Solution
Ram Mohan answered on
May 13 2020
Given environmental concerns, tourism in the developing world is unsustainable
Table of Contents
Contents
Table of Contents 2
Executive Summary 2
Introduction 3
How Tourism Harms the Environment in Developing Countries 4
Conclusion 5
Recommendations 6
References 9
Executive Summary
With its potential for humungous revenues, tourism is especially lucrative for cash starved countries in the developing world. Having said that, it is also likely to harm the environment due to the increased ca
on footprint and emissions as a result of incessant air travel and rampant abuse of natural habitats including ecosystems. This report tackles the problem of unsustainable tourism on the developing world and makes the case for all stakeholders to come together and ensure that tourism benefits more than harms the developing world.
In particular, this report cites numerous examples of countries in the developing world that have seen the deleterious effects of rampant tourism including countries in South and South East Asia as well as in Africa. These examples show how tourism has led to the destruction of sensitive ecological systems as well as disruptions to the communities that abut and live alongside the tourist hotspots.
Finally, the sets of recommendations that wrap up the report are based on actual initiatives and policies that are being pursued worldwide.
Introduction
Tourism is a real money spinner for the host countries that promote the same in their historical, natural, and ecological destinations. It contributes much needed revenues, especially in Hard Cu
ency or Forex such as the United States Dollars for the otherwise cash starved countries in the developing world. Having said that, it is also the case that tourism harms the environment in such countries particularly when they do not have the resources or the capabilities to sustain the same (Briedenhann & Wickens, 2004).
On the other hand, the revenues from tourism can be ploughed back into the conservation efforts to protect the environment and the habitats of endangered species. This evens out the harm done by tourism to the environment in such countries and hence, it can be argued that tourism in developing countries should be encouraged. Having said that, the reality in much of the developing world is that such revenue transfers do not happen therefore contributing to further degradation of the environment (ZIFKOS, 2015).
Taking both these arguments into consideration, the key theme, or the view in this paper is that as long as tourism is sustainable in terms of the impacts to the environment, such activities as part of the tourist processes should be encouraged. To buttress this point, this paper takes examples of both aspects of tourism in terms of the harms and the gains that it causes in the developing world, as well as examples of countries that have successfully managed to promote sustainable tourism (Eslaminosratabadi, 2014).
How Tourism Harms the Environment in Developing Countries
To start with, let us look at how Tourism in the developing world harms the countries. The case of African countries comes across as the prime example of how the harms outweigh the gains as far as tourist destinations in the sub-Saharan countries are concerned. For instance, in countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe, tourists and especially those from the West have a free run as far as the permission to continue their activities are concerned. This has led to i
eparable damage to the environment and the wildlife as can be seen from the dwindling population of African Lions who have been hunted down with official sanction (Bece
a, et al., 2013).
Indeed, as the notorious case of Cecil the Lion is concerned, Western Wildlife Trophy hunters have killed many lions including Cecil whose death made headlines for the
utal manner in which he was hunted down. In addition, the African wilderness has been hit by adverse consequences of Climate Change that arise from increased Ca
on Emissions, some of which are caused by incessant Air Travel that burns up fossil fuels and hence, directly impacts the Wetlands and the Savannahs due to Climate variations resulting from such prolific pursuits (Dodds, et al., 2010).
Apart from that, even countries in South East Asia such as Thailand and Indonesia have been harmed by unsustainable tourism...