UNIVERSITY OF CRAIOVA FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MASTERS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM

SUPERVISOR: PH.D. ASSOCIATED PROFESSOR LUMINITA VOCHITA

STUDENT: ALEXANDRA VELICA

CRAIOVA, 2010 1

CONTENTS

FOREWORD CHAPTER 1 ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM 1.1. TOURISM AND ECONOMICS 1.2 Financial Leakages 1.3 Impacts on Livelihoods in Destination Communities CHAPTER 2 TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT 2. KEY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN TOURISM 2.1. Sustainable development 2.2. Sustainable tourism 2.3. Maximum sustainable yield 2.4. Resources conservation 2.5. Recycling 2.6. Market failures CHAPTER 3 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: THE WAY FORWARD 3.1. National and regional strategies for sustainable tourism development 3.2. Regulatory mechanisms and economic instruments 3.3. Voluntary industry initiatives 3.4. International activities in support of sustainable tourism CHAPTER 4 4. MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM 4.1. Negative impacts 4.2. Behaviour of tourism user-groups of natural resources 4.3 The positive effects 4.4. Codes of conduct and environmental education CHAPTER 5 - CASE OF STUDY 5. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA 5.1 Development of Tourism in India 5.2 Early Development 5.3 Present Situation and Features of Tourism in India 5.4 Tourist Attractions in India 5.5 Initiatives to Boost Tourism 6. FUTURE PROSPECTS 6.1 Constraints 6.2 Impact of Tourism in India 6.3 Positive Impacts 6.4 Developing Infrastructure 6.5 Negative Impacts 7. Environmental Impact of Tourism in India 2

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7.1 Positive Impacts 7.2 Protection and Preservation of Environment 7.3 Negative Impacts 7.4 Destruction and Alteration of Ecosystems CONCLUSIONS On Tourism and Environment On the Impact of the Environment over Tourism Positive Impact of the Environment over Tourism Negative Impact of the Environment over Tourism Actions of Protection and Preservation of the Environment and the Tourist Potential Ecotourism an Important Element of Sustainable Development REFERENCES

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FOREWORD
The tourism industry and the environment are strongly connected and interdependent, as the preservation of the environment is an intrinsic condition to develop tourism. It is a strong connection that goes both ways: on one hand, the environment, including all its components, is the very basis for tourism, and on the other hand, tourism has a great influence on the environment itself, modifying all elements of the environment not always in a positive way. The tourism industry also impacts the environment in the areas of solid waste generation, whereas building tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas (land use planning) is also a concern as is the usage of potable water. Nowadays, tourism is one of the main economic activities and budget contributors in countries such as France, Egypt, Greece, United States, Spain, Italy,and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism.1 The environment is defined as the quality of life, including human life standards and the proper natural habitat for animals and plants. The quality of life is determined by long term availability of resources, in adequate quality and sufficient quantity of all the natural elements, such as water, air, soil, land and space in general, as well as raw materials. Tourism is an important source of maintaining and improving environment quality, being an active factor of sustainable development for its own sake and in order to ensure the quality of basic resources and development of all other industries. The environment is an element which influences tourist demand. Considering that the demand for tourist services is partly determined by the quality of the offer, the environment can and has both positive and negative effects over tourism. The natural conditions of the environment, all components considered relief, climate, hidrography, flora and fauna, natural monuments, reservations have an important impact on attracting tourist flow and also have a decisive effect over tourist activities in general, as well as determining its particular forms.2 Besides the natural environment tourism, there is also the anthropic one, which consists of archaeological resources, elements of ethnography and folklore, institutions of art or cultural and and events (festivals, sport competitions etc.), technological and scientific locations (observatories, science museums) and human settlements and architecture. The elements of natural and anthropic potential combined attract tourists by their aesthetic value, the entertainment and recreational potential, the quality of natural factors to cure different illnesses, the possibility of practising sports and for educational purposes as well. Tourism is one of the most important industries in the world and is still growing. More and more people are interested in exploring new destination sites and new cultures, the farther, the better. Thus, the areas that have more natural resources attract more tourists and they also offer the possibility to meet and learn about many cultures with their traditions and customs. Preserving means keeping the environment as it is and consciously making use of both the natural environment and the anthropic one. Preservation and tourism always go hand in hand. Many historical and archaeological monuments have been saved over time because of the interest tourists got in them. Hundreds of historical houses in the United Kingdom would only have become ruins or demolished unless they had been valuable to tourists. Not only great
1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism#Most_visited_countries_by_international_tourist_arrivals

Rodica Minciu, Op. cit., p.161 4

castles or mansions were saved that way, but also coal miners' dwellings at the Beamish Museum, in Newcastle, which is an open air museum containing numerous of different types of housing all saved from perishing because of the tourism interest in them. The whole world was able to benefit from tourism in different ways. A few countries in East Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania, created national parks and game reservations designed to preserve wild life, the best known being Masai Mara and the Serengeti. People invested in them because they knew that wild life was the most important natural resource they had and it was able to attract tourists to East Africa. Natural reservations and parks succeeded in the preservation of many species, which, otherwise, could have been brought to extinction by uncontrolled hunting. Kenya has 13 national parks and 24 reservations, representing 7.5% of the country's total surface. Tourism not only offers a good reason for the preservation of the natural and anthropic environment, but also ensures the financing needed for preservation; e.g. many of the parishes in England use the money they get from visitors for reparation and restoration. Rehabilitation means allowing a building or an area to be brought to existence again in a different way from what it used to be. While preservation supposes keeping the environment in state of being similar to its previous one, rehabilitation implies a major change in the use of the environment. Many buildings and areas were saved for tourist purposes by being rehabilitated or used as accommodation. There are numerous examples of singe buildings or whole areas given an opportunity by tourism. Old plants and factories started a new life as museums; industrial areas were converted to festival locations; many ruined castles and mansions became lodging spaces for tourists. All those examples prove the way the environment can take profit from tourist activities, saving what could have been forever lost. We always have to consider the fact that natural resources and anthropic ones must be preserved because they are only available once; if they are consumed, the potential tourist value ceases to exist. That is why tourism should be oriented towards social benefit and determine regional development by degrading the environment as little as possible. In order to control this phenomenon, all people involved must understand the need for sustainable development and acknowledge that the success of a certain business investment depends on resources and their preservation. Most of human degradation of the environment is connected to tourism and that can only be changed by making people aware that they have to change their behaviour in aspects of the environment. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 established the basis of sustainable development, which presumes the use of natural resources by the present-day generation in a way that it does not affect future generations. The year 2002 brought major changes to tourism as it was declared The International Year of Mountains, and two important events took place: International Conference on Ecotourism (New York, in January) and World Ecotourism Summit (Quebec, in May). Ecotourism began in North America, in the mid-80's, as a consequence of friendly towards nature tourism in some of the world's most fragile and furthermost places. 3 The prefix eco, attached to tourism, means home, from Greek word oikos. The concept of ecotourism is defined in different ways by different people, depending on their interests. Many tourists are nowadays attracted by adventure in and isolated and remote areas. Ecotourism means getting a profit, preserving nature and establishing sustainable development in the areas where it is used as such.

Management turistic internaional, p. 13

CHAPTER 1 ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM

Issues concerning the environment have emerged as hot subjects in economic discussions since the early 1970's. The term environmental has usually been used in the analysis of exhaustible and productive resources. It has been lately applied to amenity use of natural resources and in investigating the economic role of the environment and the associated causes and effects of its degradation and over-use, pollution etc. Most human activities affect the environment, and the very use of the environment itself has economic repercussions. The basic lesson that is to be learnt from the environmental economics is that the environment can not be perceived as separate from other resources. Hence, it is important that economic decisions take into account the welfare of the future generation. Accordingly, greater awareness of interdependence of the environment, economic activity and quality of life raises political, social and scientific issues in addition to those that are directly economic. Tourism relies almost totally on the environment. Natural resources (beaches, seas, mountains, lakes, rivers etc.) and man made resources (historic cities, heritage buildings and sites, monuments and others) constitute the primary source of tourism. Any degradation of the primary sources is likely to lead to a decline of tourism. Therefore, their analysis within economics is particularly relevant to tourism. At the same time, beaches, mountains, rivers, forests and biodiversity make the environment a basic resource upon which the tourism industry depends in order to thrive and grow, and threats to the environment therefore threaten the viability of the tourism industry. Lastly, tourism can contribute to environmental protection. Tourism's relationship with the environment is complex. Given the scale and global extent, it is inevitable that tourism has important environmental impacts. These impacts are related to resource consumption, as well as to pollution and waste generated by tourism activities, including impacts from transport. Tourism can be considered one of the most remarkable socio-economic phenomena beginning with the twentieth century. From an activity enjoyed by only a small group of relatively well-off people during the first half of the last century, it gradually became a mass phenomenon during the post - World War II period, particularly from the 1970's onwards. It now reaches larger and larger numbers of people throughout the world, and is a source of employment for a significant segment of the labour force, being responsible for over 230 million jobs. Tourism is the worlds biggest industry indeed, and it is growing rapidly. By 2020, the World Tourism Organisation estimates that 1.5 billion of tourists will be spending $2 trillion a year - or over $5 billion every day. Also, tourism is a big, sometimes dominant, contributor to the GDPs of many nations, such as small island developing countries. Although domestic tourism currently accounts for approximately 80 % of all tourist activity, many countries tend to give priority to international tourism because, while the former basically involves a regional redistribution of national income, the latter has now become the worlds largest source of foreign exchange receipts. According to the figures compiled by the World Tourism Organization, foreign exchange earnings from international tourism is larger than the export value of petroleum products, motor vehicles, telecommunications equipment or any other single category of product or service. International tourism is also one of the fastest growing and most ramified sectors of the 6

global economy, covering a broad range of enterprises, sectors and stakeholders. During the 1990s, when the globalization of tourism reached unprecedented proportions, international tourism receipts had a much higher average annual growth rate (7.3%) than that of gross world product. The number of international tourists in the year 2007, reached 903 million (an increase of 6.6 %) and international travel receipts totalled $855 billion, a rise of 14 %. The leading travel exporters continued to be the European Union and the United States, accounting for 57 % of total exports. However, the most rapid export and import growth was in Russia and Australia. The travel industry is a major component of export diversification for many developing countries. In 2007, travel receipts for developing countries reached $285 billion, around 33% of their total exports of commercial services. The least - developed countries (LDCs), in particular, are an increasingly attractive destination for international tourists. Tourism in the LDCs has grown by an annual average of more than 13 %.

