Issues in Destination Sustainability

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Issues in Destination Sustainability

• Harold Goodwin

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Responsible Tourism in Destinations

• Destinations as Commons
• Travel Philanthropy
• Role of the Media
• Responsible Hotels Resorts
• PPT in Destinations

• EIA Auditing
• Role of Government
• Partnerships
• Loch Ness Glencoe
• South Africa The Gambia
• Concluding Seminar

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Sustainability

• How is it to be defined?
• 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.(WTO,1988)

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Brundtland - focused on tourism

• Forms of tourism which meet the needs of
  tourists, the tourism industry, and host
  communities today without compromising the
  ability of future generations to meet their own
  needs. Swarbrooke (1999)

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Swarbrooke

• sustainable tourism is, perhaps, an impossible
  dream and that the best we can hope for is to
  develop more sustainable forms of tourism.
• sustainable tourism is an overtly political
  subject in that it is about the distribution of
  resources, now and in the future.

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Swarbrooke 1999

• sustainable tourism is about who has the
  power host communities, governments, the
  industry and tourists and how they use the
  power. We need to recognize that definitions of
  sustainable tourism and devising strategies to
  try to achieve it will normally reflect who has
  the power in any particular situation

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Sustainable Development of Tourism (1)
WTO

• Applicable to all forms of tourism
• Make optimal use of environmental resources
• Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host
  communities
• Provide socio-economic benefits to all
  stakeholders

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Sustainable Development of Tourism (2)
WTO

• Continuous process requires
• Informed participation of all stakeholders
• strong political leadership
• High level of tourist satisfaction
• WTO Conceptual Definition 2004

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Beyond the Green Horizon 1992

• Using resources sustainably
• Reducing over-consumption and waste
• Maintaining diversity
• Integrating tourism into planning
• Supporting local economies
• Involving local communities
• Consulting stakeholders and the public
• Training staff
• Marketing tourism responsibly
• Undertaking research

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World Tourism Organization

• Manila Declaration on World Tourism, 1980
• Acapulco Documents on the Rights to Holidays,
  1982
• Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourism Code, Sofia,
  1985
• The Hague Declaration on Tourism, 1989
• Lanzarote Charter for Sustainable Tourism, 1995
  (jointly with UNEP, UNESCO, EU)
• Statement on the Prevention of Organized Sex
  Tourism, Cairo, 1995
• Lanzarote Conference on Sustainable Tourism in
  SIDS, 1998 (jointly with UNEP)
• Global Code of Ethics for Tourism,1999

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Agenda 21 for the Travel Tourism Industry

• Nine priority areas for action by government
  departments, national tourism administrations and
  trade organisations are
• assessing the capacity of existing regulatory,
  economic, and voluntary structures to achieve
  sustainable tourism
• assessing the economic, social, cultural, and
  environmental implications of the organization's
  operations
• training, education, and public awareness
• planning for sustainable tourism development
• facilitating exchange of information, skills, and
  technology relating to sustainable tourism
  between developed and developing countries
• providing for the participation of all sectors of
  society
• design of new tourism products with
  sustainability at their core 
• measuring progress in achieving sustainable
  development and
• partnerships for sustainable development

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Agenda 21

• Ten priority areas for action by travel and
  tourism companies are
• waste minimization, reuse and recycling
• energy efficiency, conservation and management
• management of fresh water resources
• waste water management
• hazardous substances
• transport
• land-use planning and management
• involving staff, customers, and communities in
  environmental issues
• design for sustainability
• partnerships for sustainable development.

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Responsible Tourism

• minimises negative economic, environmental, and
  social impacts
• generates greater economic benefits for local
  people and enhances the well-being of host
  communities, improves working conditions and
  access to the industry
• involves local people in decisions that affect
  their lives and life chances
• makes positive contributions to the conservation
  of natural and cultural heritage, to the
  maintenance of the world's diversity
• provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists
  through more meaningful connections with local
  people, and a greater understanding of local
  cultural, social and environmental issues
• provides access for physically challenged people
  and
• is culturally sensitive, engenders respect
  between tourists and hosts, and builds local
  pride and confidence.
• Cape Town Declaration on RT in Destinations

