PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA

College of Business and Government Management

Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management ITM 2105 – Sustainable Tourism

Topic 2: Sustainable Tourism Development

I. Definition of Sustainability “Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.” (The
International Union for the Conservation of Nature – The World Conservation Union, United Nations
Environment Programme, and the World Wide Fund for Nature in Caring for the Earth 1991)

“The long-term, cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality with emphasis on long-term, together
with the importance of linking our social, financial, and environmental well-being.” (Sustainable Seattle n.d.)

Sustainability – defined as the ability of something to continue for an indefinite period of time.

II. Definition of Sustainable Development The Brundtland Commission (1987) defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs
of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The Philippine Agenda 21 (1996) defined sustainable development as the “harmonious integration of a sound
and viable economy, responsible governance, social cohesion and ecological integrity, to ensure that
development is a life-sustaining process.”

III. Sustainable Tourism and Its Principles In 1988, adopting the parent concept of sustainable development, the UNWTO defined sustainable tourism as
“….the management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled
while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological process, biological diversity, and life support systems.”

For tourism to be sustainable, it is essential for the following elements to be present:

1. Informed participation of relevant stakeholders.
2. Strong political leadership to ensure wide participation and consensus building.
3. Constant monitoring of impacts and adoption of preventive or corrective measures when necessary.
4. Maintaining a high level of tourist satisfaction and providing meaningful experience to the tourists.
5. Raising the tourists’ awareness about sustainability issues and sustainable practices.

The 1995 World Conference on Sustainable Tourism held in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, spelled out the
1
 principles of sustainable tourism as follows:
1. Ecologically bearable, economically viable, and ethically and socially equitable for local communities;
2. Guarantees the sustainability of the resources on which it depends;
3. Respects the fragile balances that characterize many tourist destinations, in particular small islands and
environmentally sensitive areas;
4. Considers its effects on the cultural heritage and traditional elements, activities, and dynamics of each
local community;
5. Supports solidarity, mutual respect, and participation of public and private entities at the local,
national, regional, and international levels;
6. Supports cultural, technological, and professional innovation; and integrated planning and
management approach;
7. Adopts quality criteria for the preservation of the tourist destination, and the satisfaction of tourists, as
determined jointly with local communities;
8. Is fully integrated into and contributes positively to local economic development;
9. Helps improve the quality of life of all people, and enriches the socio-cultural life of each destination;
10. Permits a more equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of tourism;
11. Protects environmentally and culturally vulnerable spaces from high impact tourism models;
12. Promotes alternative and diversified forms of tourism;
13. Promotes the creation of networks that will conduct research, and disseminate information, and
transfer knowledge on sustainable tourism technologies;
14. Supports and promotes environmentally-compatible tourism management systems, feasibility studies
for the transformation of the sector, as well as the implementation of demonstration projects and the
development of international cooperation programs; and
15. Calls for the adaptation and implementation of codes of conduct that creates responsible tourism
behavior.

According to the UNWTO, any form of tourism may be made sustainable by applying the aforementioned
guidelines.

IV. History of Sustainable Tourism Development 1948

Concept The International Union for the Protection of It aims to promote a unique partnership of government
Nature is founded. and nongovernment organizations.

It changed its name to International Union for

Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956.

2
1954
Harrison Brown publishes The Challenge of It develops themes that decades later would comprise
Man’s Future. the term “sustainable development”

1961
The World Wildlife Fund, now the World Wide
Fund for Nature, was established.

1962
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, which Carson discusses the negative impacts of insecticides on
discusses the interconnections between the ecology human health.
environment, the economy, and social well-
being. Carson concludes with a suggestion to control insects by
introducing their natural enemies, natural diseases, and
parasites that will kill them, or by sterilizing them.

1968
The Club of Rome is Established. It commissions a study of global proportions to model
and analyze the dynamic interactions between industrial
production, population, environmental damage, food
consumption, and natural resource usage.