1.1. TOURISM AND ECONOMICS

The growth of tourism in developing countries has brought a fair amount of economic gains while the economic development has become a major driving force for tourism itself. The initial period of growth happened in the late 1960s and 1970s, when tourism was perceived as a key activity for generating foreign exchange and employment by both development institutions, such as the World Bank, as well as by governments (Goodwin 2000). In spite of the negative economic impacts of tourism (such as inflation; dominance by outsiders in land and property markets; inward-migration eroding economic opportunities for domestic industry including the poor) the demand for travel and tourism continues to grow. The World Tourism and Travel Council has estimated there was an approximate 40% cumulative growth in tourism demand between 1990 and 2000. The demand for tourist products and services was largely driven by economic gains at all levels, including in the communities in remote, and hitherto relatively isolated, destinations (Ashley, 1998). There is significant potential for enhancing the possible gains through addressing a number of issues that can help improve opportunities for entrepreneurs and the communities in the destinations, for the poorer sections within these communities, as well as at the macro level for the national economy. Some of these options are discussed below. 1.2 Financial Leakages The international tourism market is dominated by powerful transnational corporations (TNCs) continue to dominate Estimates suggest that about 80% of international mass tourism is controlled by TNCs. These companies have an almost unhindered access to markets and use this to drive down the cost of supplies. The result is high levels of financial leakage, and limited levels of revenue retention in the destination or host countries. Financial leakages tend to occur due to various factors, including importation of foreign building material, skilled labour and luxury products, and packaged travel arranged with TNCs. This is as opposed to locally sourcing the necessary resources. It has been estimated that, on average, at least 55% of tourism expenditure flows back out of the destination country, rising to 75% in certain cases e.g. the Gambia and Commonwealth Caribbean (Ashley et al 2000). Financial leakages was identified, during the seventh UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UN CSD) meeting (1999), as a key area for stakeholders to take action and work together in order to try and assess the situation, as well as seek solutions to better support local communities in host / developing countries. The CSD called upon the UN and the World Tourism Organization, in consultation with major groups, as well as other relevant international organizations, to jointly facilitate the establishment of an ad-hoc informal open-ended working group on tourism to: Assess financial leakages and determine how to maximize benefits for indigenous and local communities, Prepare a joint initiative to improve information availability and capacity-building for participation, and address other matters relevant to the implementation of the international work programme on sustainable tourism development (UN CSD 1999). 1.3 Impacts on Livelihoods in Destination Communities The livelihood impacts of tourism, in most tourist destinations of developing countries, take various forms. Jobs and wages are only a part of livelihood gains and often not the most significant ones. Tourism can generate four different types of local cash income, involving four distinct categories of people: Wages from formal employment. 8

 Earnings from selling goods, services, or casual labour (e.g. food, crafts, building materials, guide services). Dividends and profits arising from locally-owned enterprises. Collective income: this may include profits from a community-run enterprise, dividends from a private sector partnership and land rental paid by an investor. Waged employment can be sufficient to lift a household from an insecure to a secure footing, but it may only be available to a minority of people, and not the poor. Casual earnings may be very small, but more widely spread, and may be enough, for instance, to cover school fees for one or more children. Local participation in the industry can be categorized into three different categories: the formal sector (such as hotels), the informal sector (such as vending) and secondary enterprises that are linked to tourism (such as food retail and telecommunications). Fairly poor quantitative data available regarding the economic gains continues to be generated from travel and tourism, particularly data that quantifies the impacts to formal, informal and indirect activities as touched upon above. There is a need for a standardised framework and guidelines for the collection and analysis of comparative data sets, to better identify the possible economic impacts for different segments of the market, as well as to develop policies which better reflect the needs of the informal as well as formal tourism ventures. Another gap in research about tourism relates to understanding how domestic tourism benefits formal and informal segments in a country and the degree to which the extreme poor gain at all from the industry (Ashley 2000). Budget and independent tourists, particularly backpackers are also more likely than luxury tourists to use the cheaper guest houses, home-stays, transport and eating services provided by local people. They tend to stay longer at a destination than groups of tourists and interact more with the local economy, but also spend less per day, often bargaining over prices. Nature-based tourism (including ecotourism) does not necessarily provide more opportunities for the poor than mass tourism. Nature tourism does offer some potential advantages however. It takes place in less developed areas, often involves smaller operators with more local commitment. It involves a higher proportion of independent travellers, and if marketed as ecotourism can stimulate consumer pressure for ensuring domestic socio-economic benefits. But it remains a niche in the market, can be heavily dependent on imports, and can spread disruption to less developed areas. Mass tourism is highly competitive, and usually dominated by large suppliers who have little commitment to a destination. They are less likely to use local suppliers. However the segment does generate jobs and negative impacts are not always spread beyond immediate localities. Further knowledge is needed about how local economic opportunities can be expanded under such circumstances, as well as to identify how the negative impacts can be minimised in the mass tourism segment. Cruises and all-inclusiveness are rapidly growing segments of the market, but by their nature are unlikely to generate few economic linkages. Some governments are trying to actively reduce this, for example the Gambian Government has recently decided to ban all-inclusiveness in response to local demands. The informal sector is where opportunities for small-scale enterprise or labour by the poor are maximised. For example, at Bai Chay, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, almost a dozen local families run private hotels, but local involvement in tourism spreads far beyond this, to an estimated 7080% of the population. Apart from those with jobs in the hotels and restaurants, local women share the running of noodle stalls, many women and children are walking vendors, and anyone with a boat or motorbike hires them out to tourists. However, the informal sector is often neglected by planners.

CHAPTER 2 TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT

One of the most important resource for tourism is the natural environment. Environments where past human interaction has been minimal are often fragile. With increasing urbanisation, destinations in both industrialized and developing countries with significant natural features, scenery, cultural heritage or biodiversity are becoming increasingly popular sites for tourist destinations. Efforts to preserve and enhance the natural environment should therefore be a high priority for the industry and for governments. But the reality is not quite as clear cut. Small islands, coastal areas, wetlands, mountains and deserts, all now popular as tourist destinations, are five of the six fragile ecosystems as identified by Agenda 21 that require specific action by governments and international donors. The biophysical characteristics of these habitats often render them particularly susceptible to damage from human activities. With a degraded physical environment, the destination is in danger of losing its original attraction, increasing the levels of cheaper mass tourism and forcing more nature-based tourism to move on to new destinations, which are likely to be even more inaccessible and fragile. Mainstream ecotourism, as promoted after the Rio Earth Summit, hasnt always enjoyed a good reputation. Tour operators have used the concept merely as a green-wash marketing tool. In reality it often meant introducing unsustainable levels of tourism into fragile areas, having scant regard for either the environment or for the residents of the destination areas. As the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) pointed out: Tourism in natural areas, euphemistically called eco-tourism, can be a major source of degradation of local ecological, economic and social systems. The intrusion of large numbers of foreigners with high-consumption and high-waste habits into natural areas, or into towns with inadequate waste management infrastructure, can produce changes to those natural areas at a rate that is far greater than imposed by local residents. These tourism-related changes are particularly deleterious when local residents rely on those natural areas for their sustenance. Resulting economic losses can encourage socially deleterious economic activities such as prostitution, crime, and migrant and child labour (ICLEI 1999). Some of the different kinds of impacts that tourism development and operational activities can have include: Threats to ecosystems and biodiversity e.g. loss of wildlife and rare species, habitat loss and degradation, Disruption of coasts e.g. shoreline erosion and pollution, impact to coral reefs and fish spawning grounds, Deforestation loss of forests for fuel wood and timber by the tourist industry also impact on soil and water quality, biodiversity integrity, reducing the collection of forest products by local communities, Water overuse as a result of tourism / recreational activities e.g. golf courses, swimming pools, and tourist consumption in hotels, Urban problems - Congestion and overcrowding, increased vehicle traffic and resultant environmental impacts, including air and noise pollution, and health impacts, Exacerbate climate change from fossil fuel energy consumption for travel, hotel and recreational requirements, Unsustainable and inequitable resource use - Energy and water over consumption, excessive production of wastes, litter and garbage are all common impacts. Further study could be carried out regarding the negative relationship between tourism and environment (Roe et al 1997), however the many examples across the globe indicate this 10

scenario is quite typical and widely recognised, emphasizing the need to identify more mutually beneficial approaches in tourism development.

