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EVSC 237: ECOTOURISM . Difficulty of defining tourism .
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Difficulty of defining tourism “There is no accepted definition of what constitutes the industry; any definition runs the risk of either overestimating or underestimating economic activity. At its simplest, the industry is one that gets people from their home to somewhere else (and back), which provides lodging and food for them while they are away. But that does not get you far. For example, if all the sales of restaurants were counted as travel and tourism, the figure would be artificially inflated by sales to locals. But to exclude all restaurant sales would be just as misleading.” - The Economist. 1991 Chapter 1
A distinct tourism discipline… • (Leiper, 1981): • A dynamic human element • A generating region • A transit region • A destination region • The tourist industry • Matheison and Wall (1982) • A dynamic element (travel to a selected destination) • A static element (which involves a stay at the destination) • A consequential element (effects on the economic, social, and physical subsystems) Chapter 1
Defining tourism… • Fennell (2003) • “the interrelated system that includes tourists and the associated services that are provided and used (facilities, attractions, transportation, and accommodation) to aid in their movement • World Tourism Organization • A tourist… “a person traveling for pleasure for a period of at least one night, but not more than one year for international tourists and six months for persons traveling in their own countries.” Chapter 1
Tourism Attractions • What are these attractions? • Cultural • Natural • Events • Recreation • Entertainment Chapter 1
How to study touristic attractions? • MacCannell (1989): • empirical relationships between a tourist, a site and a marker • Lew (1987): • Ideographic: concrete uniqueness of a site • Organizational: size of the area • Cognitive: the feeling of being a tourist • Leiper (1990) • A person with touristic needs • A nucleus • At least one market Chapter 1
Mass and Alternative Tourism … • “Tourism has been both lauded and denounced for its ability to develop and therefore transform regions into completely different settings.” Explain … • Other critiques of mass tourism: • Very little money spent within the destination actually stays and generates more income • Not always operated with the interests of local people and resource base in mind Chapter 1
Consequently… • Alternative tourism • Forms of tourisms that advocate an approach opposite to mass conventional tourism • To ensure that tourism policies no longer concentrate on economic and technical necessities alone • To ensure that tourism policies emphasize the demand for an unspoiled environment and consideration of the needs of local people Chapter 1
Advantages of Alternative Tourism • Channels revenue directly to families (housing) • Generates revenue for local community • Avoids leakage of revenue outside host country • Suits cost-conscience travelers or those preferring close contact with locals • Promotes international-interregional-intercultural understanding Chapter 1
Advantages of Alternative Tourism • Accommodation • Attractions • Market • Economic Impact • Regulation Chapter 1
Sustainable Development & Tourism • What is development… ? • What is sustainable development … ? Chapter 1
Success of sustainable tourism… • McCool (1995): humans must consider the following: • How tourists value and use natural environments • How communities are enhanced through tourism • Identification of tourism’s social and ecological impacts • Management of tourism’s impacts Chapter 1
Sustainable Tourism… Resources • Tourism Concern http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/ • Tourism Industry Association of Canada http://www.tiac-aitc.ca/ • Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe http://www.europarc.org/ • Others: World Tourism Organisation: http://www.world-tourism.org/ • Consultancy: http://www.sustainabletourism.net/ Chapter 1
Sustainability … • More than simply one aspect of the industry • Accommodation • Attractions and facilities • Transportation • Tourism: product/behavior • See Case Study 1.1 for example Chapter 1
Mass Tourism, AT, and sustainability • Mass tourism: • predominantly unsustainable • new developments • Alternative tourism: • Theoretically, sustainable in nature • Socio-cultural tourism • Ecotourism Chapter 1
Difficulty of defining tourism “There is no accepted definition of what constitutes the industry; any definition runs the risk of either overestimating or underestimating economic activity. At its simplest, the industry is one that gets people from their home to somewhere else (and back), which provides lodging and food for them while they are away. But that does not get you far. For example, if all the sales of restaurants were counted as travel and tourism, the figure would be artificially inflated by sales to locals. But to exclude all restaurant sales would be just as misleading.” - The Economist. 1991 Chapter 1
A distinct tourism discipline… • (Leiper, 1981): • A dynamic human element • A generating region • A transit region • A destination region • The tourist industry • Matheison and Wall (1982) • A dynamic element (travel to a selected destination) • A static element (which involves a stay at the destination) • A consequential element (effects on the economic, social, and physical subsystems) Chapter 1
Defining tourism… • Fennell (2003) • “the interrelated system that includes tourists and the associated services that are provided and used (facilities, attractions, transportation, and accommodation) to aid in their movement • World Tourism Organization • A tourist… “a person traveling for pleasure for a period of at least one night, but not more than one year for international tourists and six months for persons traveling in their own countries.” Chapter 1
Tourism Attractions • What are these attractions? • Cultural • Natural • Events • Recreation • Entertainment Chapter 1
How to study touristic attractions? • MacCannell (1989): • empirical relationships between a tourist, a site and a marker • Lew (1987): • Ideographic: concrete uniqueness of a site • Organizational: size of the area • Cognitive: the feeling of being a tourist • Leiper (1990) • A person with touristic needs • A nucleus • At least one market Chapter 1