1969
Friends of the Earth forms As a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to
protecting the planet from environmental degradation;
preserving biological, cultural, and ethnic diversity; and
empowering citizens to have an influential voice in
decisions affecting the quality of their environment and
their lives.

1970
The First Earth Day is proclaimed in San It is held as a national tech-in on the environment; an
Francisco. estimated 20 million people participated in peaceful
demonstration across the United States.

1971

3
 The Founex Report on Development and The Report, named after the town in Switzerland which
Environment calls for integration of environment was the venue of the UN seminar, laid the groundwork
and development strategies. for the 1972 Stockholm Conference by contributing to
the understanding of the contrasting perspectives on
economic development and environmental issues
between the developed and developing countries.

René Dubos and Barbara Ward published Only
One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a
Small Planet, which discusses the impact of
human activity on the biosphere.
The Authors foretell the potential impact of carbon
dioxide emissions on the rise of global temperatures.
Regarded as the first book on sustainable development
as “it recognizes the need to combine a commitment to
meeting human needs with acknowledgement of the
finite limits of the planet in regard to resource and
pollution” (Satterthwaite 2006).

1972
The UN Conference on the Human Environment The Stockholm Conference is rooted in the pollution and
is held in Stockholm; it leads to the acid rain problems of Northern Europe.
establishment of numerous national
environmental protection agencies and the UN
Environment Programmed.

The Club of Rome published The Limits to
Growth, which discusses the impact of economic
growth on resource use and creation of
pollution; it predicts the dire consequences of
unchecked population growth on the viability of
the planet; it calls for a state of global
equilibrium.
The Authors (Meadows, Meadows, Randers, and
Behrens) used computer simulation model to predict
when the world would run out of finite resources. Five
variables were examined – 1. World population, 2.
Industrialization, 3. Pollution, 4. Food Production and 5.
Resource Depletion. Two of the three scenarios of the
computer model predict “overshoot and collapse” of the
world’s social and economic systems by the mid-to latter
part of the 21st century (current century).

The Great Disruption, Paul Gilding warns that mankind

has already exceeded the planet’s ability to support life
restore itself. Ecological footprint analysis for the past

4
 decade has shown that current western society’s
consumptive lifestyles require more than four earths,
and for seven-billion people to continue living as they
require more than one-and-a-half earths (Hood 2015)

1973
Young published the Tourism: Blessings or Blight,
which drew attention to the negative impacts of
tourism (Swarbrooke 1999).

1980
IUCN published the World Conservation Strategy The section “Towards Sustainable Development”
(WCS) identifies the main agents of habitat destruction as
poverty, population pressure, social inequality, and
trading regimes; the strategy calls for a new international
development strategy to redness inequities.

The WCS aims to achieve the three main objectives of

living resource conservation, which are to maintain
essential ecological processes and life-support systems
on which human survival and development depend; to
preserve genetic diversity; and to ensure the sustainable
utilization of species and ecosystems which support rural
communities and major industries.

The term “sustainable development” is first introduced

into the international policy debate.

1982
In October 1982, the UN approved the World It presented several measures for the protection of the
Charter for Nature. environment, such as natural habitat protection,
conservation of non-renewable resources, re-use and
recycling of resources, environmental impact
assessment, prevention, and mitigation; environmental

5
 monitoring and timely intervention, etc.

1987
The World Commission on Environment and The Report popularizes the term “sustainable
Development publishes Our Common Future, development” which the Commission defined as
also as the Brundtland Report. “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs”.

The Report Laid down the principles of sustainable

development. These include equity for the poor, effective
citizens’ participation in decision-making, greater
democracy in international decision-making, adoption of
a more responsible lifestyle by the rich, and managing
population growth.

The Report also highlighted institutional gaps which

constrain sustainability. These include narrow
preoccupations, compartmentalized functions, and
closed decision processes of governmental institution.

Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development

(PSSD). In the wake of the adoption of sustainability
paradigm in the international community, the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) also drafted the Philippine Strategy for
Sustainable Development (PSSD) in 1987 and was
approved by the Cabinet in 1989.

The goal of the PSSD was to achieved economic growth

while ensuring adequate protection of the Philippines’
biodiversity, vital ecosystem functions, and overall
environmental quality.

The key objectives are to guarantee the sustainable

utilization of forests, croplands, marine, and freshwater

6
 ecosystem; promote equity in natural resource
utilization; develop heritage and biodiversity
management programs; promote the agriculture and
agroforestry technologies through research and
development and demonstration projects; and achieve
and maintain an acceptable air and water quality.

The PSSD was presented at the UNCED in 1992 at Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil. In the same year, President Fidel V. Ramos
created the semi-governmental body, Philippine Council
for Sustainable Development (PCSD) through Executive
Order No. 15, the Philippine becoming the first Asian
country to have such a council.

By 1996, national plan of action for SD, titled “The

Philippine Agenda 21: A National Agenda for Sustainable
Development for the 21st Century (PA 21)” was adopted
by virtue of a Memorandum Order No. 399 (PCSD 1997).

The Enhanced PA 21 has five goal elements: poverty

reduction, social equity, empowerment and good
governance, peace and solidarity, and ecological
integrity.

1988
The UNWTO defines sustainable tourism as
“…..the 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.”

1989
Barbier, Markandya, and Pearce published the Barbier et al. said that current economic policy treats

7
 Blueprint for a Green Economy where they natural services as free. In the absence of a price, the
argued for placing a greater value on the consumption of such resources cannot be controlled
environment in relation to economic growth. except in terms of the availability of a resource and the
effect of consumption of the environment, such as
pollution by CFCs.

Pearce proposed the use of cost benefit techniques to

put a value on such resources and to indicate the effects
of an investment on the environment.

The authors proposed alternative environmental

accounting techniques, such as physical accounts (cubic
meters to indicate change in say, water reserves) and
monetary approach, where environmental resources are
linked to national income accounts, such as the cost of
pollution to be deducted from GNP.

Pricing strategies that factor in the environment as an

extra production cost as well as their effects on the
market are described

Pricing strategies could include tightening environmental

standards where the cost is born by the producer, and
polluter pay taxes where the consumer pays a certain
amount to compensate for environmental damage (e.g.,
carbon tax) (Huttenbach & gayton 1989).

1991
Wood and House published The Good Tourist
which tried to influence tourists’ behavior by
making them aware of the potential negative
impacts of tourism (Swarbrooke 1999).

1992
The UN conference on Environment and The Earth Summit also produced Agenda 21 (The United
Development is held in Rio de Janeiro; Nations Programme of Action for the 21 st Century), which

8
 agreements were reached on Agenda 21, the
Convention on Biological Diversity, the
Framework Convention on Climate Change, and
non-binding Forest Principles.
1993
UNEP and the International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives published the “Tourism
and Local Agenda 21: The Role of Local
Authorities in Sustainable Tourism.”
UNWTO published the “Global Code of Ethics for
Tourism.”
is the action plan for achieving sustainable development
at all levels.
The UNWTO, UNEP, and the World Conservation Union
(IUCN) published the Guidelines: Development of
National Parks and Protected Areas for Tourism, which is
meant to assist countries to achieve sustainable
stewardship of their national parks and other protected
areas
Philippine Agenda 21 (PA 21): A national Agenda for
Sustainable Development for the 21 st Century was also
published.
This book provides a detailed description of the various
roles performed by local authorities (local government
units of LGUs) in sustainable tourism development,
particularly in light of the trend toward decentralization
of power.
It is a comprehensive set of principles which are designed
to guide the main stakeholders in tourism development,
namely, governments, the travel industry, local
communities, and tourists.
The aim of the Code is to help maximize economic
contribution of tourism while minimizing tourism’s
potentially harmful effects on the environment and the
society.
The WTO General Assembly approved the Code in 1999
in Santiago, Chile.
The WTO General Assembly in Seoul and Osaka in 2001
approved the creation of a World Committee on Tourism
Ethics.
9
1994
Turner et al. presented a sustainability spectrum,
ranging from very weak to very strong
sustainability positions (Swarbrooke 1999).
According to Turner et al. (1994) and Hunter (1997),
sustainability could be categorized along a continuum
ranging from very weak to very strong sustainability
(Swarbrooke 1999)

