INTRONotes-310 W024
INTRONotes-310 W024
INTRONotes-310 W024
Sustainable Tourism means that everyone involved in tourism, like locals, businesses,
and visitors, work together to understand and manage the impacts tourism has on the
environment and communities. They make sure that tourism benefits everyone,
protects nature, and promotes responsible travel habits
Tourism – concepts and definitions
Having the highest degree of ‘’visibility’’, associating
sustainability to the practice of tourism is
o Ecotourism, e.g. responsible travel and visitation to
relatively undisturbed natural areas … to enjoy and
appreciate nature - it is understood that ecotourism promotes
conservation, has overall low visitor impact, and provides for
beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations
o a major issue is with the idea that a ‘’sustainable’’ (tourism) product can be offered while
requiring a long-distance travel (most likely airline flight … a recognized major source of GHGs)
o it is increasingly surmised that ‘’sustainable tourism’’ in many instances is more a
‘’marketing tool’’ … that its sustainability is in many instances ‘’doubtful’’
... Its efficiency is inversely proportional to its success
In simpler terms, sustainable tourism is supposed to be about traveling in a way that's good for the environment and local
communities. However, when people have to travel far, it can cause problems. Also, some places might say they're
sustainable just to attract tourists, without actually being good for the environment. And as more tourists come, it can be
harder to keep things sustainable.
Pros of tourism
• can help sustain regional cultures
• can provide incentives for environmental protection
• can provide incentives for heritage (historical) preservation
Cons of Tourism
• can debase (indigenous) cultures
• can bring unsightly development, pollution, environmental degradation