Essay Example on Sustainable Mass Tourism

Tourism is one of the rapidly growing sectors all over the world and is a key source of income for a lot of countries. However, just like any other form of development, tourism has brought about some problems such as ecological degradation, loss of cultural heritage, social dislocation and economic dependence (Lee, 2013). Therefore, all tourism activities need to be sustainable.

Sustainable tourism is a concept of tourists who visit destinations to try and create a positive impact on the environment, economy, and society (Buckley, 2012). The concept was developed in 1987 by the UN world commission on environment and development. Sustainable tourism has a long-standing consideration for the present and future generations. Sustainable concepts developed today might not be viable in 25 years, therefore, the term sustainability needs to be future-oriented and not a fixed plan. In this regard, it is important to understand that the approaches will be redefined from time to time and we need to be ready for new factors. The goal of sustainable tourism should include all elements of sustainable development which are social issues, economy, ecology and cultural issues. If the policies focus only on the environmental issues then they cannot be termed as sustainable. We shall discuss the factors that make up sustainable tourism policies. Sustainable tourism has to protect nature and the environment and should not be policies which prevent economic gain but future-oriented strategies that can promote economic growth (Bramwell, 2011). Tourism strategies that are geared towards the future have to consider social and ecological implications of mass tourism and implement legislative measures on top of voluntary guidelines and regulations. The economic dimension of tourism is that economically tourism entails all relevant and regionally present sectors so as to generate regional circuits. An example is where a cooperation between agriculture and tourism where both parties benefit from it. Tourism can be incorporated into economic activities as an enriching external factor particularly in developing countries which depend on tourism. The level of service also determines the quality of tourism and so improved education and improved social protection for those working in tourism are essential (Lee, 2013). Developing countries need to pay attention to their qualifications and support of local workers.

Sustainable mass tourism can be said to be the preferred and impending outcome for development of tourism. According to Weaver (2012), most of the tourism is mass tourism and it is very crucial develop policies of sustainable mass tourism. Regulation is a critical aspect of sustainability, and it is necessary to gain sustainable development. Five external factors are considered in sustainable mass tourism and this is climate change awareness, renewable resource price convergence, institutionalized environmentalism, the global financial crisis and the internet. Weaver comes up with a graph of the tourism volume against the level of regulation. He comes up with three different development paths which result from either sustainable mass tourism or fully regulated high volume tourism. The first path is known as incremental path and is illustrated by a high level of regulation that creates the way for volume development and is mostly linked to destinations such as nature parks (Weaver, 2012). The second path is the organic path and it is whereby volume grows first and then it is followed by regulation when the mass tourism becomes unsustainable. In the organic path, the regulation might come around because of several negative impacts. The third path is known as the induced path and it is in the middle the other two paths and in this case, both volume and regulation build up at the same time. Weaver states that tourism will always involve cost and sustainable development is trying to minimize the environmental cost while maximizing the tourists benefits at the same time. There are two principles of sustainability which are the rate of resources consumption must be equivalent to the regeneration capability and the rate of waste production should be equivalent to the absorption capacity of the ecosystem in which they operate. According to Waiver (2012), the future of sustainable tourism is in the sustainability of mass tourism.

Sustainable mass tourism policies will very important for the future of tourism. These policies will help tackle problems such as reduced access to the natural resources for the local communities and environmental degradation (Wheeller, 2012). The policies will guide those in the tourism sector to adopt environmentally sound practices. For instance, in regards to water utilization, measures such as desalination systems, water saving tools and harvesting of rainwater will be recommended. The use of renewable sources of energy and environmentally friendly materials is also encouraged. Sustainable mass tourism encourages the use of ecological methods in all sectors of tourism. It should also have clear-cut rules and regulations regarding pollution of the environment especially land and water. Systems such as proper sewage treatment amenities and proper waste disposals like organic and non-organic waste separation should be implemented. The hotels and residents can also come up with ways of reusing the organic waste in farms. Another very critical issue that needs to be addressed is the erosion of cultures and disrespect of human rights. Sustainable tourism policies will come up with projects which are consistent with the culture of the local citizens. The tourism sector should respect the culture of the locals and comply with the heritage in their destinations. Sustainable tourism can also come up with training programs that will help manage the code of conduct for tourists. These programs will help educate tourists about their destinations before and even after they get there. The code of conduct should entail appropriate dressing and behavior, the way of life, cultural heritage and history.

Tourism is still growing and is expected to keep on growing in the future. This growth should be harnessed not only by the tourists alone but also for capitalizing on the economic gains and increasing the living standards of the local citizens and country. Sustainable tourism strategies need to be implemented to achieve environmental sustainability and enjoy the maximum economic benefits from the industry (Miller, Rathouse, Scarles, Holmes & Tribe, 2010). These strategies will need technical and financial assistance, community participation, human resource training and capacity building in the developing countries.

References

Bramwell, B. (2011). Governance, the state and sustainable tourism: A political economy approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(4-5), 459-477.

Buckley, R. (2012). Sustainable tourism: Research and reality. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(2), 528-546.

Lee, T. H. (2013). Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism development. Tourism management, 34, 37-46.

Miller, G., Rathouse, K., Scarles, C., Holmes, K., & Tribe, J. (2010). Public understanding of sustainable tourism. Annals of tourism research, 37(3), 627-645.

Weaver, D. B. (2012). Organic, incremental and induced paths to sustainable mass tourism convergence. Tourism Management, 33(5), 1030-1037.

Wheeller, B. (2012). Sustainable mass tourism: More smudge than nudgethe canard continues. Critical debates in tourism, 39-43.