3. KEY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN TOURISM

Tourism consumes resources just as any other economic activities. Today, tourism is one of the major economic activities in the world. It contributes roughly 6 per cent of the world income. Naturally, it has a marked impact on the demand for exhaustible and renewable resources. It generates significant wastes and thus disposal problems (Stabler and Goodall, 1996). The operation of tourism firms reflects the market driven characteristics of other economic sectors. Extended tourism expansion or concentration in certain destinations has neglected the long-term dependence of the industry on environment and led over exploitation of natural resource base and the generation of non-priced effects (Cater and Goodall, 1992). The environmental effects, widely defined, include cultural and social elements, and are probably the biggest problem of tourism. Areas where overcrowding and overdevelopment occur are often relatively small and possess fragile environments. At peak season visitors can outnumber the resident population. Hosts, tourism firms are seldom aware of the unintentional damage being caused to monuments, paintings, ecosystem (Goodall, 1992). Other effects are more deliberate, e.g. off-road use of vehicles. Excess numbers also increases the demand for secondary resources, water, energy which might be scarce at certain destinations (Romeril, 1998). Loss of flora and fauna occurs due to tourism expansion. The influx of tourists with a different life-style, large financial resources, and non-indigenous services can not only disturb existing economic life but also can destroy the cultures (Pearce, 1989). These problems have been recognized by many involved in tourism and have become issues of concern (Goodall, 1992; Jenner and Smith, 1992). The attainment of sustainable tourism has been seen as the urgent need. It would imply balanced commercialization, resource conservation, waste disposal management, pollution control, etc. Attention has to be diverted on eco-tourism. Environmental impact of tourism is most visible in tourist destinations. But effects are also visible at points of origin and transit. For example, the output of aircrafts, ferries, buses, cars equipment and promotional material consumes productive and energy resources and generates waste in origin areas while travel creates pollution in the atmosphere and adversely effects the environment of areas traversed. These problems have come to be increasingly addressed in the 1990s, but serious efforts to mitigate them have lacked. Economic analysis of resource use and their costs has been expressed in terms of opportunity cost, i.e. the benefits lost by not using them for an alternative use. The guiding principle has been the benefits must outweigh the costs. Given the nature of environmental issues, economists have used cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as a suitable framework for the assessment of monetary and non-monetary costs and benefits, as well as large capital outlays, over a long period over which costs and benefits accrue. Another method used method is the planning balance sheet analysis (PBSA). The method was devised in the 1950s to overcome the fact that many cost benefits are not easily measured in money terms. Using the ranks according to criteria thought to be the best multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has also been developed (Nijkamp, 1988). Mathematical approach in decision making between alternatives is the analytic hierarchy process developed and used by Saaty (1987). 2.1 Sustainable development The essence of sustainable development has become better known when Brundtland Commission Report was published in 1987 and Rio Declaration in 1992 defined a set of 11

principles that define actions and agreements in which biodiversity, climate change, forest management and conservation were accorded prominence along with a priority to be given to the poorest sections of population. Sustainable development requires that managing world economies be in such a way that the present needs should be met without impairing the capacity to meet the future needs. The implication of such a strategy is that the growth rates will have to be moderated. Moreover, it has been stressed that quality of life, that can not be measured in monetary terms, should be taken into account. Reductions in adverse externalities such as chemical pollution, noise levels, air and water quality etc. should be taken as measures. Further, the cost of production should be inclusive of social and environmental costs. The main issue associated with sustainable development is how to reconcile economic development and growth with open access public good and nature of the natural environment which consequently suffers from detrimental externalities. 2.2 Sustainable tourism In tourism sector experts as well as governments are trying to enforce the concept of viable tourism as sustainability in the commercial sense that business is profitable and will survive. Sustainability should be the cornerstone of the development of tourism since the natural environment constitutes most of its primary resource base. Moreover, with growing awareness of both tourists and residents, firms and governments are under increased pressure to take concrete action to attain sustainability. Concrete measures taken by firms confine to the conservation of energy and materials and minimization of wastes as a means of cutting their costs and thus increase revenues and profits. Firms have also taken the concern of tourists and residents alike that tourism should be environmentally responsible. In order to achieve such effect firms need to comply with environmental regulations and standards. However, there is no coherent strategy on sustainability because the past incentives have generated tourism expansion only. Because of a largely fragmented structure of tourism the issue remains complex and only the public sector has the potential to resolve. 2.3 Maximum sustainable yield One of the key issues is how to achieve maximum yield but maintain sustainability from the economic use of open access (e.g. natural parks, lakes and rivers, mountains) and common property resources (e.g. atmosphere and seas).The concepts concerns with resources which are capable of renewal either naturally or by management. Both are susceptible to over exploitation. The problems are more acute with the former due to the dangers of the extinction of wildlife or degradation of ecosystems. There are examples of overuse of oceans and seas (fishing, whale hunting, oil recovery, etc.). The concept of maximum sustainable yield considers the relationship between the price of the product and cost of exploiting it, the yield in terms of the physical quantity, stock or population. The yield is determined by the exploitation effort and total stock of resource. The problem becomes of interest to economists as an issue while considering the revenue generated in relation to the cost of the effort. Normal profit maximizing considerations apply. Since the access is open it is likely that exploitation is beyond the point of maximum yield. Should the total stock fall below a given threshold (a biological or ecological issue) than the population will crash, leading in the case of animal or plant species, to extinction. Known bio-economic models can be reinterpreted within the context of tourism and cost-revenue analysis can be successfully applied.

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2.4 Resources conservation Since 1970s opportunity costs have played in decision making. With respect to renewable resources, a dominant issue in tourism is the implications of the open access characteristic of much of the natural environment for the survival of flora and fauna, the sustainability of some sources of food and materials and conservation of amenity resources. The rate of depletion and possible exhaustion of key productive resources remain a central economic problem. In context to the inducement of conservation of resources, issues have been raised concerning otherwise consequences for growth, technological developments and role of market costs and prices. 2.5 Recycling The recovery rate (proportion of a material from a primary source that can be made available for re-use) is an important factor in recycling. The extent to which recycling can take place depends upon variety of factors such as the nature of material, the stage at which recovery takes place, who uses it, available technology, residual waste etc. The supply of recycled materials depends upon their demand. Economists argue that recycling becomes feasible if the costs of recovery are lower than extracting from the primary sources. However, market prices and costs do not reflect the true costs and benefits, i.e. externalities. Economics today, by identifying and evaluating the full social costs and benefits and externalities of resource use, including the incidence of recovery, is able to indicate the optimal level of both primary exploitation and recycling. As far as the renewable resources particularly open access resources are concerned the examples of environmental degradation arising due to tourism expansion are becoming increasingly evident. There are many resources, e.g. national parks and game reserves, natural reserves and forests, and wetlands are vital to tourism. Furthermore, varied landscapes that form the backdrop of tourism are also being influenced by human activity. Often the firms and governments alike cash the short-term benefits and are likely to brush aside the environmental concerns. It is our contention that the so-called bio-economic principle of maximum sustainable yield, which is based on usual economic optimizing conditions and recognizes the bio-economic processes, could be helpful. Sound management of resource in tourism is the key to success. 2.6 Market failures The inability of markets, where demand and supply are formed by price, to provide some environmental goods, arises essentially from the public good nature of resources, externalities, and distribution considerations. However, market failure is not confined to these three features alone. Monopoly could also be a factor. The idea of market failure is well rooted in the conventional wisdom of economics. It is perceived as the rationale for land-use planning and other forms of government intervention. In fact, the business sector perceives that market actually fail and it does not fully comprehend that they do not function accordance with an economic ideal. Nonetheless, the concept of market failure has been useful in generating a body of research on the estimation of demand and practical policy instruments to mitigate the adverse effects of markets or to increase their efficiency.

