essential
  ecological processes, biological diversity, and
  life support systems

(World Tourism Organisation, 1997)
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• Break sustainable tourism down into three core
  elements
• The holistic approach environment, economy and
  society/culture
• The time dimension long term
• Include all stakeholders

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CORE 1 THE HOLISTIC APPROACH

• Sustainable tourism development sustainable in
  terms of
• Economy
• Environment
• Society and culture

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Sustainable tourism

• The holy grail of tourism?
• Tourism that is
• Environmentally
• Economically
• Socio-culturally
• Sustainable

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Society culture
Environment
Economy
Integration, communication, collaboration
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Economic health
Well-being of society
Guest satisfaction
protection of natural resources
Healthy culture
Balanced priorities in sustainable tourism
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Balancing Objectives in Tourism Development

• For example, is it possible to balance and
  trade-off between the following objectives?
• Economic Growth
• Preservation of Ecology / Biodiversity
• Preservation of Cultural Heritage
• Social Welfare
• Regional Development Imbalance

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Balancing Objectives in Tourism Development

• The above objectives are often included in the
  holistic approach to sustainable tourism
  development.
• (Muller, 1994.)

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BEST Business Enterprises for Sustainable
Tourism
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Ethics and tourismWhat is the role of the
individual?

• How do I behave when on holiday?
• Do I interact with the local people and local
  environment from a basis of respect, or use them
  simply for my convenience?
• Can I make a more positive contribution to the
  local economy?
• How ethical are my tour companys policies?

http//www.tourismconcern.org.uk
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Would you be more likely to book a holiday with a
company if they had a written code of ethics?

• Yes
• No
• Dont know

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Would you be more likely to book a holiday with a
company if they had a written code of ethics
Tearfund (2002)
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Who is driving the ethics debate?

• Global organisations (e.g. UNESCO, WTO, UNEP)
• International NGOs (e.g. WTO, Tourism Concern)
• Charities (e.g. VSO)
• Christian organisations (e.g. Tearfund)
• Industry organisations (e.g. AITO, ABTA)

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WTO Global Code of Ethics Principles

• ARTICLE 1Tourism's contribution to mutual
  understanding and respect between peoples and
  societiesARTICLE 2Tourism as a vehicle for
  individual and collective fulfilmentARTICLE
  3Tourism, a factor of sustainable
  developmentARTICLE 4 Tourism, a user of the
  cultural heritage of mankind and contributor to
  its enhancement

• ARTICLE 5Tourism, a beneficial activity for host
  countries and communitiesARTICLE 6Obligations
  of stakeholders in tourism developmentARTICLE
  7Right to tourismARTICE 8Liberty of tourist
  movementsARTICLE 9Rights of the workers and
  entrepreneurs in the tourism industry

See http//www.world-tourism.org/code_ethics/eng/p
rinciples.htm
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Issues of ethical concern for tour operators

• Relationship with host community
• Treatment of employees
• Marketing of products
• Attitude to the natural environment

Weeden (2002)
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Utilising ethical credentials

• Use of locally owned organisations
• Keep group sizes small
• Treat all employees fairly
• Promote packages truthfully

Weeden (2002)
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Using ethical credentials pays off
Meyer et al. (2004)
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• ACTIVITY 1 20 MINUTES
• YOUR VIEWS ON ETHICAL ISSUES

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Ethical questions for you and your company

• Would your guests be willing to pay more money
  for their holiday if workers at the destination
  were guaranteed good wages and working
  conditions?
• Would your guests be willing to pay more money
  for their holiday if the hotel served locally
  produced food?
• Would your guests be willing to pay more money
  for their holiday if some of the money went to a
  local charity?

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CORE 2 TIME DEMENSION

• Time dimension long lasting (inter-generational
  equity)
• Tourism viable over an indefinite period and
  does not degrade or alter the environment (human
  and physical) Butler 1993
• Ensure that productivity can be sustained into
  the long term future

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• How long is long term?
• What is the average business investment time
  scale?
• What is the normal political timescale?

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Complication to core 2 the present??

• Social equity dimension (intra-generational
  equity)
• spread wealth more evenly throughout current
  generations throughout the world
• Provide for a better level of fairness and
  opportunity between different countries

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CORE 3 - INCLUDE ALL STAKEHOLDERS

• Holistic includes all aspects and stakeholders
• Cooperation, partnerships and compromises
• Facilitate and engage public participation

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• Participation all interest groups affected by a
  development should be involved in the decision
  making process.

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The key stakeholders in sustainable tourism
Tourism Industry
Governmental Bodies
The Host Community
Tourists
Sustainable Tourism
Pressure Groups
Voluntary Sector/NGOs
Experts
Media
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• ACTIVITY 2 20 MINUTES
• YOUR VIEWS ON WHO SHOULD TAKE THE LEAD IN
  DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

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Solutions? - Destination management
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Destination Management or Marketing Organisations
(DMO)?

• The concept of the DMO (where M stands for
  management rather than simply marketing)- a quite
  recent form of organizing the destination
  management.
• DMO - responsible for well-being of all aspects
  of the destination
• marketing is no longer the sole purpose

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Linking competitiveness with sustainability
Ritchie and Crouch, (2003)
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4 Pillars of sustainability (Ritchie Crouch,
200344-47)

• Ecological sustainability
• Economic sustainability
• Socio-cultural sustainability
• Political (governance) sustainability

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Political sustainability (governance)

• Political sustainability is rarely identified as
  one of the pillars of sustainability.
• However-critical to the acceptability of any
  solution.
• Problem lies on how one determines
  sustainability.
• A philosophical question a political debate.
• Who decides? Power structures, elites and
  democracy.
• (Ritchie Crouch 2003.)

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A framework for monitoring destination impacts

• Six factors
• Economic and regional development benefits
• Adverse environmental effects
• Quality of life employment opportunities
• Improved community environment
• Cultural erosion
• Crime

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Core indicators of sustainable tourism

• Site protection
• Stress
• Use intensity
• Social impact
• Development control
• Waste management

• Planning processes
• Critical ecosystems
• Consumer satisfaction
• Local satisfaction
• Tourisms contribution
• to local economy

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What is important in the definition of indicators?

• Relevance to the issue
• Data availability (capacity to collect and
  process)
• Credibility of the information
• Clarity and understandability to users
• Comparability over time and across jurisdictions
  or regions

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A WTO guidebook on indicators
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Other issues in sustainable tourism debate

• To name some of the key issues in the sustainable
  tourism debate
• visitor management
• concept of carrying capacity
• role of public sector planning
• role of industry
• tourist education
• private versus public transportation
• value judgment and lack of factual evidence etc.

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Also - Links to Ecotourism

• Looks at -
• policy frameworks
• conservation management frameworks
• WTO ecotourism
• Definitions of ecotourism

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Further websites to assist benchmarking your
destination

• United Nations Environment Program
• See more about sustainable tourism from the
  following webpages
• www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism
• The impacts of tourism in environment
• http//www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/env
  ironment.htm

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• Too much for a one day workshop!!
• BUT for today, lets concentrate on practical
  ways forward what can you do?

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• ACTIVITY 3 Think of over Lunch
• PRACTICAL WAYS FORWARD
• THE ROLE OF INDUSTRY WHAT CAN YOU DO IN YOUR
  BUSINESS TO CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE TOURISM?

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• Thank You!
• Discussion
• .