Mass and Alternative Tourism … • “Tourism has been both lauded and denounced for its ability to develop and therefore transform regions into completely different settings.” Explain … • Other critiques of mass tourism: • Very little money spent within the destination actually stays and generates more income • Not always operated with the interests of local people and resource base in mind Chapter 1
Consequently… • Alternative tourism • Forms of tourisms that advocate an approach opposite to mass conventional tourism • To ensure that tourism policies no longer concentrate on economic and technical necessities alone • To ensure that tourism policies emphasize the demand for an unspoiled environment and consideration of the needs of local people Chapter 1
Advantages of Alternative Tourism • Channels revenue directly to families (housing) • Generates revenue for local community • Avoids leakage of revenue outside host country • Suits cost-conscience travelers or those preferring close contact with locals • Promotes international-interregional-intercultural understanding Chapter 1
Advantages of Alternative Tourism • Accommodation • Attractions • Market • Economic Impact • Regulation Chapter 1
Sustainable Development & Tourism • What is development… ? • What is sustainable development … ? Chapter 1
Success of sustainable tourism… • McCool (1995): humans must consider the following: • How tourists value and use natural environments • How communities are enhanced through tourism • Identification of tourism’s social and ecological impacts • Management of tourism’s impacts Chapter 1
Sustainable Tourism… Resources • Tourism Concern http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/ • Tourism Industry Association of Canada http://www.tiac-aitc.ca/ • Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe http://www.europarc.org/ • Others: World Tourism Organisation: http://www.world-tourism.org/ • Consultancy: http://www.sustainabletourism.net/ Chapter 1
Sustainability … • More than simply one aspect of the industry • Accommodation • Attractions and facilities • Transportation • Tourism: product/behavior • See Case Study 1.1 for example Chapter 1
Mass Tourism, AT, and sustainability • Mass tourism: • predominantly unsustainable • new developments • Alternative tourism: • Theoretically, sustainable in nature • Socio-cultural tourism • Ecotourism Chapter 1
Ecotourism: Criteria and Context Weaver, 2001 March 1, 2006
Ecotourism • Who participates … ? • Where does it occur … ? • What impacts does it have … ? • How can it be managed … ? Weaver 2001
Emergence of Ecotourism • First emerged as a term in 1973 (ecotour) • Recognized from the start that the relationship between tourism and the natural environment tended to be one of conflict, but that the potential existed for a relationship based on mutual benefit Weaver 2001
Ecotourism is: “…tourism that consists in traveling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestation found in these areas” (Ceballos-Lascurain) • What is the historical context within which ecotourism emerged? Weaver 2001
Mass tourism era (end of WWII) pro-tourism advocacy platform (1950s – 1960s) Cautionary platform (1970s) Adaptancy platform (1980s) / alternative tourism Knowledge-based platform (1990s) Weaver 2001
Additional definitions… • Ecologically sustainable (non-damaging & contributing to protection and management) • Accepts nature – not transforming nature; appreciation not thrill-seeking/physical achievement • Improves the welfare of local people • Educational Weaver 2001
Ecotourism as tourism • Certain forms of travel • Spatial component • Time component • Domestic excursionists • Domestic stayovers • International stayovers • International excursionists Weaver 2001
Charismatic megafauna • Ecotourist is interested in a certain rare species of flora or fauna than in the broader ecosystem in which it occurs • Examples? • Consequences? Implications? Weaver 2001
Cultural component • Why is this component included within the context of ecotourism? Weaver 2001
Education • Structured, assessed and non-assessed, learning opportunities • Informal structure … • Education/learning/appreciation differences become blurred -> is it still ecotourism? • Interest/involvement spectrum Weaver 2001
Sustainability • Brundtland report (1987): ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ • Agreement? Yes. Difficulty? Bigger yes. Weaver 2001
Start here Weaver 2001
Why the difficulty in developing sustainable tourism? • Biocentric or anthropocentric? • Constant capital rule (one generation should leave a stock of capital assets to the next generation that is no less than the current stock) • Steady state sustainability (maintaining) and enhancement sustainability (environment experiences a net benefit) • Passive vs active ecotourism Weaver 2001
Why the difficulty in developing sustainable tourism? (continued) • Monitoring and implementation issues • Indicators • Benchmark and threshold values • Short term vs. long term • Influence of other activities (copper picture) • Time lag between cause and effect • Past trends not indicative of future developments Weaver 2001
Textbook (Weaver 2001) “Ecotourism is a form of tourism that fosters learning experiences and appreciation of the natural environment, or some component thereof, within its associated cultural context. It has the appearance (in concert with best practice) of being environmentally and socio-culturally sustainable, preferably in a way that enhances the natural and cultural resource base of the destination and promotes the viability of the operation.” • What are the aspects in this definition? Weaver 2001
Ecotourism in the context of other tourism types • Nature-based tourism • Ecotourism is a subset of nature-based tourism • Non-ecotourism, nature-based tourism: • 3S tourism (sea, sand, sun tourism) • Adventure tourism • Captive tourism • Extractive tourism • Some types of health tourism • None of the non eco-tourism nature based tourism sectors are constrained by the requirement to have a learning component or to have the appearance of sustainability Weaver 2001
Ecotourism Cultural Tourism Ecotourism in the context of other tourism types (continued) Weaver 2001