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CHAPTER 3 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: THE WAY FORWARD

The concept of sustainable tourism, as developed in the United Nations sustainable development process, refers to tourist activities 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. Countries and regions where the economy is driven by the tourism industry are becoming increasingly concerned with the environmental, as well as the socio-cultural problems associated with unsustainable tourism. As a result, there is now increasing agreement on the need to promote sustainable tourism development to minimize its environmental impacts and to ensure more sustainable management of natural resources. 3.1 National and regional strategies for sustainable tourism development Government policies to promote the domestic tourism industry and to attract foreign direct investment should also ensure that tourism is properly planned and managed so as to minimize adverse environmental impacts and its use of natural resources. Generally speaking, the main priority for national and regional governments is to incorporate tourism planning and development effectively into overall sustainable development strategies. For example, regional development strategies for areas containing water resources that are potentially attractive to tourism, should carefully consider the availability of those resources in an integrated manner that considers all potential water users. Given that in many countries, local and regional governments already have important responsibilities for tourism development, central Governments should also support capacity building programmes at lower levels in order to enable local and regional authorities to better respond to the challenges of sustainable tourism development in the areas under their jurisdiction. National and local governments also need to develop clear strategies to monitor progress towards sustainable tourism. Governments at all levels can greatly benefit from working in partnership with all major stakeholders, including local communities, to ensure their active participation in tourism planning, development and management, as well as in the sharing of benefits. Participation of local communities in decision-making and sharing of benefits also helps to generate better awareness of the environmental costs of tourism and thus provides strong incentives to conserve natural resources and protect local environmental assets. Together with the tourism industry and other stakeholders, governments should also promote or support various efforts to raise public awareness about the impact of tourists on destinations, to promote respect for local communities and their cultures and to protect the environment. Such public awareness campaigns often succeed in promoting positive behavioural changes not only in tourists, but also in tourism workers and host communities as a whole. 3.2. Regulatory mechanisms and economic instruments The major challenge for governments is to formulate and effectively apply an appropriate mix of regulatory and economic instruments for both sustainable natural resources management and environmental protection. Sustainable tourism can also be promoted by a careful mix of government policies comprising both direct regulation and market-based instruments, although financial incentives that encourage environmentally damaging activities, such as energy subsidies, should be reduced or removed. The most direct tool for promoting sustainable tourism involves the use of regulatory 14

mechanisms, such as, integrated land-use planning and coastal zone management. In many cases, it may be necessary to protect coastlines through rigid building restrictions, such as, existing from the coast. It is also essential that environmental regulations be applied transparently throughout the tourism sector, regardless of business size, type of tourism activity concerned or location. Mass tourism, in particular, should be carefully monitored, regulated and sometimes even prohibited in ecologically fragile areas. In protected areas, such as national parks and natural world heritage sites, tourism activities should be strictly subject to the preservation of biological diversity and ecosystems, not stressing their limited capacity to absorb human presence without becoming damaged or degraded. Pollution taxes can also be applied on the amounts of liquid and solid waste generated, as a means to reduce discharges and to generate funds for proper treatment and disposal. Similarly, market-based instruments can also be used effectively for the sustainable use of marine natural resources. Prices that reflect the economic value of water and energy, for example, will promote their efficient use and conservation, and provide additional revenue that can be used to improve the management of those resources. Economic instruments, such as user fees and tourist taxes, can actually be used to better internalise environmental costs and thus to promote broader environmental protection objectives. As it is well known, one of the main reasons why markets fail is that important environmental costs, such as pollution, are not reflected in the prices of goods and services. In a free-market economy, individual economic agents will only attempt to maximize their own utility or profit; external costs will thus not be reflected in prices. 3.3. Voluntary industry initiatives The predominantly private tourism industry has thus developed several self-regulation and voluntary initiatives to promote greater environmental sustainability. These include waste and pollution reduction schemes, voluntary codes of conduct, industry awards and eco-labels for sustainable tourism. In addition, environmental management schemes to encourage responsible practices have been promoted in various sub-sectors, including hotel and catering, recreation and entertainment, transportation, travel agencies and tour operators. For example, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the main international industry association, has developed an environmental management programme (Green Globe), for both travel and tourism companies and tourism destinations, aimed to raise the level of environmental awareness and to provide a low-cost practical means for improving the environmental performance of the industry. It is also responsible for ECoNETT, an internetbased tool that provides an extensive information resource on all tourism and environmental issues. Another innovative global programme is the International Hotel Environment Initiative (IHEI), led by a council of leading international hotel chains, aimed to promote environmental management in the hotel industry, which is one of the main consumers of resources and sources of waste. Such initiatives are particularly important not only because they can lead to significant reductions of water and energy consumption, as well as liquid and solid waste, but also because they promote positive behavioural changes in both tourists and employees. In addition, they can lead to improved economic efficiency and increased profitability. While national and regional governments should fully support these voluntary initiatives and encourage the dissemination of the best practices in the private tourism industry, there is also a role for independent supervision, monitoring and comparative assessment by relevant government agencies. In addition, trustworthy codes of conduct, transparent eco-label awards and internationally agreed programmes of action for sustainable tourism are required at the international level. The international community has a particularly crucial role to play in 15

developing a set of internationally recognized accreditation and monitoring systems for assessing the sustainability of tourism services around the world. 3.4. International activities in support of sustainable tourism Progress has been achieved over the past ten years, but one of the key remaining challenges for the international community is to devise ways and means to assist developing countries to ensure that their tourism industries become more internationally competitive without damaging their natural resources and environmental assets base. This will require, amongst other things, greater technical and financial assistance, including human resources development, institutional capacity building and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to many developing countries. The international community could also support the wider use of debt-for nature swaps, through which a portion of the foreign debt of developing countries is purchased at a discount by various international partners in exchange for the debtor's country investment of an agreed sum of local currency in environmental protection projects.

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CHAPTER 4 4. MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM

4.1. Negative impacts Although it may possibly seem strange that tourism could have negative impacts on nature, such effects were being observed by the 1960s. Milne (1988) comments that by the early 1960s there was already concern being expressed over the possible ecological imbalance that could result from tourism development in Tahiti in the Pacific. The observation of the effects of increasing numbers of tourists in the 1960s les Mishan (1967:141) to write: ' Once serene and lovely towns such as Andorra and Biarritz are smothered with new hotels and the dust and roar of motorised traffic. The isles of Greece have become a sprinkling of lidos in the Aegean Sea. Delphi is ringed with shiny new hotels. In Italy the real estate man is responsible for the atrocities exemplified by the skyscraper approach to Rome seen across the Campagna, while the annual invasion of tourists has transformed once-famous resorts Rapallo, Capri, Alassio and scores of others, before the last war no less enchanting, into so many vulgar Coney Islands. Within Mishan's concerns, the visual effects of tourism are evident. Tourism is, of course, heavily dependent upon the pleasing visual qualities of the environment, but concerns over 'aesthetic pollution' are unlike scientifically measured changes in water quality. Thus the sense of sight is an important, if perhaps a somewhat subjective, means of determining tourism's negative impact. The replication of similar hotel construction on many coastlines of the world that fails to reflect the local culture, the construction of Playa del Anywhere, is a common criticism of tourism's environmental impact. For Guadeloupe and Martinique islands situated in the Lesser Antilles: 'The most worrying problem now prevalent in the islands relates to the anarchic urbanisation of the coasts. According to Whitelegg (1999) aircraft produce significant amounts of nitrogen oxides during take-off and landings. The potential effects of this pollution on health are dramatic, with aircraft engines being held responsible for 10% of the cancer cases in southwest Chicago caused by toxic air pollution (Whitelegg, 1999). Air pollution is also associated with the development of airports for tourism. Health issues associated with airports include respiratory problems caused by emission of aircraft and car traffic, and stress associated with noise pollution form air traffic. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons at lower levels also contribute to regional smog problems by forming low-level ozone on summer days, which is harmful to health. The most common form of transport for domestic and international tourism is the car. A common misconception is to equate transport in tourism solely with airlines. For example, a very common pattern of summer holiday travel in Europe is for tourists form the countries of northern Europe such as Germany, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries to drive down to the Mediterranean coast for their vacation. When domestic tourism is also taken into account, then the effect of the motor-car becomes even more prominent, as the majority of domestic trips are undertaken by car. For those people living in the transport transit areas, the effects of tourism are predominantly ones of inconvenience associated with pollution and safety concerns. Although the social and health effects of transit traffic upon local communities is an under-researched area, Zimmermann (1995:36) commenting on transit traffic through the European Alps remarks: 'The traffic is one of the most evident problems within the Alpine area. In several regions local populations' endurance levels have already been reached or exceeded.' Within destination areas the air quality may deteriorate as a result of both extra 17

traffic and construction. Just as Mishan (1967) commented on the problem of dust, Briguglio and Briguglio (1996) remark that the demolishing of existing buildings and the construction of new ones for tourism have generated vast amounts of dust on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Noise pollution is another aspect associated with the extra transport traffic generated for tourism. According to Mieczkowski (1995) most complains associated with tourism relating to noise are from air traffic. Noise pollution is particularly a problem for those residents who live around busy international and domestic airports, while noise from the construction of tourism facilities can also be a problem for residents and tourists. Briguglio and Briguglio (1996) observe that the building of hotels and other construction activity in destinations generate intense noise. Nightclubs open until the early morning, and increased car traffic from tourism movements, all add up to the noise pollution experienced by both residents and tourists in tourism destinations. Water pollution is the last common type of pollution. Typically, this is a consequence of untreated sewage being pumped into the seas and oceans in tourism destinations. For instance, in the most visited tourist area of the world, the Mediterranean, only 30% of over 700 towns and cities on the coastline treat sewage before discharging it into the sea (Jenner And smith, 1992). In the Caribbean Basin, Where 100 million tourists annually join the 170 million inhabitants, only 10% of the sewage is treated before being discharged into the sea. The most worrying aspect is that, compared to the other areas in the world, these figures are actually good. Other regular international tourist destinations such as east Asia and Africa and the islands of the South Pacific, with a few exceptions, have either no sewage treatment or treatment plants that are totally inadequate for the size of the population (Jenner and Smith, 1992). The problem of water contamination from human sewage is not caused exclusively by tourism but is reflective of an inadequate infrastructure to meet the needs of both local people and tourists. Besides the pollution from the disposal of untreated human waste, water pollution is also caused by fertilisers and herbicides, which are widely used on the golf courses and hotel gardens. The water containing the chemicals seeps through the earth to the groundwater lying 5 to 50 metres below the earths surface and through aquifers it eventually reaches rivers, lakes and seas (Mieczkowski, 1995). Other sources of water pollution are caused by motorised leisure activities such as power boating, and even sun tan oil being washed off tourists when swimming can result in localised pollution. The major sources of water pollution come from oil spills, industrial waste pumped into the sea, and chemicals used in agriculture. 4.2. Behaviour of tourism user-groups of natural resources A key cause of the negative impacts that may occur from tourism is human behaviour towards the environment. Integral parts of the tourism system are: tourists; local people ; governments; the tourism industry. The behaviour of these groups will be highly influential in determining the extent to which the consequences of tourism upon the non-human world are either negative or positive. For instance, a major natural attraction for tourists is wildlife but certain aspects of human behaviour can adversely affect wildlife. While viewing of wildlife species in their natural habitats has become an attractive activity for an increasing number of tourists, this has meant the intrusion of humans into environments that had previously been the exclusive preserve of wildlife. Ironically, the desire of tourists to enhance their perceptions of nature by observing wildlife at close quarters can bring disruption to the natural behaviour of the wildlife they want to see. According to Roe et al. (1977), the extent of the impact of tourism on wildlife can be related to the type of tourist activity and the level of tourism development. Matbienson and Wall 18

