Sustainable Tourism

What is sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism is about operators and regions working smarter and more sustainably. This means operators:

• make their business practice more energy- and waste-efficient
• involve the community in decision making
• identify potential risks to the environment from their business and avoiding those risks
• identify opportunities to market a business as sustainable
• identify beneficial partnerships.

The natural environment, our communities, cultures and businesses are all part of what makes up the tourism industry. Businesses can benefit from the increasing number of visitors seeking an authentic and interactive experience by incorporating sustainable business practices into their operations.

Principles of Sustainable Tourism

Increasing evidence shows that an integrated approach to tourism planning and management is now required to achieve sustainable tourism. It is only recently that there has been a growing recognition of the importance of combining the needs of traditional urban management (transportation, land use planning, marketing, economic development, fire and safety etc.) with the need to plan for tourism.

Some of the most important principles of sustainable tourism development include:

·         Tourism should be initiated with the help of broad-based community-inputs and the community should maintain control of tourism development.

·         Tourism should provide quality employment to its community residents and a linkage between the local businesses and tourism should be established.

·         A code of practice should be established for tourism at all levels - national, regional, and local - based on internationally accepted standards. Guidelines for tourism operations, impact assessment, monitoring of cumulative impacts, and limits to acceptable change should be established.

·         Education and training programmes to improve and manage heritage and natural resources should be established.

Some terms related to Sustainable Tourism

Responsible Tourism
Responsible tourism is the closest definition to sustainable tourism; however it tends to refer to the consumers’ choice of destination and mode of transport based on their ethical, political and racial sensitivities as well as being concerned for the environment and local culture.
Green Tourism
Historically the definition of this term has been travel which is environmentally friendly or benign that in general does not concern itself with cultural or economic elements of the destination. Current uses of the term are becoming broader to incorporate full sustainable tourism principles.
Ethical Tourism
Ethical tourism has evolved as a term when one considers travelling to, or developing tourism in a destination where ethical issues are the key driver, e.g. social injustice, human rights, animal welfare or the environment. Ethical tourism is geared towards encouraging both the consumer and industry to avoid participation in activities that contribute or support negative ethical issues.
Ecotourism
Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a subset of sustainable tourism which focuses on ecology. Ecotourism tends to be encountered in destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. The industry actively works towards conserving or improving the natural and cultural heritage through managing its own operations to help conserve the environment, organising conservation projects, offering volunteering and educating visitors.