1995
The WTO holds the World Conference on The Conference produced a resolution which called on
Sustainable Tourism in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, the international community, particularly those in the
Spain. field of tourism, to adopt the criteria of sustainability in
tourism development.

1996
The UN publishes A Practical Guide for the The core indicators and their specific measurements are:
Development and Application of Indicators of Source UNWTO (2002)
Sustainable Tourism. 1. Site Protection
2. Stress
3. Use Intensity
4. Social Impact
5. Development Control
6. Waste Management
7. Planning Process
8. Critical Ecosystems
9. Consumer Satisfaction
10. Local Satisfaction

UNWTO, with the Earth Council and the World The document specifies actions that the tourism industry,
Travel & Tourism Council, published the Agenda national tourism administrations (NTAs), and tourism
21 for the Travel & Tourism Industry: Towards trade organizations can take to achieve sustainable
Environmentally Sustainable Development. tourism development at local and national levels.

1997
Delegates to the UN Framework Convention on

10
 Climate Change signed the Kyoto Protocol, which
commits developed nations to reducing overall
emissions of several greenhouse gases and
mechanisms to encourage the North-South
cooperation on emission reduction.

The UN issued the Berlin Declaration on

Biological Diversity and Sustainable Tourism,
which adopted principles for the sustainable
development of tourism in vulnerable
ecosystems and protected areas.

1998
The UNWTO published the Guide for Local It presents techniques for planning and developing
Authorities on Developing Sustainable Tourism. tourism in a way that minimizes negative environmental
and socio-economic impacts at the local level.

It also contains sustainable tourism best practices.

1999
The UNWTO published the Global Codes of Ethic It presents a comprehensive set of ethical principles to
for Tourism. guide behavior and business practices of tourism
stakeholders, such as governments, local communities,
the tourism industry, and visitors.

The UNWTO also produced the Sustainable An Annotated Bibliography, which involved the review of
Development of Tourism. almost 100 books and more than 250 articles.

2000
The UN Millennium Summit shifted the focus of The UN Millennium Declaration contains the now famous
development to poverty and multiple Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), comprised of
deprivations. eight primary goals. These are to (1) eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger; (2)achieve universal primary
education; (3) promote gender equality and empower
women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal

11
 health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
(7) ensure environmental sustainability; and(8)develop a
global partnership for development.

2001
In the Biological Diversity and Sustainable
Tourism, the Convention on Biological Diversity,
UNEP, and the UNWTO recognize that tourism
being a biodiversity-dependent industry needs to
be committed to protecting the diversity of life
on Earth.

2002
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg marks the tenth anniversary of
the UNCED.
The Summit upheld sustainability as a framework for
development and prioritized poverty eradication and
environmental protection as the main goals of
development.

Commitments were made on establishing a world

solidarity fund to eradicate poverty and to promote
social and human development in the developing
countries.

The UNWTO also produced Voluntary Initiatives Voluntary initiatives are meant to guide self-regulation of
for Sustainable Tourism. the tourism industry. They cover certification systems,
eco-labels, awards and prizes, environmental
management systems, codes of conduct, and others.

2003
The WTO issued the Djerba (Tunisia) Declaration
on Tourism and Climate Change where the
organization called on tourism organizations at

12
 all levels to address and adapt to climate change.