(1982) add that the resilience of wildlife to the presence of humans will influence the degree to which tourism proves harmful to particular species. For example, the type of safari tourism practised in the Serengeti Park on the Kenyan/Tanzanian border is representative of a highly developed level of tourism, involving local operators taking tourists into the park in minibuses and animals being surrounded by 30 or 40 vehicles with tourists taking photographs. The invasion of the territorial space of the animals and the associated increase in noise raises the stress level of animals, which is disruptive to their breeding and eating patterns. For example, cheetahs and lions are reported to decrease their hunting activity when surrounded by more than six vehicles (Shackley, 1996). The drivers of the minibuses are encouraged to ignore laws limiting the proximity of their vehicles to the animals by the extra tips they receive from tourists for getting close to them. Key factors that are likely to influence the attitudes of local people to the surrounding environment include the level of economic development and the extent of the provision by government and private sector of environmental education. 4.3 The Positive Effects A key feature of tourism is that it gives an economic value to nature. Although tourism can cause negative environmental impacts, it is important to balance this statement by giving consideration to the positive environmental effects to tourism. Consequently, the partnership of tourism and conservation may offer an economic alternative to a more instrumental use of nature, such as, for example, agriculture, logging and mining. Even models of mass tourism, which may often be associated with over-development and the negative impacts of tourism, usually have as an integral part of their enjoyment reliance upon the sea, sun and sand. Alternative types of tourism, such as nature tourism and eco-tourism, emphasise even more the centrality of nature to the tourist experience. If it is evident that through the conservation of nature tourism results in economic benefits, then the incentives for conservation are enhanced. If through developing forms of tourism based upon the conservation of nature, governments can advance their economic priorities such as increasing foreign-exchange earnings and aiding the balance of payments situation, they are more likely to be encouraged to legislate to grant natural areas as protected status, such as a national park. Local communities who may because of economic necessity or material desire have used nature in an instrumental way with little emphasis upon conservation, may begin to prioritise conservation. Tourism can therefore act as important catalyst to resource conservation. Certainly the need for careful environmental management and conservation will be prioritised where a strong link exists between the success of the tourism industry, the local Number of visitors. Behaviour of tourists. Environmental education of tourists and local people. Efficiency of environmental management. Levels of economic development. Today the notion that there is a fixed ceiling, a threshold number of visitors which tourism development should not exceed, is largely discredited (World Tourism Organisation, 1992; Williams and Gill, 1994), Coccossis and Parparis (1996: 160) comment: 'However, until our understanding of the interactions between the environment and development - human actions - is much more profound, the concept of carrying capacity cannot be used in planning and practice as an absolute tool offering exact measurements but, as one which is under continuous revision, development and research'. Owing to the difficulty of quantification and fixed carrying-capacity limits, increased emphasis is being placed on indicator monitoring systems to identify potential problems. An 19

extension of the carrying-capacity technique can be seen in the 'limits of acceptable change' (LAC) or alternatively called the 'limits of acceptable use'. According to McCool (1996: 1): 'The Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) planning system was developed in response to a growing recognition in the US that attempts to define and implement recreational carrying capacities for national park and wilderness protected areas were both excessively reductionist and failing'. As is indicated in the above definition, the LAC system, like carrying capacity, has its roots in wildlife management and recreational planning. It is only comparatively recently that the technique has begun to be talked about within the context of tourism planning and its application to the field is at present very limited. The main deficiency of carrying capacity analysis, as pointed out in the preceding section, is that many of the problems associated with tourism are not necessarily a function of numbers but of people's behaviour. The advantage of the LAC system is that it does not attempt to quantify the numbers of tourists that can be accommodated in the area. Instead the premise of the LAC system is the specification of the acceptable environmental considerations of the area, incorporating social and economic dimensions, and also its potential for tourism (Wight, 1998). The system is therefore reliant upon identifying the desired social and environmental conditions in an area, which subsequently necessitates the involvement of the community in determining the desired conditions. The mechanics of the LAC system involve the adoption of a set of indicators which are reflective of an area's environmental conditions, and against which standards the rates of change can be assessed. Typically, the indicators would relate to the state of the destination's natural resources, economic criteria, and the experiences of local people and tourists. The indicators would therefore be a mix of the physical and the social. For example, the levels of water, air and noise pollution could be monitored; the percentage of the workforce employed in the tourism sector measured; crime rates and driving accidents associated with tourism recorded; and levels of tourist satisfaction evaluated. Such indicators would be symptomatic of the impact of tourism is having within the destination, and the effect it is having on the quality of life of residents. The indicators should be regularly monitored and evaluated, and strategies identified by the managing authorities to rectify any problems, to progress towards the desired environmental and social conditions that the LAC system is intended to help achieve. It is important to point out that, owing to the nature of the indicators, measurement cannot be purely scientific, but is also dependent upon a citizen input besides a professional one. As the name suggests, LAC accepts that some change is inevitable, and provides a framework to monitor that change. A further planning and management technique for tourism involves the use of 'zoning', which is a land management strategy that can be applied on different spatial scales, for instance within a protected area, or at a region or even institutional level. According to Williams (1998: 111): Spatial zoning is an established land-management strategy that aims to integrate tourism into environments by defining areas of land that have differing suitabilities or capacities for tourism. Hence zoning of land may be used to exclude tourists from primary conservation areas; to focus environmentally abrasive activities into locations that have been specially prepared for such events; or to focus general visitors into a limited number of locations where their needs may be met and their impacts controlled and managed. Passing of environmental legislation and enforcement of punitive measures against tourism firms which are polluters of the environment may encourage companies to seek to improve their environmental quality. Second, if companies believe they can reduce their costs of operations and increase their profits through the utilization of environmental auditing, they are likely to pursue it as a course of action. Last, some companies may be genuinely philanthropic and willing to adopt as many measures as they can reasonable afford to benefit the physical and social environments. They may also wish to appeal to a consumer market increasingly influenced by green issues. 20

According to Parvianinen et al. (1995) an environmental or eco-audit would cover aspects of environmental management, including: the companys environmental and purchasing policies; the adequacy of its communication of environmental practices to its staff and their levels of environmental training; impacts of the business upon the surrounding physical environment, including features such as air, water, soil, ground water, and aesthetics; energy usage; waste management and waste-water schemes. They also point out that environmental audits form an integral part of a wider environmental management system (EMS) for businesses. Environmental management systems integrate strategic objectives for the environmental quality of a companys operation with the practical aspects of environmental auditing. The first stage of an EMS is for a company to state clearly that it has an environmental commitment, which, if taken seriously, will subsequently influence the operations of the company. The next stage is to outline broad objectives of what it hopes to achieve, for example, one objective for a hotel may be to reduce they amount of untreated waste emitted into the sea. The company would then carry out an eco-audit of its operations, determine realistic targets of what can be achieved within a certain timeframe, and develop mechanisms to achieve the targets. An essential part of this achievement is the ongoing monitoring of operations to determine whether the targets set for environmental improvements are being met. If they are not then strategies must be developed to rectify the situation. Developing and EMS is a long-term commitment and is likely to take several years to incorporate all the different stages from policy to review. The EMS system is not exclusive to any size of business but the resources available to any particular organisation will have an influence on the quality of the scheme. Importantly, it will require an investment of time and commitment from all employees of the organisation. Within the EMS system, the eco-audit becomes a tool to evaluate the companies performance and to make subsequent alterations to environmental policy and plans of action. The use of EMSs in the tourism industry is limited, yet it offers an approach for businesses that is both environmentally beneficial and proactive. The benefits to the industry of using EMSs include: the reduced risk of financial liability for environmental damage; improving customer relations; reducing operating costs; improving access to lenders, insurers and investors; an EMSs voluntary nature is an efficient way of improving environmental resources without regulatory requirements and government interference (Todd and Williams, 1996) One tourism company that took the initiative over the impacts of its operation upon the environment at the beginning of the 1990s is the large German-based tour group Touristik Union International (TUI). 4.4. Codes of conduct and environmental education Given that the impacts of tourism are also related to user behaviour, codes of conduct and environmental education will also be important in the environmental management of tourism. The development of voluntary codes of conduct to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism and improve environmental quality has been encouraged by government, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the last few years. The usefulness of codes of conduct in tourism vis--vis other approaches to improve tourisms interaction with the environment is described by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) (1995: 3) 21

