Sustainable tourism: the real challenges
Question 1 (a)
Anthropocentrism and ecocentrism has always been the concepts compared to each other. Anthropocentrism is a paradigm in which the nature is understood as the means to satisfy human needs. From the anthropocentric point of view, people occupy the priviledged place in the world, and the nature is valued and preserved because it can maintain the good quality of human life and help them achieve their goals (Thompson Barton 149).
Ecocentrism is a concept that supports the idea of the nature as the mother of life and everything in the world is connected to each other (Gladwin et al. 886). People don't occupy the priviledged place in the world, on the contrary, the nature is vulnerable and human actions directly jeopardise it's existence. And, according to ecocentrism, the biosphere's well-being is more important than the human needs (Gladwin et al. 887). So, the nature is preserved for its own sake and because of its intrinsic value (Thompson Barton 149).
Question 1(b). How do the perspectives in 1(a) affect sustainable tourism development?
Both these paradigms (anthropocentrism and ecocentrism) affect the way sustainable tourim is built. First, there are several types of sustainable tourism that are: ecotourism, farm-basied tourism, education tourism, urban alternative tourism, guesthousing and backpacking (Weaver 40). The two concepts can affect the sustainable tourism and each of their types more or less.
The anthropocentrism dictates using the nature only for the purposes of people. For example, huge spa resorts and hotels are built everyday on the places where the forests were before. This means that the concept of anthropocentrism undermines the idea of sustainability in tourism. Many people are still in favor of anthropocentrism and, unfortunately, the most businesses and industries are built on it. Therefore, implementing the sustainable tourism development is harder.
The concept of ecocentrism is pronounced in ecotourism as one of the types of sustainable tourism. Ecotourism basically have goals of preserving the nature and consists of such activities as – travelling to natural areas with minimized negative impacts on the biosphere, educating about the environments, taking care of the ecosystems and trying to make conservations of the non-renewable resources (Clarke 238). So, we can say that ecotourism is the expression of ecocentrism, because through this type of tourism people are educated, gain sustainability awareness and learn how to preserve our planet. The only thing that comes to mind is that sometimes ecocentrists can be too extreme. The idea of ecocentrism makes the planet as the dominant and the people on the second place, however the concept of sustainability is about not only our planet, but also the future generations, living on our planet. So, the sustainability paradigm is more balanced and weighted. At this point the two concepts differ.
However, ecocentrism is a good concept under which sustainable tourism (especially ecotourism) can be promoted, spread all over the world and, therefore, developed.
Question 2. Discuss five challenges associated with sustainable tourism development
However, it is not that easy to make the whole industry work for the sustainable goals. Tourism managers face different challenges, which will be analysed and discussed further. To specify, the researchers name them as the challenges of sustainable tourism development.
I will start discussing the first one – priorities of national economies. Of course, it depends on a county’s specificities, but for instance if we consider developing countries, their economies will unlikely contribute to sustainable development, because it takes the changes in the whole economic system, structural and organizational, demanding time and huge efforts, especially if the country depends on mass tourism sector (Turkey, Egypt etc.). Additionally, some countries just don’t have enough money to insert the necessary changes in the economy. Also, there is a need to take into account the investors who are already used to some scheme of operating the touristic business and it is also hard to form sustainability policy without contradicting the investors (Tosun 292). All in all, it means that if the national economy is not ready and not up to the sustainable tourism development, it has different priorities, it can cause many obstacles for the tourism businesses. This challenge prevents sustainability to be implemented in tourism sector, and, therefore, the tourism managers don’t have a profound background to build sustainable tourism successfully. The possible solution for the managers can be calling for the changes and paying attention to the problems publicly.
The second challenge is devoted to the fact that the contemporary tourism development approach can be too narrowed, short-term and aimed to get fast profits. There can just be no space for sustainability in tourism sector. The approach can also contain inconsistent or even out-of-date policies and practices (Tosun 292). There can be not clear boundaries of the touristic industry in the economy (Weaver 21). Additionally, without a profound approach of tourism development the managers can lack good coordination and cooperation with the other necessary sectors of economy (such as, food an construction industries) (Tosun 293). All these reasons that are included in the second challenge imply that there is a need for a new approach, up-to-date. Therefore, this obstacle can be overcome again by discussing and raising awareness about the issues of sustainability in tourism, discussing and searching for the approach, tools and practices, suitable for that particular economy.
According to the third challenge, structure of public administration system can also interrupt the sustainable tourism development. In order for the sustainable tourism to be developed in country, there should be a positive support not only from the government, but also from the local authorities (Tosun 293). However, if the state doesn’t give enough freedom and financial resources to the local government, the interest of the local people, firms and communities won’t be secured (Tosun 294). And if there is such a weak local support for the businesses, people are not ready for the new, sustainable innovations and touristic services, the managers will always struggle in implementing sustainability. This means, basically, that political and social unwillingness can cause many troubles to the tourism (Weaver 22). In this case, it is important to educate the communities and incline them towards sustainable development and from the perspective of government – encourage the locals towards activities and give them the power.
The fourth challenge is called over-commercialization. It happens everywhere is means that on order to attract tourists, managers use cultural and historical heritage of the county. This have a negative impact on the culture of the region. For example, different traditional dances, ceremonies become entertainment activities and are presented to the public everywhere just to gain more money. They lose their importance and uniqueness, become a part of mass market (Tosun 297). The same happens to the artifacts or handicrafts. They are originally hand-made, but in order to earn money. They also become mass-produced (Tosun 297). So, in tourism cultural values are often over-commercialized and exploited wrongly. This damages the unique image of the touristic destination and local communities.
As far as many types of sustainable tourism imply the support of the local producers, cultural and historical heritage, this is one of the most important aspect of sustainable tourism development. In order to overcome this challenge, the managers will have to try to go back to the beginning and make the cultural meanings positioned as unique, rare and valuable. Also, the government can help to prevent this problem by creating the laws, securing local producers and limiting mass production.
The fifth challenge refers to the structure of international tourism system (Tosun 298). The tourism industry is also influenced by external systems (Weaver 22). Tourism sector is no doubt created by the demand (and supply) not only from the inside, but also from the outside of the destination. The international tourism dictates the distribution of the popularity of touristic destinations. Also, international tour operators play an important role, because they decide what regions to promote and offer to the customers, based on how much money they can earn (Tosun 298). This can cause many problems to the sustainable tourism managers in the region, because it is hard change the international practices and the distribution of supply and demand. However, tourism managers can try to influence the international tour operators by promoting the sustainable tourism to them first of all and convincing them that the sustainable tourism has its profitable future.
Works cited:
Clarke, Jackie. "A Synthesis of Activity towards the Implementation of Sustainable Tourism: Ecotourism in a Different Context." IJSD International Journal of Sustainable Development 5.3 (2002): 232. Web.
Gladwin, Thomas N., James J. Kennelly, and Tara-Shelomith Krause. "Shifting Paradigms for Sustainable Development: Implications for Management Theory and Research." The Academy of Management Review 20.4 (1995): 874. Web.
Thompson, Suzanne C. Gagnon, and Michelle A. Barton. "Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Attitudes toward the Environment." Journal of Environmental Psychology 14.2 (1994): 149-57. Web.
Tosun, Cevat. "Challenges of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Developing World: The Case of Turkey." Tourism Management 22.3 (2001): 289-303. Web.
Weaver, David B. Sustainable Tourism: Theory and Practice. Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006. Print.