UNEP and the International Center for Local

Environmental Initiatives publish the Tourism
and Local Agenda 21: The Role of Local
Authorities in Sustainable Tourism.

The UNWTO published the Co-operation and It provides guidance on how to build, implement, and
Partnership in Tourism: A Global Perspective. develop Public-Private Partnership.

2004
Indicators of Sustainable Development for
Tourism Destinations: A Guidebook (2004) is the
result of an extensive study on indicator
initiatives worldwide, involving 62 experts from
more than 20 countries.

2005
UNWTO and UNEP published the Making In the book, the UNWTO and UNEP explain how tourism
Tourism More Sustainable – A Guide for Policy could become sustainable in three steps.
Makers. 1. Make optimal use of environmental resources
while maintaining essential ecological processes
and helping to conserve natural heritage and
biodiversity;
2. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host
communities, conserve their cultural heritage
and traditional values, and contribute to
understanding and tolerance; and
3. Ensure viable, long-term economic operations,
providing socio-economic benefits to all
stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including
stable employment and income-earning
opportunities and social services to host
communities, and contributing to poverty
alleviation.
2006

13
 Al Gore published An Inconvenient Truth: The Gore argued that global warming is man-made and
Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and should be corrected by reducing greenhouse gas
What We Can Do About It. emissions and by planting more vegetation to
sequestrate existing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

2008
Climate Change and Tourism – Responding to
Global Challenges

2012
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development The Conference, also known as Rio+20 focuses on two
gathers in Rio de Janeiro to mark the 20 th themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable
anniversary of the 1992 Rio Summit. development and poverty eradication, and the
institutional framework for sustainable development.

In The Future We Want, the Conference’s outcome

document, member nations pledged “to promote
education for sustainable development and to integrate
sustainable development more actively into education
beyond the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (2005-2014).

Member States also decided to develop a set of

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would be
built upon the Millennium Development Goals.

2013
The UN proposes A Global Action Programme on
Education for Sustainable Development after
2014 in response to the UN resolution made
during the UN conference on Sustainable
Development in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (Rio+20)

2014

14
 The 2014 UNESCO World Conference on
education for Sustainable development (ESD) in
Aichi-Nagoya marked the end of the UN Decade
of ESD (2005-2014) and saw the launch of the
Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD.
2015
The year 2015 marked the deadline for achieving
the MDGs formulated in 2000.
Tourism and Sustainability Paradigm in the Philippines
1970
The focus had been on undifferentiated mass
tourism.
1980
The motivation was economic but with tourism
being managed like a corporation
1990
Under the banner of “Learning Today for a Sustainable
Future,” the Conference celebrated the achievements of
the Decade, and identified lessons learnt while setting
the stage for the future of ESD.
In the Global Sustainable Development Report, the UN
(2015) identified key sustainable development goals for
the next 15 years, to 2030.
The main strategy was to boost tourist arrivals in order to
maximize tourism revenues for both the government and
private business.
This had led to socio-cultural issues, such as child
prostitution and drugs and concomitant disillusionment
by the general public.
The Department of Tourism staff complement was
trimmed down, and a master plan was formulated.
The plan embodied the strategies of creating tourism
clusters with supporting international airports, regional
dispersal of accommodation facilities, deregulation of the
transportation industry, and diversification of markets
and tourism offerings.
15
Saw the advent of sustainable development as a Its key principles have slowly been integrated in tourism-
tourism development paradigm. relevant planning and development.

At the turn of the millennium, the environmental

dimension was given more prominence, culminating in
the passage of the National Ecotourism Strategy.

The DOT also paid attention to the development of the

rural areas through agritourism initiatives.

In recent years, sustainable development principles have

been embodied in a landmark legislation.

