Sustainable

Tourism
PROFESSOR: Li-Shiue Gau
ASIA UNIVERSITY
TAIWAN

PULLAGURA NARASIMHA RAJU

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SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Sustainable Tourism refers to sustainable practices
in and by the tourism industry. It is an aspiration to
acknowledge all impacts of tourism, both positive
and negative. It aims to minimize the negative
impacts and maximize the positive ones.
What is sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism is the form of tourism that meets the needs of
tourists, the tourism industry, and host communities today without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.
According to The World Tourism Organization (WTO),
sustainable tourism should:

Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism
development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage
and biodiversity.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living
cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and
tolerance.
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.
Definition of sustainable Tourism

“Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions
while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as 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.”
While tourism is welcomed almost universally for the benefits and opportunities it creates,
there is a growing recognition of the need to see tourism in its environmental context, to
acknowledge that tourism and the environment are interdependent, and to work to reinforce
the positive relationship between tourism, the environment and poverty reduction.
Sustainable tourism means tourism which is economically viable but does not destroy
the resources on which the future of tourism will depend, notably the physical
environment and the social fabric of the host community.
 According to Richards, “Sustainable tourism is tourism which develops as quickly
as possible, taking account of current accommodation capacity, the local
population, and the environment. The development of tourism and new investment
in the tourism sector should not detract from tourism itself. New tourism facilities
should be integrated with the environment.”
 Butler defines environmentally sustainable tourism as, “tourism which is
developed and maintained in an area (community, environment) in such a manner
and at such a scale that it remains viable over an infinite period and does not
degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a
degree that it prohibits the successful development and well being of other
activities and processes.”
Sustainable Tourism Development
The World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission) brought
the term ‘sustainable tourism development’ into common use in its seminal report (1987) called ‘Our
Common Future.’

“Sustainable Development is the development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The definition has within it two concepts:

•The concept of ‘needs’, especially the needs of the poor.

•Ability to meet the present and future needs.
Basically, when we talk about sustainable development, the easiest definition is what we, the present
generation, have inherited a certain amount of ecology and environment surrounding in terms of land,
water, and air; when we leave it to the next generation, we should leave it at least in the same
condition, of not in a better condition than what we inherited. This is the sum and substance if
sustainable development, putting it in elementary terms.”
Need for Sustainable Tourism Development
Until the beginning of last decade tourism was seen as a profitable sector of business with no obvious
constraints to growth, few barriers to entry to the market, an almost, universal welcome from
governments and, for the most part, entailing few effective regulatory requirements to take the
environment into account.

Commercial organizations, large and small, act on the Dawkin’s principle of self-interest. They do not
make significant changes to the way they do business, which could be because of exhortations or out of
good intentions, except in response to the pressure of external factors that cannot be avoided or to seize a
competitive advantage.

International tourism has brought in a phase in which the opportunities of making quick profits from
exploiting what was regarded as freely available natural resources dazzled the eyes of government and
businessmen, as well as many local residents.
 Continuation…..
As there are many economic, social, ecological and political limits to tourism development, sustainable
strategies are necessary to eradicate these problems.

Three Dimensions of Sustainable Tourism

Three dimensions of sustainable tourism are:

•Environmental

•Economic

•Social
Principles of Sustainable Tourism
Tourism Concern, 1991 in association with the Worldwide Fund for Nature(WWF) gives 10 principles for sustainable
tourism. These are following as:
1) Using resources sustainably. The conservation and sustainable use of resources- natural, social and cultural – is crucial
and makes long-term business sense.
2) Reducing over-consumption and waste. Reduction of over-consumption and waste avoids the costs of restoring long-
term environmental damage and contributes to the quality of tourism.
3) Maintaining biodiversity. Maintaining and promoting natural, social and cultural diversity is essential for long-term
sustainable tourism and creates a resilient base for the industry.
4) Integrating tourism into planning. Tourism development which is integrated into a national and local strategic planning
framework and which undertake environmental impact assessments increases the long-term viability of tourism.
5) Supporting local economies. Tourism that supports a wide range of local economic activities and which takes
environmental costs and values into account, both protects these economies and avoids environmental damage.
6) Involving local communities. The full involvement of local communities in the tourism sector not only benefits them and
the environment in general but also improves the quality of the tourism experience.
7) Consulting stakeholders and the public. Consulting between the tourism industry and local communities, organizations
and institutions are essential if they are to work alongside each other and resolve potential conflicts of interest.
8) Training staff. Staff training which integrates sustainable tourism into work practices, along with recruitment of
personnel at all levels, improves the quality of the tourism product.
9) Marketing tourism responsibly. Marketing that provides tourists with the full and responsible information increases
respect for the natural, social and cultural environments of destination areas and enhances customer satisfaction.
10) Undertaking research. Ongoing research and monitoring by the industry using effective data collection and analysis are
essential to help solve problems and to bring benefits to destinations, the industry, and consumers.
References
Archer, B. H. (1982). The Value of Multipliers and Their Policy Implications. Tourism Management, 3(4), 236-241.

Bramwell, B. (1993). Tourism and the environment: challenges and choices for the 1990s. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1(1), 61-63.

Bramwell, B. & Lane, B. (2010). Sustainable tourism: an evolving global approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1(1), 1-5.

Brunt, P. & Courtney, P. (1999). Host perceptions of sociocultural impacts. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(3), 493-515.

Budowski, G. (1976). Tourism and Environmental Conservation: Conflict, Coexistence, or Symbiosis . Environmental Conservation , 3 (1), 27-31.

Butler, R. W. (1980). The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer, 24(1), 1-
12.

Butler, R.W. (1999). Sustainable tourism: A state-of-the-art review. Tourism Geographics: An International Journal of Space, Place and
Environment. 1(1) p. 7-25.
 Conclusion
During the last century, beaches have completely reversed their role: they have become the driving force behind the
economic welfare instead of just being an inhospitable place. However, the demographic pressure and the overuse of the
territory related to those factors, in the hinterland (dams in the rivers, farming and tourism) as well as in the proper
beach (sewage discharge, dry goods extraction and crops) have caused a general decrease in the contribution of
sediments to the beaches with a continental or a marine origin. It is hard to find a unique solution for all those
problems. However, it should be absolutely essential to follow these points:

a.First, an Integrated Coastal Zone Management of the beaches (see glossary). Beaches are meant to be areas that are
comprised from the submarine area to the dunes. This implies the reorganization of the whole territory and even of its
periphery, in a way that the natural areas can benefit from that process and provide a concentration of tourism in a
specific area. It is also necessary for sustainable development, that the incorporation of the costs of environmental
services and damages (and their repairs) fall directly into the prices of the goods, services or activities which cause
them. Thereby contributing to the implementation of the Polluter Pays Principle in the coast. Beaches have an economic
and an environmental value and they help to protect the coast against coastal erosion, so a greater investment is needed.
Second, a better dissemination of the existing information should be achieved. For that purpose,a better coordination
of the existing governmental bodies that deal with coastal management is necessary. Also, the information should be
accessible to everyone. Concerning the latter aspect, scientific journalism has to be protected and favoured, as well as
seminars where all the agents related with the coast can exchange their opinions, results or methodologies.
Third, an improvement of the environmental education is essential for a sustainable development of the coast.
THANK YOU