thus: A wide range of instruments can be used to put the tourism industry on the path to sustainability. Regulations, of course, are and will remain essential for defining the legal framework within which the private sector should operate and for establishing minimum standards and processes. Economic instruments are also being increasingly used by governments to address environmental issues. However, voluntary proactive approaches are certainly the best way of ensuring long-term commitments and improvements. The primary aim of codes of conduct is to influence attitudes and modify behaviour (Mowforth and Munt, 1998). The objectives of codes of conduct for tourism are to (UNEP, 1995: 8): serve as a catalyst for dialogue between government agencies, industry sectors, community interests, environmental and cultural NGOs and other stakeholders in tourism development; create an awareness within the industry and governments of the importance of sound environmental policies and management, and encourage them to promote a quality environment and therefore a sustainable industry; heighten awareness among international and domestic visitors of the importance of appropriate behaviour with respect to both the natural and cultural environment they experience; sensitise host populations to the importance of environmental protection and the hostguest relationship; and encourage cooperation among industry sectors, government agencies, host communities and NGOs to achieve the goals listed above. The lack of evaluation of codes is also commented upon by Mason and Mowforth (1996: 163) who comment: There has been a clear lack of monitoring and evaluation of codes of conduct for the purpose of addressing their uptake and effectiveness. In similar fashion, Goodall and Stabler (1997) talk of the limited practical usefulness of the codes because of their concentration upon principles, rather than informing tourist businesses on best environmental practice, and how this can be implemented in their own organisation. They also point out the spatial limitations of the majority of codes, which are destination-based, and consequently ignore the consequences of tourism in generating and transit areas.

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CHAPTER 5 CASE OF STUDY - DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. It has become one of the most important global industries with the power to shape developing countries in both positive and negative ways. Tourism is the fourth largest industry in the global economy. In developing countries like India tourism has become one of the major sectors of the economy, contributing to a large proportion of the national income and generating huge employment opportunities. It has become the fastest growing service industry in the country with great potentials for its further expansion and diversification. However, there are positive and negative aspects involved in the development of tourism industry in the country.

5.1Development of Tourism in India

5.2 Early Development The Government under the Chairmanship of Sir John Sargent, Educational Adviser, at that time (1945), to the Government of India (Krishna, A.G., 1993) made the first conscious and organized efforts to promote tourism in India. Thereafter, the development of tourism was taken up in a planned manner in 1956 coinciding with the Second Five Year Plan. The approach has evolved from isolated planning of single unit facilities in the Second and Third Five Year Plans. The Sixth Plan marked the beginning of a new era when tourism began to be considered a major instrument for social integration and economic development. It was only after the 80s that tourism activity gained momentum. The Government took several significant steps. A National Policy on tourism was announced in 1982 and six years later, in 1988, the National Committee on Tourism formulated a comprehensive plan for achieving a sustainable growth in tourism. In 1992, a National Action Plan was prepared and in 1996 the National Strategy for Promotion of Tourism was drafted. In 1997, the New Tourism Policy recognises the roles of Central and State governments, public sector undertakings and the private sector in the development of tourism were. The need for involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions, local bodies, non-governmental organisations and the local youth in the creation of tourism facilities has also been recognised. 5.3 Present Situation and Features of Tourism in India Tourism is today the largest service industry in India, with a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and providing 8.78% of the total employment. India welcomes more than 5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and 562 million domestic tourism visits. The tourism industry in India generated about US$100 billion in 2008 and that is expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate. The Ministry of Tourism is the nodal agency for the development and promotion of tourism in India and maintains the "Incredible India" campaign. According to World Travel and Tourism Council, India will be a tourism hotspot from 2009-2018, having the highest 10-year growth potential. As per the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 by the World Economic Forum, India is ranked 11th in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd overall, moving up three places on the list of the world's attractive destinations. It is ranked the 14th best tourist destination for its natural resources and 24th for its cultural resources, with many World Heritage Sites, both natural and cultural, rich fauna, and 23

strong creative industries in the country. India also bagged 37th rank for its air transport network. The India travel and tourism industry ranked 5th in the long-term (10-year) growth and is expected to be the second largest employer in the world by 2019. The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi are expected to significantly boost tourism in India further.4 5.4 Tourist Attractions in India Attractions include beautiful beaches, forests and wild life and landscapes for ecotourism; snow, river and mountain peaks for adventure tourism; technological parks and science museums for science tourism; centres of pilgrimage for spiritual tourism; heritage, trains and hotels for heritage tourism. Yoga, ayurveda and natural health resorts and hill stations also attract tourists. India is a country known for its lavish treatment to all visitors, no matter where they come from. Its visitor-friendly traditions, varied life styles and cultural heritage and colourful fairs and festivals held abiding attractions for the tourists. It is estimated through survey that nearly forty per cent of the tourist expenditure on shopping is spent on such items. The Indian handicrafts particularly, jewellery, carpets, leather goods, ivory and brass work are the main shopping items of foreign tourists. In spite of the economic slowdown, medical tourism in India is the fastest growing segment of tourism industry, according to the market research report Booming Medical Tourism in India. The report adds that India offers a great potential in the medical tourism industry. Factors such as low cost, scale and range of treatments provided in the country add to its attractiveness as a medical tourism destination. 5.5 Initiatives to Boost Tourism The Indian Government has recently taken to boost tourism include grant of export house status to the tourism sector and incentives for promoting private investment in the form of income Tax exemptions, interest subsidy and reduced import duty. The hotel and tourism-related industry has been declared a high priority industry for foreign investment which entails automatic approval of direct investment up to 51 per cent of foreign equity and allowing 100 per cent non-resident Indian investment and simplifying rules regarding the grant of approval to travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators. The first-ever Indian Tourism Day was celebrated on January 25, 1998. The Year 1999 was celebrated as Explore India Millennium Year by presenting a spectacular tableau on the cultural heritage of India at the Republic Day Parade and organising India Tourism Expo in New Delhi and Khajuraho. Moreover, the campaign Visit India Year 2009 was launched at the International Tourism Exchange in Berlin, aimed to project India as an attractive destination for holidaymakers. The government joined hands with leading airlines, hoteliers, holiday resorts and tour operators, and offered them a wide range of incentives and bonuses during the period between April and December, 2009. 6. FUTURE PROSPECTS According to the latest Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research, released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and its strategic partner Oxford Economics in March 2009: The demand for travel and tourism in India is expected to grow by 8.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019 and will place India at the third position in the world. India's travel and tourism sector is expected to be the second largest employer in the world, employing 40,037,000 by 2019. Capital investment in India's travel and tourism sector is expected to grow at 8.8 per cent between 2010 and 2019. The report forecasts India to get capital investment worth US$ 94.5
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www.ibef.org/industry/tourismhospitality.aspx

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billion in the travel and tourism sector in 2019. India is projected to become the fifth fastest growing business travel destination from 2010-2019 with an estimated real growth rate of 7.6 per cent. 6.1 Constraints The major constraint in the development of tourism in India is the non-availability of adequate infrastructure including adequate air seat capacity, accessibility to tourist destinations, accommodation and trained manpower in sufficient number. Poor visitor experience, particularly, due to inadequate infrastructural facilities, poor hygienic conditions and incidents of touting and harassment of tourists in some places are factors that contribute to poor visitor experience. 6.2 Impact of Tourism in India Tourism helps preserve several places which are of historical importance by declaring them as heritage sites. For instance, the Taj Mahal, the Qutab Minar, Ajanta and Ellora temples, etc., would have been decayed and destroyed had it not been for the efforts taken by Tourism Department to preserve them. Likewise, tourism also helps in conserving the natural habitats of many endangered species. 6.3 Positive Impacts In India, as well as in other countries, tourism has emerged as an instrument of income and employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. It contributes 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment in India. Almost 20 million people are now working in the Indias tourism industry. Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange earnings in India. This has favourable impact on the balance of payment of the country. The tourism industry in India generated about US$100 billion in 2008 and that is expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate. 6.4 Developing Infrastructure The development of infrastructure has in turn induced the development of other directly productive activities. Tourism tends to encourage the development of multiple-use infrastructure that benefits the host community, including various means of transports, health care facilities, and sports centres, in addition to the hotels and high-end restaurants that cater to foreign visitors. Promoting Peace and Stability: Honey and Gilpin (2009) suggests that the tourism industry can also help promote peace and stability in developing country like India by providing jobs, generating income, diversifying the economy, protecting the environment, and promoting cross-cultural awareness. Still, key challenges like adoption of regulatory frameworks, mechanisms to reduce crime and corruption, etc., must be addressed if peace-enhancing benefits from this industry are to be realized. 6.5 Negative Impacts Undesirable social and cultural change has occurred. Tourism sometimes led to the destruction of the social fabric of a community. The more tourists coming into a place, the more the perceived risk of that place losing its identity. A good example is Goa. From the late 60's to the early 80's when the Hippy culture was at its height, Goa was a haven for such hippies. Here they came in thousands and changed the whole culture of the state leading to a rise in the use of drugs, prostitution and human trafficking. Tourism can increase tension, hostility, and suspicion between the tourists and the local communities when there is no respect and understanding for each others culture and way of life. 25

