The Environmental Impacts of Tourism

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Introduction

The travel and tourism industry has come far since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. The increasing numbers of travelers and the rise in package tours during the 1980s were causing a valid concern among environmentalists. Recently there has also been an increase in conferences on the environment hosted by governments and by private sector companies, which emphasize the importance of environmental sustainability and highlighting the responsibility of both the public and private sector to protect natural and cultural heritage and if tourism is not planned and managed carefully, it can overwhelm the very assets with which it attracts visitors to the destination. Conversely, tourism can generate the necessary revenue to protect and preserve biodiversity and act as a force for environmental protection especially in developing countries. Game parks and nature preserves are centres of institutional strength and can act as a focus for tourism development in rural areas. [1]

Industry Subsectors

Of the more than 25 subsectors that make up the travel and tourism industry, three sectors — food services, air travel, and accommodations — account for more than 50 percent of total output.

Accommodations: This subsector is the largest of the three and accounts for 19 percent of total travel industry output. Accommodations benefited from international overseas traveler growth of 7 percent in 2012. 

Food Services: This subsector is the second largest and accounts for more than 16 percent of travel and tourism-related output. The National Restaurant Association predicts 3.5 percent growth for the restaurant industry in 2012. 

Air Travel: This subsector accounts for nearly16 percent of travel industry output. Airlines continuously seek ways to increase revenue by offering access to new markets as they work to reduce costs and fuel consumption by grounding inefficient aircraft and scaling back unprofitable routes.

Examples of tourism expansion, that have ignored the local environment, are well-known: tourism facilities built on pristine land without prior consultation with the local community; golf greens that use up scarce water supplies; water pipes and infrastructure that feed major developments but often ignore the local village. With the rise of mass tourism comes the threat of destruction of fragile eco-systems and coastal regions, local culture, and the depletion of natural resources. Conversely, tourism can generate the necessary revenue to protect and reserve biodiversity and act as a force for environmental protection especially in developing countries. Game parks and nature preserves are centers of institutional strength and can act as a focus for tourism development in rural areas.[2] Not only can it help to preserve the environment, but profits have a greater potential to reach local and rural communities, compared to other sectors[3].

References

[1] DFID, 1999: Changing the Nature of Tourism. Department for International Development. London.

[2] DFID, 1999: Changing the Nature of Tourism. Department for International Development. London.

[3] Roe, D., Urquhart, P.; 2001: Pro-Poor Tourism: Harnessing the World’s Largest Industry for the World’s Poor. International Institute of Environment & Development. p.4. London.