Tourism

Loss of biological diversity There are many examples where large-scale tourism has had detrimental effects on biodiversity, including coral reefs, coastal wetlands, rainforests, arid and semi-arid ecosystems and mountainous areas (UNWTO 2010d). Coral ecosystems have suffered strong adverse impacts from the use of coral for construction materials for hotels, over-fishing off reefs to feed tourists, sewage dumping and sedimentation from improperly managed runoff from buildings, parking lots, and golf courses. Coastal wetlands, particularly mangroves, have routinely been damaged or destroyed to build beach resorts. And in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, golf courses and other water-intensive activities have lowered water tables affecting local fauna and flora. Biodiversity will be greatly affected by the way in which tourism grows and develops, especially in developing countries (UNEP 2010). Moreover,

failure to incorporate biodiversity

concerns in destination planning and investment will have detrimental effects on the natural environment, increase conflict with local communities, and lead to reduced value-creation potential for both the destination and investors (notably as interest in nature- based tourism is growing rapidly around the world and represents a strategic argument for maintaining biodiverse environments, which are often tourist destinations in developing countries).

Management of cultural heritage Interest in unique cultures by tourists can result in adverse impacts and severe disruption for communities. There are examples of communities overrun by large numbers of visitors, commercialisation of traditions and threats to cultural survival from unplanned and unmanaged tourism. Tourism destinations are occasionally built by outsiders (usually with government approval) in areas that indigenous or traditional communities consider to be theirs, and where the development was neither desired nor locally validated. These situations lead to conflicts that make cooperation and mutual benefits nearly impossible to achieve, and instil animosities that negatively affect the local communities and the tourism destination. Frequently, the cultural issues overlap and are aggravated by environmental issues such as access to water, coastal resources and wildlife. Over the last two decades, with the growth in ecotourism and alternative travel, tourism impacts on vulnerable cultures has begun to be taken seriously by the tourism industry, governments, non-governmental organisations and the cultural groups involved (Wild 2010).

2.2 Opportunities

The following trends and developments provide a particularly promising space for greening tourism: (1) sizing and growth of the sector; (2) changing consumer

patterns; and (3) maximising potential for addressing local development and poverty reduction.

Sizing and growth of the tourism sector Tourism is one of the most promising drivers of growth for the world economy. The sheer size and reach of the sector makes it critically important from a global resource perspective. Even small changes toward greening can have important impacts. Furthermore, the sector’s connection to numerous sectors at destination and international levels means that changes in practices can stimulate changes in many different public and private actors.

The tourism economy represents 5 per cent of global GDP, while it contributes to about 8 per cent of total employment. International tourism ranks fourth (after fuels, chemicals and automotive products) in global exports, with an industry value of US$ 1 trillion a year, accounting for 30 per cent of the world’s exports of commercial services or 6 per cent of total exports. Tourist arrivals have shown continuous yearly growth over the last six decades, with an average 4 per cent annual increase during 2009 and 2010. This trend has held in spite of occasional short drops from international crises, such as pandemics, recessions and terrorism. There are around four billion estimated domestic arrivals every year (UNWTO and UNEP 2008) and international tourism arrivals reached 922 million in 2008, dropped to 880 million in 2009, and then recovered in 2010 with 940 million (UNWTO 2011) (Figure 1). The tourist industry has been sensitive but resilient to economic, political and social global phenomena. The number of tourist trips is expected to continue to grow for the next decade, with the number of international tourist arrivals expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020 (UNWTO 2001).

However, the economic significance of tourism is highly variable across countries. While it represents only 1.9

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Figure 1: World international tourist arrivals Source: UNWTO (2008, 2010b and 2011)

Million

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