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The Tourism Society in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) hosted a panel discussion on the controversial topic of the environmental impact of tourism. The panel consisted of 5 expert speakers; Professor Andrew Holden, University of Bedfordshire, Patricia Barnett, Tourism Concern, Roger Heape, the Travel Foundation, Gregg Anderson, Tourism New Zealand and H.E. Pilar Saborio, Ambassador for Costa Rica.
The most shocking revelation of the evening came from Roger Heape, Chairman of the Travel Foundation, who claimed that tourism to the Antarctic is at a critical ‘tipping point’. Currently 45,000 people travel to the region annually which equates to more than 12 tonnes of CO2, two tonnes more than the annual average CO2 emissions per head in the UK. Roger stated that "the risk is that Antarctic tourism is a one-way ticket to environmental degradation".
The growth in tourism to the region has doubled in the last decade, by 2030 over 100,000 visitors are likely to land on the continent. Roger warned that with this growth will come the need for infrastructure to cope with the influx of visitors and ‘the whole model of Antarctic tourism will be turned on its head, the ‘slippery slope’ of direct air transport could happen.’
Professor Andrew Holden, Professor of Environment and Tourism at the University of Bedfordshire, told the audience that "Tourism has the potential for both positive and negative environmental impacts, the challenge is to develop and implement relevant models of sustainable tourism development that will ensure environmental conservation, livelihood opportunities and social well being. The really big challenge is how to find adaptive measures to mitigate air travel’s contribution to climate change that doesn’t negate tourism’s positive economic impacts".
Patricia Barnett, Director of Tourism Concern raised the issue of ‘green washing’ and explained that not all developments that claim to the ‘green’ actually benefit the local environment or community. Patricia quoted the example of an eco-hotel in Zanzibar which diverted water from the local village, built a restaurant on the beach where the local fishermen moored their boats and placed guards on the beach. Tourism Concern checked the facts and wrote to British operators featuring the resort and within a month a water tank had been installed in the village and the guards had been removed from the beach.
The case studies from Costa Rica and New Zealand illustrated that sustainable and ‘eco’ tourism has always been part of their tourism promotions. The 100% pure New Zealand campaign has been around for over a decade and Costa Rica represents 6% of the world’s biodiversity and therefore is the main reason that tourists visit. Ensuring the environment is not adversely affected by these visitors is paramount to the sustainable survival of both destinations.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
