TOURISM: ECONOMICAL GAIN AT ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES

Suresh Bhattarai

Environmentalist

Annually millions of people travel to different places within or between countries. Traveling thus has developed as a way to relax and recharge their mind and soul from their regular assignment. The unprecedented development in transportation and information sector has hoisted the image of tourism as one of the highly practiced disciplines since the last few decades. However, huge economical gain has started exerting pressure in environment. The nature, which provides immense opportunities for tourism entrepreneurs; hardy receives anything back from those ungrateful people in return. If the industry is to sustain for long then apart from implementing tougher governmental regulation, the entrepreneurs and tourist themselves should be made more accountable to keep the environment clean and sustainable.

Economy of Tourism

Annual visit to various explored or unexplored, urban or exotic pristine places generates hundreds of million of dollar, making it one of the most thriving business in the world. World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates a growth of 9.6 % in tourism business to exceed $5.5 trillion in 2004 from the previous year, creating 3.3 million more jobs. Ten-year annualized growth (2005-2014) is forecasted at 4.5 percent per annum, illustrating the outlook for a bullish recovery in 2004. Tourism sector is expected to contribute 3.8 % of total global GDP, moreover, if all the areas that benefits from the sector are to be included then the percentage figure swells to double digit, up to 10 .4 %. Annual summer visit to US beaches accounts for $ 640 million. (Clean Beach Council). If the WTTC prediction is to be believed then the Montenegro, India, China and Vietnam are going to be the major beneficiaries in the year 2004.

Tourism Vs Environment

No doubt mass flocks of tourist bring money and generate local jobs but are also associated with the high level of environmental damages. Quantity rather then quality tourist and unprecedented growth of infrastructure to welcome them has shaken environmental system into serious disarray. All form of the nature air, land and water has been victimized, some of which beyond recovery. Tourism sector are to be partially blamed for these atrocities towards nature.

Air

Even with the development of the cars and high-speed trains, airline still is the more preferred means of transportation for the tourist. WTO study found air transport employee 24 million people and generates $1,140 billion each year. Annually 1.6 billion flights add hundreds of billion of air miles in the aviation history with the estimated 75% being recorded for leisure alone. Thousands of such flights burn millions of gallons of aircraft fuel adding tons of air pollutant in the air. Apart from that, air craft are one of the major sources for the global warming. The rise in temperature has resulted into unnatural melting of the polar ice threatening the livelihood of the island and coastal countries.

Water

Each year, 7 billion kg of trash is dumped at sea - 77 per cent from cruise ships. (Environmental News Service). A typical Caribbean cruise ship generates 70,000 tones of waste per year, or 7,500kg per day. Interestingly, those cruise ship owner escape being prosecute under tougher US law as these cruise ship are registered in countries with ineffective law i.e. Liberia.

Coral is one of the major tourist attractions but the establishment of resort, boat anchorage, over fishing, and discharge of the sewage into ocean has resulted into a greater threat to the reef. Even the high "reef-diving" damages the reef. According to the study by Dixon et. al 1993 reef can’t handle more then 4000-6000 "reef-dives". This is their carrying capacity. In Red sea the reef diving is 10,000-15,000 per year, far more then the carrying capacity (Hawkins and Roberts, 1994).

Mangroves swamps, a happy breeding ground the marine birds, is one of the hardest hit areas due to tourism. Globally 50% of Mangroves forests are destroyed from 1950 onwards with the Thailand, Pakistan, Panama and Mexico leading the chart (World Resources Institute: Coastal Ecosystems Report, 2001).

Land

Mediterranean is the leading tourist destination over many years resulting into urbanization of the coastal areas. A World Wild Fund (WWF) study has found that out of 46,000 km of coastline almost half are now urbanized. A study of United National Environmental Program (UNEP) found three-quarters of sand dunes on the Mediterranean coast between Spain and Sicily have disappeared. The destruction, mainly due to the tourism, has threatened the survival of the monk seal, sea turtle and more than five hundred types of plants.

2.6 million annual visitors, 20,000 hotel rooms and permanent population of 3,00,000 Mexican city of Cancun is no longer a quite city. The 20 km-long island which sheltered just 12 families in 1970s now is the major tourist destination and generates 450 tones of rubbish each day.

Nepalese Context

World Trade organization estimated 6.1% of global tourist picks south Asia for their recreational activities. Recent global economic recession has prompted people flying towards cheap destinations or the countries like Nepal which is so much dependent on the tourism to keep its economy crawling; we hardly have any choice but to welcome anyone. On the positive side the tourism is providing a strong financial incentive for the conservation of natural ecosystem and wildlife i.e. rhino in Chitawan.

Since the 1921, when the first expedition to the Everest was made, Nepal stands second to none for its challenging mountains. Annually thousands of mountaineers come to Nepal to face the nature ultimate challenge, scale the Everest. The mountaineers and their porter use tones of canes food, oxygen bottle; other gadget etc and leaves the remaining behind, making it worlds highest landfill site.

Apart from the mountaineering, trekking is one of the highly preferred among the tourist destined to Nepal. In Nepal, trekkers burn about 6 kilos of wood each per day in a country desperately short of fuel (AAAS 2000).

One can see in Pokhara, dubbed as city of tourist for its pristine surrounding, hundred of lodges and restaurant mushrooming up in the lake side. Such unmanaged establishment has not only has diminished the aesthetic value of the city but also increasing pollution in Phewa Lake.

Conclusion

The voice of few environmentalists has proved futile so far as they are easily brush a side by financial muscle power of tourism entrepreneurs. World Travel and Tourism council (WTTC) reported that tourism stands in top five sources of foreign exchange of 83% of the countries of the world. The tourism income accounts for the half GDP of the Caribbean countries (World Resource Institute).The massive monetary benefit means governments are often reluctant to implement any tougher regulation in the tourism sector. Efforts are underway to encourage the eco-tourism, "a responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people desperately needs tourist dollar to keep its economy moving, we can’t afford to implement any regulation that may discourse foreigners coming here. However heavy exploitation may backfire, we should welcome them but also should make an effort to encourage eco-friendly tourism. The newer rules that penalize mountaineers against dumping their waste in mountains may set a positive tone towards a better tomorrow, where both environment and tourism flourish.

Post your Comment here

TERMS OF USE:The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any persons) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

• Name :         
• Email :          

Comment:


Security Code

• Enter the text above 

I agree

Comments

• Posted on - 2009-03-25    by     roddy
• A change in law so that tourists can take part in voluntary development work, whilst only holding tourism visas may also help. 'Eco-tourism' (tourism through which ecologies and environments are developed) is growing in popularity in the west, but it can not be legally practiced in Nepal.

• Posted on - 2008-10-14    by     Anant K Basnet
• If you have any assessment of carrying capacity of tourism destinations in Nepal, Plese it is better to provide those informations as well.

• Posted on - 2008-08-19    by     rashed Khan
• Please send nepal tourism income chart.