This may further lead to violence and other crimes committed against the tourists. The recent crime committed against Russian tourist in Goa is a case in point. Tourism brought little or no benefit whatsoever to the local community. In most allinclusive package tours more than 80% of travellers fees go to the airlines, hotels and other international companies, not to local businessmen and workers. Moreover, large hotel chain restaurants often import food to satisfy foreign visitors and rarely employ local staff for senior management positions, preventing local farmers and workers from reaping the benefit of their presence. This has often created a sense of antipathy towards the tourists and the government. Increased transport and construction activities led to large scale deforestation and destabilisation of natural landforms, while increased tourist flow led to increase in solid waste dumping as well as depletion of water and fuel resources. One of the most important adverse effects of tourism on the environment is increased pressure on the carrying capacity of the ecosystem in each tourist locality. Flow of tourists to ecologically sensitive areas resulted in destruction of rare and endangered species due to trampling, killing, disturbance of breeding habitats. Noise pollution from vehicles and public address systems, water pollution, vehicular emissions, untreated sewage, etc. also have direct effects on biodiversity, ambient environment and general profile of tourist spots.

7. Environmental Impact of Tourism in India

7.1 Positive Impacts Tourism can contribute directly to the conservation of sensitive areas and habitat. Revenue from park-entrance fees and similar sources can be allocated specifically to pay for the protection and management of environmentally sensitive areas. Special fees for park operations or conservation activities can be collected from tourists or tour operators. Funds can be used for overall conservation programs and activities, such as park ranger salaries and park maintenance. The Indian government through the tourism department also collect money in more far-reaching and indirect ways that are not linked to specific parks or conservation areas. User fees, income taxes, taxes on sales or rental of recreation equipment, and license fees for activities such as rafting and fishing can provide governments with the funds needed to manage natural resources. The development of tourism has moved the Indian government towards this direction leading to improved environmental management. Sound environmental management of tourism facilities and especially hotels can increase the benefits to natural environment. By planning early for tourism development, damaging and expensive mistakes can be prevented, avoiding the gradual deterioration of environmental assets significant to tourism. Tourism has the potential to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with nature and the environment. This confrontation heightens awareness of the value of nature among the community and lead to environmentally conscious behaviour and activities to preserve the environment. 7.2 Protection and Preservation of Environment Tourism can significantly contribute to environmental protection, conservation and restoration of biological diversity and sustainable use of natural resources. Because of their attractiveness, pristine sites and natural areas are identified as valuable and the need to keep the attraction alive can lead to creation of national parks and wildlife parks. In India, new laws and regulations have been enacted to preserve the forest and to protect native species. The coral reefs around the coastal areas and the marine life that depend on 26

them for survival are also protected. 7.3 Negative Impacts Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. Water, especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources and tourists tend to use more of it than local people. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water. In dryer regions like Rajasthan, the issue of water scarcity is of particular concern. Due to the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more inhabitants in the high season as in the low season. A high demand is placed upon these resources to meet the high expectations tourists often have (proper heating, hot water, etc.). Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply. Greater extraction and transport of these resources exacerbates the physical impacts associated with their exploitation. Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, in the provision of tourist facilities is caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the use of building materials. Important land resources include minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife. Increased construction of tourism and recreational facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Forests often suffer negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection and land clearing e.g. the trekking in the Himalayan region, Sikkim and Assam. Pollution is one of the worst impacts that tourism can have over the environment. Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution. Transportation by air, road, and rail is continuously increasing in response to the rising number of tourist activities in India. Transport emissions and emissions from energy production and use are linked to acid rain, global warming and photochemical pollution. Air pollution from tourist transportation has impacts on the global level, especially from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions related to transportation energy use. And it can contribute to severe local air pollution. Some of these impacts are quite specific to tourist activities where the sites are in remote areas like Ajanta and Ellora temples. For example, tour buses often leave their motors running for hours while the tourists go out for an excursion because they want to return to a comfortably airconditioned bus. Noise pollution from aeroplanes, cars, and buses, as well as recreational vehicles is an ever-growing problem of modern life. In addition to causing annoyance, stress, and even hearing loss for humans, it causes distress to wildlife, especially in sensitive areas. In areas with high concentrations of tourist activities and appealing natural attractions, waste disposal is a serious problem and improper disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment - rivers, scenic areas, and roadsides. In mountain areas of the Himalayas and Darjeeling, trekking tourists generate a great deal of waste. Tourists on expedition leave behind their garbage, oxygen cylinders and even camping equipment. Such practices degrade the environment particularly in remote areas because they have few garbage collection or disposal facilities. Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities often leads to increased sewage pollution. Wastewater has polluted seas and lakes surrounding tourist attractions, damaging the flora and fauna. Sewage runoff causes serious damage to coral reefs because it stimulates the 27

growth of algae, which cover the filter-feeding corals, hindering their ability to survive. Changes in salinity and siltation can have wide-ranging impacts on coastal environments. And sewage pollution can threaten the health of humans and animals. Examples of such pollution can be seen in the coastal states of Goa, Kerela, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, etc. 7.4 Destruction and Alteration of Ecosystems Attractive landscape sites, such as sandy beaches in Goa, Maharashtra, Kerela, Tamil Nadu; lakes, riversides, and mountain tops and slopes, are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems. An ecosystem is a geographic area including all the living organisms (people, plants, animals, and micro-organisms), their physical surroundings (such as soil, water, and air), and the natural cycles that sustain them. The threats to and pressures on these ecosystems are often severe because such places are very attractive to both tourists and developers. Examples may be cited from Krushedei Island near Rameswaram. What was once called paradise for marine biologists has been abandoned due to massive destruction of coral and other marine life. Another area of concern which emerged at Jaisalmer is regarding the deterioration of the desert ecology due to increased tourist activities in the desert. The habitat can be degraded by tourism leisure activities. For example, wildlife viewing can bring about stress for the animals and alter their natural behaviour when tourists come too close. Safaris and wildlife watching activities have a degrading effect on habitat as they often are accompanied by the noise and commotion created by tourists.

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CONCLUSIONS
Ecotourism needs to be promoted so that tourism in India helps in preserving and sustaining the diversity of the India's natural and cultural environments. Tourism industry in India is growing and it has vast potential for generating employment and earning large amount of foreign exchange besides giving a boost to the countrys overall economic and social development. But much more remains to be done. Tourism in India should be developed in such a way that it accommodates and entertains visitors in a way that is minimally intrusive or destructive to the environment and sustains and supports the native cultures in the locations it is operating in. Moreover, since tourism is a multi-dimensional activity, and basically a service industry, it would be necessary that all wings of the Central and State governments, private sector and voluntary organisations become active partners in the endeavour to attain sustainable growth in tourism if India is to become a world player in the tourism industry. The environment and the tourism industry influence each other to a degree where they cannot be functionally separated. It is a strong connection that goes both ways: on one hand, the environment, including all its components, is the very basis for tourism, and on the other hand, tourism has a great influence on the environment itself, modifying all elements of the environment not always in a positive way. The tourism industry also impacts the environment in the areas of solid waste generation, whereas building tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas (land use planning) is also a concern as is the usage of potable water. On Tourism and Environment Beginning with the 20th century, tourism has gradually gained a more and more importance in global economy and leisure practice of most people. Starting as an activity enjoyed by only a small group of relatively well-off people during the first half of the previous century, it subsequently became a mass phenomenon during the post- World War II period, particularly from the 1970's onwards. Nowadays, tourism is one of the main economic activities and budget contributors in countries such as France, Egypt, Greece, United States, Spain, Italy,and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism.5 The environment is defined as the quality of life, including human life standards and the proper natural habitat for animals and plants. The quality of life is determined by long term availability of resources, in adequate quality and sufficient quantity of all the natural elements, such as water, air, soil, land and space in general, as well as raw materials. All the natural factors and those created by mankind, and more importantly their quality, is the main reason for travelling, the latter being the raw material or the main ingredient of tourism.6 Thus, preserving a high quality level of natural resources is a necessary condition for maintaining and continuously developing tourism.7 Within the last 40 years, beginning with The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, mankind has begun to admit that environment issues cannot be considered apart from welfare and economic progress in general. The concept of sustainable development has become widely used in business and politics areas and it represents a development process which does not deploy or overuse resources.8 Tourism is an important source of maintaining and improving environment quality,
5 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism#Most_visited_countries_by_international_tourist_arrivals Rodica Minciu, Economia turismului, Editura Uranus, Bucureti, 2001, p. 36 7 P. Baron, O. Snak, N.Neacu, Economia turismului, Editura Expert, Bucureti, 2001, p. 468
8

