Tourism is defined by the World Tourism Organization as a “social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes.”¹ Since 1950, the number of international tourist arrivals has increased from 25 million arrivals globally to 547 million in 1995, to 1.4 billion arrivals in 2019.² Despite the impact that the tourism industry took during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of international tourist arrivals is expected to rebound and reach nearly 1.8 billion by the year 2030.² Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, travel and tourism (directly and indirectly) accounted for 1 in 4 of all new jobs created, 10.6% of all jobs, and 10.4% of the global GDP.³ Although the tourism industry can provide an immense amount of economic opportunity for countries around the world, tourism has been shown to have negative impacts on the environment and the socio-cultural values of host communities.

The tourism sector is responsible for approximately 8% of global carbon emissions.⁴ Transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 49% of tourism’s carbon footprint.⁴ Between 2005 and 2016, tourism emissions in relation to transportation increased by more than 60%, and this number is expected to increase as the number of people who can afford to travel continues to rise.⁴ Although planes and cars generate more carbon per passenger per mile than other modes of transportation such as trains or buses, most tourist destinations require multiple forms of transportation to reach the destination, especially when that destination is located in a remote area, resulting in a higher carbon footprint.⁴

Image 1. The carbon footprint of global tourism.

Another contributing factor in tourism’s carbon footprint is lodging. In order to accommodate guests, many hotels and resorts rely on energy intensive systems that generate carbon emissions.⁴ This could include the use of heating and air conditioning to keep guests rooms at a suitable temperature, water heaters to warm showers and pools, and electricity to power lights and other appliances.⁴ The emissions generated by lodging tend to be higher in resorts and hotels that offer modern services while homestays, such as Airbnbs, and smaller lodging options generally have lower emissions.⁴ Though most hotels and resorts could decrease their carbon footprint by converting to clean energy sources, the majority still depend on the use of harmful fossil fuels for energy.⁴

The construction of tourism facilities is also a massive contributor to the carbon footprint of the tourism industry, as every step of the construction process generates carbon emissions. The manufacturing of the materials, the transportation of the materials, and the use of the materials to develop infrastructure, such roads, airports, and hotels, all produce emissions.⁴ Another issue associated with this is the clearing of natural areas in order to provide room for tourism development. Ecosystems, like forests, serve as carbon sinks by absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere.⁴ When these ecosystems are cleared for development, the carbon that was stored is released back into the atmosphere, once again contributing to global emissions.⁴ In the tropics, mangrove forests grow along coastlines and sequester up to 4 times more carbon than the world’s tropical rainforests.⁴ However, in order to develop tourist infrastructure such as beach side resorts, vast areas of mangrove forests have been cleared, destroying one of the world’s most critically important ecosystems, and a critically important carbon sink.⁴

Image 2. Mangrove ecosystem.

In addition to the negative impact tourism has on the environment, tourism has also been shown to have a negative socio-cultural impact on host communities through globalization. Globalization describes the “growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information.”⁵ By inviting people of all different backgrounds, cultures, and nationalities to travel, tourism promotes globalization and directly impacts the culture of host communities by eroding socio-cultural identity, including indigenous values, traditions, and lifestyles. In order to meet the needs and desires of tourists and provide them with a sense of comfort and familiarity, host communities will often accommodate by using services and products that reflect Western cultural ideals rather than native customs.⁶ Despite this need for familiarity, however, many tourists desire an “authentic” experience when traveling to a forgeign destination, but providing tourists with this “authentic” experience often means exploiting a part of their own culture and traditions to make tourists feel satisfied, thereby sacrificing a part of their identity for consumerism.⁶

Potential Stakeholders

Sustainable development in the tourism sector is highly dependent upon communication between stakeholders in the tourism industry. Some of the potential stakeholders in this sector include tourism developers (both international and domestic), tourists, travel agencies, local residents, local businesses, government officials, and environmental organizations and activists. 

Objective

Over the next three months, my objective will be to explore sustainable solutions for the issues associated with the tourism industry. We define sustainability using the following definition: “A practice, process, or entity is sustainable if its initiatives, actions or impacts work to meet the social, environmental, and economic needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by ensuring: resource use that maximizes renewal, encourages re-use, and minimizes waste while protecting and restoring the health of natural systems including the protection of biodiversity, reducing pollution, and mitigating global climate change; equitable economic opportunity that empowers all people to meet their own needs; and that essential social goals or foundations for humanity to prosper including basic human rights are met. Best practices for meeting these objectives include using an inclusive, transparent, and equitable process that employs systems thinking and scientific principles, encourages individual and collective action, and assessment using measurable indicators and establishes accountability.” Using these criteria as my framework, I will uncover what solutions are currently available to alleviate the impacts of the tourism industry and explore new solutions in order to promote sustainable tourism development.

References

1. UNWTO. (n.d.). Glossary of tourism terms. https://www.unwto.org/glossary-tourism-terms
2. Sustaining Tourism. (2022). Traveling responsibly. https://sustainabletourism.net/
3. World Travel & Tourism Council. (n.d.). Economic impact reports. https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact
4. Sustainable Travel International. (2020). Carbon footprint of tourism. https://sustainabletravel.org/issues/carbon-footprint-tourism/
5. Peterson Institute for International Economics. (2021). What is globalization? https://www.piie.com/microsites/globalization/what-is-globalization
6. Tourism Teacher. (2021). Social impacts of tourism. https://tourismteacher.com/social-impacts-of-tourism/