What is Sustainable Tourism? Well, let’s start with mass tourism. Mass tourism is usually characterized as a large-scale and relatively low-cost form of tourism for low and middle-income individuals, often sold as a package deal or an “all-inclusive” type holiday. In short a type of commodified tourism. Mass tourism owes its existence to mainly two specific reasons: the development of transportation technologies and the individual efforts of the English entrepreneur Thomas Cook. In the 1860s, Thomas Cook organized international packaged tours that would take travelers by train or ship to far-off destinations such as the Far East, India, and the Americas. By the year 1897, Thomas Cook had 20,000 tourists traveling with his company annually.
But it wasn’t until the late 1950s that the tourism boom first began. Between 1950 and 1990, the number of international tourists in Europe increased 16-fold, with the highest growth rates being recorded between 1960 and 1980. This growth was possible as a larger number of people from diverse social groups enjoyed rising incomes of post-war prosperity with longer and paid holidays and because of technological innovations, such as computer and transport technology, such as the introduction of the commercial jet airliner. Another key element in the early decades of this period was the rise of package holidays, combining accommodation/transportation and organized by a new type of tour operator which was then sold aggressively in large quantities making it a widely affordable form of mass consumption.
Nevertheless, this sudden increase of mass tourism in the 1960s also triggered a discussion about the negative effects of tourism. The acknowledgment of the imperialistic and post-colonial influence of international tourism players in developing countries within mass tourism resort towns created a renewed focus on local sustainability and community development within the tourism sector. In short, a need for alternative forms of tourism was created.
The concept of alternative tourism is broad and vague. Literature has many different terms to describe it, from alternative tourism, sustainable tourism, soft tourism and much more. Generally speaking, alternative tourism is an umbrella term that describes small-scale tourism developed by local people and/or communities that are also based on nature and cultural preservation. The World Tourism Organization (2000) defines that “a sustainable approach to tourism means that neither the natural environment nor the socio-cultural fabric of the host communities will be impaired by the arrival of tourists. On the contrary, the natural environment and the local communities should benefit from tourism, both economically and culturally. Sustainability implies that tourism resources and attractions should be utilized in such a way that their subsequent use by future generations is not compromised.” This alternative market was born out of an ever-growing corpus of research about the intersections between development and tourism studies. Nowadays, there are numerous tourism products that can be classified under the broad umbrella of the term alternative and/or sustainable tourism, such as ecotourism, ethical tourism, volunteer tourism and/or community-based tourism. So wait, what is sustainable tourism?! Did we confuse you? Let’s look at each of these terms separately:
Ecotourism: The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (TIES, 2015) (education is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests). Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement, participate in and market ecotourism activities should adopt the following ecotourism principles:
- Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
- Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
- Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
- Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
- Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
- Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climates.
- Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
- Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People in your community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
Foto – Jussara Rocha
Community-Based Tourism: Community-based tourism emerged during the 1970s, originating from the participatory and empowerment development models, as a response to the negative impacts of the international mass tourism development model. While, initially, most CBT programs were related to small rural communities and nature conservation through ecotourism, the concept has been extended to a range of different tourism products (e.g. local culture and folklore, gastronomy, traditional handicraft) and managerial models around the world. Community-based tourism shares the same goals as sustainable development; it strives to be ecologically sound, economically viable and socially equitable in the long-term. It also demonstrates parallels with broader community development and participatory planning philosophies which advocate greater community control of processes at the local level
Voluntourism | Volunteer Tourism: a term that has come under fire in the last couple of years, the idea of volunteer tourism is that individuals or tourists spend a short amount of time abroad volunteering with local community projects while also touring around the area. In the article “7 Reasons Why Your Two Week Trip To Haiti Doesn’t Matter: Calling Bull on “Service Trips” and Voluntourism,” Michelle Staton writes; “these types of trips often exploit the people and communities they pretend to help. Worse, these short-term service self-fulfillment trips can end up doing more harm than good. If you do decide that you want to volunteer abroad, then do your research, ask questions and try to spend an extended amount of time within the area. Good Travel provides some excellent information about volunteer tourism in this article, as well as questions you should ask yourself if you do plan on going on a volunteer vacation.
Ethical Tourism: tourism which benefits people and the environment in different destinations. It can offer a better income to families living in the area, by sourcing products and services locally.
Foto – Favela Orgânica
What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable and/or Responsible Tourism: any form of tourism that can be consumed in a more responsible way. “Responsible tourism is tourism which: minimizes negative social, economic and environmental impacts. generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities (as defined by SustainableTourism.net). Responsible is often used in stead of sustainable as it is a more accessible and relatable word.
Nowadays, there are numerous tourism products that can be classified under the broad umbrella of the term alternative tourism. However, they all focus on five key things: small scale development, local ownership of businesses, local involvement in tourism development planning, environmental sustainability and preservation of local culture.
Now that you know what is sustainable tourism, click here to learn how to become a sustainable tourist