Idem, p. 472 29

being an active factor of sustainable development for its own sake and in order to ensure the quality of basic resources and development of all other industries. On the Impact of the Environment over Tourism The environment is an element which influences tourist demand. Considering that the demand for tourist services is partly determined by the quality of the offer, the environment can and has both positive and negative effects over tourism. The natural conditions of the environment, all components considered relief, climate, hidrography, flora and fauna, natural monuments, reservations have an important impact on attracting tourist flow and also have a decisive effect over tourist activities in general, as well as determining its particular forms.9 Besides the natural environment tourism, there is also the anthropic one, which consists of archaeological resources, elements of ethnography and folklore, institutions of art or cultural and and events (festivals, sport competitions etc.), technological and scientific locations (observatories, science museums) and human settlements and architecture. The elements of natural and anthropic potential combined attract tourists by their aesthetic value, the entertainment and recreational potential, the quality of natural factors to cure different illnesses, the possibility of practising sports and for educational purposes as well.10 Natural disasters are a warning to people who live in continuous dissension with nature. Dramatic scenery can be seen on television on a daily basis, people being caught in floods or heavy storms, hurricanes or tornadoes, snowfalls or earthquakes all these determine tourists to consider safer places to visit. All those unwanted natural phenomena have devastating effects over communities and the areas inhabited by them. In certain cases, the only solution is relocation. But the best solution is sustainable development by limiting the number of new buildings, especially in vulnerable places, or by constructing safer and more resistant housing, dams, roads, facilities using higher standards in order to avoid future losses. Unfortunately, relocation makes tourist resources unavailable to use and, thus, eliminates those areas from world tourism circuit. Positive Impact of the Environment over Tourism Tourism is one of the most important industries in the world and is still growing. More and more people are interested in exploring new destination sites and new cultures, the farther, the better. Thus, the areas that have more natural resources attract more tourists and they also offer the possibility to meet and learn about many cultures with their traditions and customs. As long as tourism and the environment coexist in harmony, the environment is able to profit from tourist activities in two different ways: by preserving the environment and rehabilitating it. Preserving means keeping the environment as it is and consciously making use of both the natural environment and the anthropic one. Preservation and tourism always go hand in hand. Many historical and archaeological monuments have been saved over time because of the interest tourists got in them. Hundreds of historical houses in the United Kingdom would only have become ruins or demolished unless they had been valuable to tourists. Not only great castles or mansions were saved that way, but also coal miners' dwellings at the Beamish Museum, in Newcastle, which is an open air museum containing numerous of different types of housing all saved from perishing because of the tourism interest in them. The whole world was able to benefit from tourism in different ways. A few countries in East Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania, created national parks and game reservations designed to preserve wild life, the best known being Masai Mara and the Serengeti. People invested in them because they knew that wild life was the most important natural resource they had and it
9
10

Rodica Minciu, Op. cit., p.161

V. Glvan, Geografia turismului n Romnia, Editura Institutului EDEN, Bucureti, 1996, p.9

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was able to attract tourists to East Africa. Natural reservations and parks succeeded in the preservation of many species, which, otherwise, could have been brought to extinction by uncontrolled hunting. Kenya has 13 national parks and 24 reservations, representing 7.5% of the country's total surface. Tourism not only offers a good reason for the preservation of the natural and anthropic environment, but also ensures the financing needed for preservation; e.g. many of the parishes in England use the money they get from visitors for reparation and restoration. Rehabilitation means allowing a building or an area to be brought to existence again in a different way from what it used to be. While preservation supposes keeping the environment in state of being similar to its previous one, rehabilitation implies a major change in the use of the environment. Many buildings and areas were saved for tourist purposes by being rehabilitated or used as accommodation. There are numerous examples of singe buildings or whole areas given an opportunity by tourism. Old plants and factories started a new life as museums; industrial areas were converted to festival locations; many ruined castles and mansions became lodging spaces for tourists. All those examples prove the way the environment can take profit from tourist activities, saving what could have been forever lost. We always have to consider the fact that natural resources and anthropic ones must be preserved because they are only available once; if they are consumed, the potential tourist value ceases to exist. That is why tourism should be oriented towards social benefit and determine regional development by degrading the environment as little as possible. In order to control this phenomenon, all people involved must understand the need for sustainable development and acknowledge that the success of a certain business investment depends on resources and their preservation.11 Negative Impact of the Environment over Tourism Destructive actions of certain tourist activities generally mean improper use of the environment in recreational and entertaining purposes, doubled by an excessive intervention of man over the landscape and natural resources.12 Tourism consumes space and tourist resources and also partakes in degrading and polluting the environment and the tourist potential. Degradation is done by direct pressure of the tourists over the vegetation and the wild life or by other improper tourist objectives. Human intervention an pressure over the environment grows day by day as people travel to greater distances than in the past. Holidays offer the opportunity to exploit and take hold more and more of the environment as people tend to try and escape dull urban areas. Getting out of the city to greener areas has increased lately, not only during holidays, but also on trips and short weekend travels, and that social habit has a negative impact on the environment. Many of the damages are provoked by the large number of visitors to a destination designed for only a few. The environment rarely can avoid the negative impact of a large number of tourists. The quality of water, air and the diversity of the vegetation and the fauna is without further ado negatively affected, and so are the landscapes, settlements and monuments.13 There is evidence that, concurrently with other social and economic activities, tourism is an important source of pollution. Irrational and unscientific use of tourist resources, oversizing tourist capacities, not respecting general exploitation of natural resources all these lead to damaging the environment. One of the best examples for decline and irreplaceable damage to nature was faced by the coral reefs, which are also called the rainforests of the sea. Over 58% of them are
11 12 13

Management turistic internaional, p. 17 P. Baron, O. Snak, N.Neacu, Op. cit., p. 470 Idem, p. 470

31

threatened by human activity. Most of human degradation of the environment is connected to tourism and that can only be changed by making people aware that they have to change their behaviour in aspects of the environment.

Actions of Protection and Preservation of the Environment and the Tourist Potential Protection and preservation of the environment need specific coordination of scientists, legal advisers and entrepreneurs and can only succeed if both tourists and tourist agencies support the cause.14 In order to achieve the goal of sustainable development, education is very important as well. Parents and teachers altogether need to teach children to respect and protect the environment and engage them in ecological activities. There are many actions that people need to take: acknowledging the need to preserve and protect the environment, preserving tourist natural and anthropic resources in order to continuously enjoy them, increasing the living standards of local communities, establishing the basis for sustainable development by the authorities and entrepreneurs, supporting the tourist industry by mass media, rational use of tourist resources Nowadays tourists are more and more interested in environmental issues because they are aware that their living and lodging standards are dependent on the quality of the environment. It makes little or no sense at all to allow tourists to visit places that do not fit certain quality standards, and governments and tourist agencies should only support standardised tourism.15 The issue of protecting and preserving tourist resources needs to be considered in the same way as general issues of economy. Ecotourism an Important Element of Sustainable Development The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 established the basis of sustainable development, which presumes the use of natural resources by the present-day generation in a way that it does not affect future generations. The year 2002 brought major changes to tourism as it was declared The International Year of Mountains, and two important events took place: International Conference on Ecotourism (New York, in January) and World Ecotourism Summit (Quebec, in May). Ecotourism began in North America, in the mid-80's, as a consequence of friendly towards nature tourism in some of the world's most fragile and furthermost places. 16 The prefix eco, attached to tourism, means home, from Greek word oikos. The concept of ecotourism is defined in different ways by different people, depending on their interests. Many tourists are nowadays attracted by adventure in and isolated and remote areas. Ecotourism Society is one of the most prestigious organizations concerned about ecotourism and defines this specific activity as "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990)17
14 15 16 17

Idem p.407 Management turistic internaional, p. 21 Management turistic internaional, p. 13 http://www.ecotourism.org/site/c.orLQKXPCLmF/b.4835303/k.BEB9/What_is_Ecotourism__The_International

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Another definition of ecotourism states that it means visiting an area that had been little or at all affected by human activities, with the slightest impact on the environment, which has an important educational element and offers benefit directly to the local economy and population. Some specialists define ecotourism as the amount of travel to enjoy and appreciate nature. The Ecotourism Society defines the latter as nature tourism. An analysis of tourist motivation discovered that 40 to 60% of international tourists are natural ones and 20 to 40% of them are interested in wild life. Natural tourists can be defined as people who visit a region in order to enjoy nature, while the tourists who visit wild places are willing to observe and analyse the wild life.18 Nature tourism is often connected to cultural tourism. This kind of tourism emphasizes the social aspect of travelling. When the two tourist activities combine, we get responsible tourism. Responsibility is a basic premiss of ecotourism. Whether or not common knowledge, it is essential to know that tourism should be meant to protect nature and not to damage it, and people should have a positive attitude and take action to: ensure the preservation of the environment by sustainable development, create specific strategies to avoid damage of the environment, coordinate public and private developing and management plans, diminish the impact of transportation, lodging and other tourist activities over the environment, ensure that tourist flow does not lead to overcrowding and analyse the effects of all economic, social and natural activities over the environment. There are only few places not affected by human activities, and tourism should be brought to the point where it helps both people and nature, as any imbalance leads to damaging both sides. There are numerous non-governmental organizations (NGO) that can be used as tour operators because they know best the areas they attempt to protect and preserve. Most of the NGOs in the United States have a share from ecotourism. Ecotourism means getting a profit, preserving nature and establishing sustainable development in the areas where it is used as such.

18

_Ecotourism_Society.htm Idem, p.18

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