Tourism is known for pumping income to the local economy while bringing many negative social and environmental impacts. In this regard, tourism distorts the shape of asset pentagon which can make the livelihood unsustainable. Therefore, providing a comprehensive report of the tourism based livelihood financial asset may be sustainable, but social asset may be unsustainable. In this context, can tourism be a source of sustainable livelihood? And if yes, kindly throw some light upon potential of tourism substituting a primary source of income as agriculture or fishing.
I believe that, as in many cases, the devil is in the details. Sustainable tourism can be possible but the quantity of tourists is important. There should be an optimal number that bring income to local community without over exploiting the resources.
"Carrying capacity" is the term that is almost invariably overlooked once tourism is introduced into any and all regions. The financial and political profits outweigh any and all other considerations. Such that, YES tourism can easily become an alternative BUT depending on the environmental susceptibility to damage, should be carefully planned and implemented. But as said earlier, easier said than done. Once you open the door a crack you can not put the devil (genie) back into the bottle.
The papers https://www.islandstudies.ca/sites/vre2.upei.ca.islandstudies.ca/files/u2/ISJ-2-1-2007-Kelman-pp101-114.pdf and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377027307004131 provide some thoughts from a livelihoods perspective for islands and volcanoes respectively. Hope this helps a bit.
Grateful for the apt insights from some of the noblest minds in the sustainable development discipline. So, as it goes the key remains in 'numbers/quantities' as referred by Calvillo Sir. "Once you open the door a crack you can not put the devil (genie) back into the bottle."- Couldn't have said it better, Yosef Sir. Thank you IIlan Sir for sharing such beautiful piece of works. It was thoroughly insightful.
I think the answer is very much "It depends".
I see tourism like mining or some other exploitive industry. At some point in time, the reason that foreign investment and income was coming into the community will cease to be, and there will be no more benefits, while the community will still bear the costs associated with the ecological impacts.
To avoid that, the community would have to be confident that the improvements in quality of life that will remain after the tourists stop coming will be greater than the impacts on quality of life that will remain.
So, if a fishing area is taken over by scuba divers, and eventually all the coral is bleached and the area ceases to support a fishery for several hundred years after the tourists leave, has the income that has come from the scuba divers gone to building infrastructure (social or built) that can remain after the cash ceases flowing?
One can develop that confidence by determining how the needs of the community are better met as a result of the cash-flow.
- How much time do people in the community spend at meeting their needs?
- What time weighted fraction of their needs are met?
- How much time would people in the community need to spent at meeting their needs, if all of their needs were met?
- How does the cash flow change these things (eg investment in infrastructure)?
- How does a reduction in the ecological services change these things (eg added ecological footprint and decreased biocapacity)?
There is likely a diminishing return on quality of life due to the cash flow, and there may not be a diminishing impact on the ecosystem services. There will be a maximal net benefit that can be calculated, and from that an amount of tourism that would lead to the greatest positive outcome.
Part of the way to be sure, is to insist on investment in infrastructure as part of the arrangement with the tourism operators. Part of that investment has to be the ability to operate and maintain the infrastructure in the absence of cashflow from the tourism.
My perspective is in having spent 30 years in the tourism sector, working in research, strategic planning, international brand marketing, and co-founder of Sustainable Riviera Maya in Mexico.
There is a great danger in the construct of your question as it pertains to your assumption that 'Tourism' in fact exists in a macro environment of some sort. To help you with any intelligent answer perhaps from a different perspective, one must have the benefit of a framework. In my experience, tourism does not in fact exist as a macro economic sector, more a generalized collection of economic inputs, an amalgam of a wide variety of vertical industries. I say this to draw attention to the fact that in my experience all tourism is a 'micro economic activity driven by unique differentiators of host culture and biodiversity'.
Therefore, any 'generalization' of the tourism sector establishes a paradox that makes it almost impossible to answer your question.
However, in order to respectfully do so, and effectively attempt an answer, (and not just a generalized response) would you consider sharing the very specifics of the subject destination in question, or at a minimum, what motivated the question for you?
Answers to the following will help to provide you specific answers and allow a perspective of the true function of tourism:
1) Which Destination might you be referring too?
2) What secondary research have you undertaken that would bring you to the understanding you presently are observing?
Lets start there so that we have context for your topic.
m
Respected Halle Sir,
It seems to me that my curiousity, poor question construction skill and limited knowledge has placed me in a position where I can be easily misunderstood as a rebellion. I can assure you that I'm quite the opposite Sir. With all gratitude, I would request you to kindly exuse me for the generalization of facts. I'm just a learner and I very well uderstand and respect the feats that you have achieved Sir.
However, I would like to take this opportunity to bring your kind notice few observations and would like to clarify the reasons that made me to frame this question.