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Responsible Tourism is not a blueprint

• Relishing the worlds cultures, habitats and
  species
• Celebrating the diversity of natural and cultural
  heritage
• Recognising that there is no one solution, no one
  model

• Responsibility will be exercised in different
  ways in different places by different
  stakeholders.
• Better places for hosts and guests different
  places
• It is a movement linked to other trends
• People will be more or less responsible

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UK Wise Growth

• The Government's vision for sustainable
  development is based on four broad objectives
• social progress which recognises the needs of
  everyone
• effective protection of the environment
• prudent use of natural resources and
• maintenance of high and stable levels of economic
  growth and employment.

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Visit Britain

• Visitor Satisfaction - visitors must be satisfied
  with all aspects of the tourism product
• Industry Profitability- the return to the
  industry must allow for reinvestment and growth
• Community Acceptance - account must be taken of
  the communitys aspirations
• Environmental Protection- the resources on which
  the industry is based must be protected

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Malta

• "The mission of the MTA is to advance the
  economic and social activity of tourism in the
  national interest, by working with all
  stakeholders to develop a sustainable industry
  for current and future generations."
• www.mta.com.mt

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Malta Tourism Authority

• Carrying Capacity Assessment for the Maltese
  Islands (2001)
• Spatial-ecological
• Economic-political
• Socio-cultural
• Controlled growth objective

• Increase foreign earnings and per capita spend
• Invest in resource efficient segments
• Consider social private benefits and costs
• Bed-stock stabilised
• Summer volumes not to exceed saturation

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Ballearics Divinas

• Do these environments maintain themselves?

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Majorca Calvia

• Decision to rebalance tourism
• Observatory
• Led by local council using an Agenda 21 approach

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• Environment suffers damage even when it is
  necessary to involve the local level
• The sustainability war is being fought at
  local level
• There are a range of management tools
  regulations and promotion of participation

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Environment
Cultural Heritage
Citizen Forum
Urban Planning
Economy
Social cultural environment
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Four policies in action

• Esponjamiento. Demolition of hotels in urban
  land
• Declassification of land able to be built.
• 1660 Ha have been declassified (40.000 beds)
• Zero Growing of tourism beds
• Limitation of construction rhythm in urban
  land. 1 licences per year

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10 Action Lines

• 1. To maintain human pressure,
• 2.To foster the resident population's quality of
  life.
• 3.To protect the natural land and marine heritage
  and promote the establishment of a regional
  tourist ecotax.
• 4. To restore the historical, cultural and
  natural heritage
• 5. To promote the complete rehabilitation of
  residential and tourist areas
• 6. To improve Calvià as a tourist destination,
  to replace growth with sustainable quality, to
  seek an increase in expenditure per visitor and
  aim at balancing the tourist season.
• 7. To improve public transport
• 8. To introduce sustainable management into the
  key environmental sectors water, energy and
  waste
• 9. To invest in human and knowledge resources,
• 10. To innovate municipal management

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Management Tools

• Regulations(Policy)
• Laws at different levels
• Eco responsible Urban Plans
• Incentives
• Local level Plans (Excellence Plans)
• Esponjamiento, declassificación, limitation
• Economic measures (Eco Tax)
• Audits and labels
• Social Cohesion(Citizen Participation)
• Citizen Forum and thematic Commissions
• Citizen Personal comittment

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Consultation

• establish an effective policy framework
• maximise tourism's potential to benefit local
  communities
• manage visitor flows
• address the transport issues associated with
  tourism
• address the planning issues associated with
  tourism and
• build partnerships between public, private and
  voluntary sectors.

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Economic

• Positive

• Negative

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Environment

• Positive

• Negative

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Socio-Cultural

• Positive

• Negative

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Whose responsibility?

• Hotels and accommodation owners
• Tourists
• Communities
• Overseas Tour Operators/Organisers
• Ground Handlers/local agents
• Guide Book Writers and Guides
• National and Local Government
• Police Judiciary

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For a destination ..

• You have been asked to recommend the topics to be
  addressed by a series of commissions which are
  being established to work on agendas for change
  to create sustainable tourism in
• ???????????????