A fairer world - The Tasmanian Center for Global Learning

Did you know?
  • The travel and tourism  industry employs approximately 231 million people worldwide and generates over 10% of the world's Gross Domestic Product.*
  • "Sometimes, as little as 10% of the mnoney spent on a holiday remains in the destination economy." * 
  • In Australia, it is estimated that by 2008 tourism will be responsible for approximately 10% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.*




Take action
  • You can assist one of the organisations that are working to improve the tourism industry, such as the Travel Foundation and ECPAT. Or you may wish to help through a more individual project like 100 Friends.
  • Buy carbon credits that offset the carbon dioxide emissions created by your air flights and other travel activities.
  • Use ecologically friendly travel services – find listings at responsibletravel.com and Green Globe.


Tourism


"Tourism is like fire: you can cook your dinner on it, but if you are not careful

it will burn your house down."
Asian saying

Tourism has become the world's leading industry*. It is expected to generate around 9 trillion dollars globally in 2007*. It plays a particularly powerful role in the developing world. But the economic benefits can come at a very real price. Tourism can have a significant impact upon the physical environment, both at global and local levels. Cultures and lifestyles can be diminished through exploitation and internationalisation. Local needs may be subverted to meet the requirements of overseas tourist interests. The bulk of the economic returns from tourism can end up flowing out of the host countries while the local people face increased living costs.

To counter these negatives there is now a growing focus upon sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and pro-poor tourism which encourage travelers to learn from their travels but not at the expense of damaging the peoples and the places that they visit. Increasing numbers of individual travelers are now beginning to use ethical guidelines when planning and undertaking their trips and the industry is establishing standards that reflect a greater sense of corporate responsibility.  

The impact of tourism upon people and the environment: 


Tourism can have both positive and negative impacts. It can encourage water depletion, deforestation, pollution, global warming, loss of biodiversity and damage to cultures. But, it can also lead to environmental awareness raising, the protection of sensitive areas, to the creation of employment and infrastructure and to the fostering of peace and the strengthening of communities.

  • The World Tourism Organization serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and it is a good starting point for surveying this topic.
  • Links, case studies and articles about the pros and cons of tourism can be found on the Eldis tourism topic page.
  • The United Nations Environment Programme Tourism page provides an excellent overview of the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of tourism.  It has a particularly helpful summary of environmental impacts one of which is air travel.
  •  Air travel is a significant contributor to global warming and you can discover the effects that your air flights will have on climate change at Flying to a warmer climate.  You can compensate for the emissions you create when flying through one of the carbon offset programs that are now available.  RMIT University has a short listing in their publication, Carbon Offset Providers in Australia 2007.
  • Intute Travel and Tourism provides access to a wide range of materials relating to the social issues associated with tourism.
  • The Third World Network tourism page focuses on Asian issues, and in particular, Southeast Asia, through their newsletter, New Frontiers.
  • Sex tourism is one of the most odious aspects of the travel industry, most particularly when it involves children, see ECPAT for details.


Working towards a more positive role for tourism:

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus upon sustainable tourism, ecotourism and pro-poor tourism. These are all approaches designed to reduce the negative impact that tourism has upon societies and the environment. While only a partial answer, this can be seen as a step in the right direction. Find out more about some of these attempts to give tourism a new face.

  • Links related to sustainable tourism can also be found at the National Geographic Centre for Sustainable Destinations.
  • Tourism Concern works for fair trade in the industry and with communities affected by the impact of tourism.
  • Sustainabletourism.net provides links to a large number of relevant sites (on their Resources page), as well as many case studies outlining successful projects.
  •  Pro-Poor Tourism is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people.
  • The Travel Foundation is a British charity which is active in sustainable tourism.  They work with the industry and have programs in a number of countries.


Guidelines for ethical travel:

If tourism is to benefit rather than harm the world, it is essential that travelers ensure that they journeys do not damage the environments and peoples that they visit.  They must utilise principles of travel which respect the world. It is equally important that the industry sets standards to guide its own activities.

  • The World Tourism Organisation has developed a Global Code of Ethics for Tourism for members of the industry and The Responsible Tourist to guide travelers.
  • A number of organisations have developed checklists and practices for responsible travel to assist the individual to travel in a more ethical manner.   Sustainable Travel International and the Australian travel company, Peregrine Adventures, provide two examples of such guides.
  • Fair Trade Tourism South Africa is an example of a national group which promotes ethical business practices in the tourism industry as well as respect for human rights, culture and the environment.

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