First one is of a place called Goa. It's a famous beach tourism destination. This destination has seen a string of problems like littering, pollution, commoditization, inflation in the price of necessary commodities because of tourism. The secondary resources for the same is available abundantly over internet added to that my observation. Then there is a place called Ooty in India which is suffering from over crowding, pollution and loss of forests to accommodate tourist needs. Again secondary resources are available for the same. Next, Raghurajpur, Odisha state in India. It's a craft village amd all the residents of the village earn their livelihood from earning craft. It's a rural tourism site. While interviewing the people there many of the respondents reported that they are not sending their children to schools since they believe this profession can bring them better income.Sir! as you must be aware Indian Tourism is only in its nascent stage of development. We don't even receive one fourth of tourists what the developed countries receive and yet situations like this are arising. I truly believe there is something wrong as I truly believe in the power of Tourism in all positive directions. I just feel that we can do better and in that aspect I just want to find out the reasons. I earnestly hope that you kindly excuse my mistake and understand the concerns that I have.
P.S.- They say you learn the most from your mistakes and this mistake of mine has made me to completely by heart the fact that tourism exists in micro environments and hence it is case specific. Any generalizations can be deadly.
Thanks to you, Professor and other enlightened minds who spent their valuable time in answering it.
Not to worry Priyakrushna Mohanty, we all started at the beginning!
Now, I fully understand the question based on the destination Goa!
Clearly, Goa is an example of a destination that I would suggest grew up in the 'old school realm' as did many throughout our world, long before the vocabulary of 'sustainability and biodiversity' arrived as contemporary planing models. Such is the case in programs I have worked with in Cancun and the Riviera Maya which I would most categorize as retrofitting experiences.
The simple answer to your complex question: "can tourism be a source of sustainable livelihood?" is yes, Goa can in fact be a destination that provides a sustainable livelihoods, provided the political and industry will is there to bring about the change it requires.
In looking at the available secondary research, and a scan of the tourism vocabulary for Goa, I would suggest that there is little apparent programming or research being undertaking presently which would indicate that there is a plan or even a will, to move in the direction of sustainability. This of course can be great news for you if it is your intention to make an impact on the future of the destination as a result of professional and scholarly research! Congratulations! You have discovered the first golden door: relevant topic!
What would I do first? Exhaustive secondary research to determine what is available, and by default, what is required.
Secondly, I would understand through existing Laws and Governance in the destination, what planning and Law structure may exist in order to establish a 'base-line' of where current development is likely to take the destination.
Third, I would reach out to a small team of expert advisers who could assist you in verifying the meaning of such data and test your hypothesis for how to move forward from there.
Naturally, feel free to reach out to me at any time!
Additionally there some very relevant and potentially productive concepts that have been presented in other answers to your questions in the 'community'. I am sure you will find wonderfully helpful minds and hearts here. I also have seen some related research listed within the ResearchGate community related to Goa, which you may certainly find interesting.
Good luck! I will be watching to see what direction you decide to take!
The bottom line in sustainability is that you must approach biodiversity and culture as your cornerstones. Personally I believe that only conscious people truly understand the value of protecting our biodiversity and designing sustainability as a core belief to destination planning. Your greatest obstacle to retrofitting a destination , will be the those who argue for the status quo!
Good luck!
Penso que o turismo pode ser sim, uma segunda renda, forte... Substituir a base da economia..., só com organização, planos estratégicos e investimento! Há de se pensar que o turismo, ao contrário de outros setores, tem um tempo razoável de maturação, para consolidar e dar retorno. E, essa é a dificuldade... Quando o empreendedor investe, espera retornos rápidos. Mas, o turismo tem sim grande potencial para ajudar no desenvolvimento sustentável. Outra questão, é que as regiões têm de estar preparadas para o desenvolvimento... têm regiões que não estão...
There are many dimensions to this question:
- What is the character of the sustainable tourism?
- What types of attractions and destinations will capture the imagination of the tourists when they are "back home" making decisions about travel?
- Costs of travel from your target markets, meals/lodging, amenities, etc?
- How will you promote, advertise, and attract tourists? (Big advertising budgets may be necessary to establish a favorable "brand.")
It is the interplay of these and probably many other factors that determines what kind of success you can achieve with tourism.
Am afraid tourism is like a fire that can cook your meal and burn it at the same time. There are instances where tourism deprived some communities their sources of livelihood and tourists stopped coming when the stagnation stage in Butler Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) was reached. Rather is better tourism support traditional means of survival or livelihood.
Special Tourism Zones (STZs).
This article also introduces the STZs as new tourism strategy aimed to transform tourism.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349075946_Further_stages_of_the_Investment_Redistributive_Investment_Model_Towards_mainstreaming_Community-based_tourism?_sg=0ak343Ge3fHOLwwQgQkbysuwL66aPW5XA4s08JogSpwq-YhFcR7_ehPWFQhmwhfqrSN2WKkusLPKkseyoxFzG_QJ4aJaHUc0YeZMLBhY.cHjdkLDCRZ32J0HV7rW2PtZTzI2F6xL17iS_LXZhxL1tgMbGAoDdUhs4sVXY0USxul9S4mtyV9o28rI6Z7UPpA
YES!
1) If it evolved a SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL.
2) Depends what the GDP is comprised of; and over what period of time.
There are many factors.
m
I fully agree with Dr. Michael Paul Halle I recommend his response in this discussion.
The approach of Dr. Michael W. Marek , gives more pressure to the question and opens new edges in this discussion. Sounds good to me.
Priyakrushna Mohanty Our recent article on mountain livelihoods systems might be of your interest. Here is the link:Article Unravelling the linkages of cryosphere and mountain liveliho...
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