In the Tourism Act of 2009 (Republic Act 9593), the

(State) declares:
“…tourism as an indispensable element of the national
economy and an industry of national interest and
importance, which must be harnessed as an engine of
socio-economic growth and cultural affirmation to
generate investment, foreign exchange and employment,
and to continue to mold an enhanced sense of national
pride for all Filipinos (Chapter 1, Section 2).

The National Tourism Development Plan of 2011-2016

includes action plan, such as provision of water
treatment, and solid waste management; safeguarding
natural and cultural heritage, and vulnerable groups; and
adopting a participatory policy-making process.

16
V. Three Dimensions of Sustainable Development Three components of Three E’s Three P’s
development:
1. Economy 1. Economy 1. Profit
2. Environment 2. Earth 2. Planet
3. Culture 3. Ethos 3. People

People Influence the way all three develop. People hold the key
to sustainable development.

Will not automatically become sustainable without

Economy human intervention because of so-called market failure,
such as the tendency of the industry to prioritize profit
over the other two P’s.

Will eventually regenerate itself if given time, but it will

Planet require human involvement to effect desired
environmental state within a shorter timeline.

VI. Framework for Understanding the Interaction Connelly’s Venn diagram provides a simple framework to analyze the three dimensions of development
of the Three Dimensions of Development (Connely 2007, in Tanguay, Rajaonson, and Therrien 2011)

Development is said to be sustainable when all three dimensions are fulfilled in a balanced manner.

VIABLE Development is deemed viable when there is a balance

between environment and economic goals;
EQUITABLE It is equitable when there is a balance between
economic and social goals; and
LIVEABLE Liveable when there is a balance between environmental
and social goals.

17
 EQUITABLE LIVEABLE

VIABLE

Connely’s Venn Diagram

VII. Status of Sustainable Tourism Initiatives Since 1987, there has been significant advancement in the conceptualization and practice of sustainable
tourism development.

Of late, another dimension has been floated to add to the concept of the triple bottom line.

The fourth one is that of climate responsiveness, which was floated by the UNWTO at Davos in 2007 (Becken
2008).

There has also been progress in the following areas:

 Creation and refinement of indicators for evaluating and monitoring tourism projects.
 Adoption of sustainable environmental management practices in the tourism industry, such as the
collection of “environmental tax” to help defray the cost of environmental protection and conservation.
 The growth of alternative tourism products, such as agritourism, ecotourism, and slum tourism, which

18

VIII. Limitations of Tourism as a Tool for
Sustainable Development
when compared to traditional mass tourism, produce less harmful impacts on the economy, society
and the environment.
 The integration of sustainability as criteria in the classification of accommodation establishments.
 Adoption of sustainable principles, such as participatory planning and gender equity in government at
various levels.
 Passage of laws that protect the environment, and reduce climate change, such as protected area
legislation, requirement for environmental impact assessment, ban on the capture and killing of
endangered animals, use of non-CFC refrigerants, smoking ban, etc.
 Integration of concerns for marginalized groups, such as the poor, women, and indigenous peoples in
tourism planning and operations.
 Increased interest in research on the subject. The Journal of Sustainable Tourism, first published in
1993 is one of the leading journals in the field.
 Greater public awareness and more responsible behavior by tourists about the importance of nature
and respect for it.
Moscardo (2007) debunked the myth of tourism as a tool for sustainable development.
1. She cited Johnson and Wilson (2000) who argued that realities in local political structures often mean
that not everyone’s voice will be heard concerning a proposed tourism project. This combined lack of
understanding (Reid et al. 2004 in Moscardo 2007) and limited experience of tourism (Pearce et al.
1996 in Moscardo 2007) by residents themselves mean that decisions tend to be dominated by (local
elites) and external agents, such as consultants and NGO staff. This violates the principle of multi-
stakeholder participatory decision-making.
2. Moreover, Moscardo (2006) in Moscardo (2007) pointed out that tourism professionals and academics
often assume that locals lack the knowledge and skills to participate in tourism, and therefore excluded
the locals from (marketing) decisions.
19