The Ethics of Tourism

Gladys Kalema-Zikusok has provided a concise, provocative list of concerns regarding sustainable development. I'd like to hone in one facet of her response to the second question, simply because it is new to me. Kalema-Zikusoka seems extremely attuned to the relationship between ecosystems and economics and I find the manner in which she outlines sustainable tourism fascinating. There is little doubt that tourism is a double-edged sword—a high volume of visitors can damage or diminish the very environs that attract foreign interest and business practice that does not nurture local partnerships can "strip mine" a resident labor force. I did some preliminary research on sustainable tourism and found archives documenting an event hosted by the London School of Economics several years back. In one of these sessions, international development specialist Tim Forsyth offered the following response when questioned about the negative impact mass tourism can have on a region:

Virtually all NGO's have noted the potential negative impact of tourism. The WWF is very keen to regulate the use of safari areas and concerned about the potential damage to wildlife resulting from tourism. Many governments, however, take a very different line. The government of Bhutan in the Himalayas, for example, is unusual because it has imposed a very high tourist tax upon tourists going into Bhutan--it can be something like $100- 200 a day. This is a radical effort to try and reduce tourist numbers but also increase the revenue coming from tourism--a very successful strategy. Nepal on the other hand, just next door, doesn't take that strategy. It has gone for the "high numbers of tourists" approach. This might cause overloading of certain cities and trekking routes. Other countries such as Kenya and Peru are also very keen on increasing the number of tourists into the country.

In 2007, a coalition of 27 organizations assembled to begin to develop the criteria by which to evaluate global sustainable tourism. The Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria is refining a code of best practice that will be reviewed bi-annually until the coalition is satisfied with the standards. As it stands the criteria will aim to promote the following conduct by travel companies:

• Demonstrate effective sustainable management.
• Maximize social and economic benefits to the local community and minimize negative impacts.
• Maximize benefits to cultural heritage and minimize negative impacts.
• Maximize benefits to the environment and minimize negative impacts.

The full document is much more detailed and I recommend examining it as it is an engaging read. Seeing these socioeconomic, cultural and environmental concerns being considered to build these guidelines is a fantastic example of cross disciplinary collaboration that will undoubtedly yield tangible results.