A new take on tourism

tourism is as big an industry as any other is indicated by the statistical data provided by the World Tourism Organisation. “International tourist arrivals in the year 2002 have exceeded the 700 million mark for the first time in history, with a 3.1% increase (over) the previous year. By the year 2010, it is predicted that this figure will rise to one billion.” The unstoppable growth in tourism has increased 40 times between 1950 and 2000. Says Dr Thomas Bauer of Hong Kong Polytechnic University: “Despite an economic slowdown, tourism arrivals continue to register a high growth rate at many destinations. Tourism accounts for 3% to 10% of GDP in advanced economies, and up to 40% in developing countries. International tourism is one of the top five exports for 83% of countries and has an economic impact of US $3,527 billion, 10.2% of the world GDP.”
This impressive growth rate, however, has dragged along with it a trailer of problems and concerns. While environmental degradation is one of the most obvious by-products of the tourism industry, issues like children and tourism, women and tourism and corporate accountability have now come to the fore. “Children are affected by tourism in many ways. Some of them being child labour, child trafficking and sexual abuse. Estimates put the number of children in the sex trade, globally, at over one million every year. There is evidence that increasing numbers of sex offenders, particularly from western industrialised countries, travel to less developed countries as a result of increasing vigilance and action against paedophilia in their own countries,” says Nina Rao of Equations.
As regards women, tourism is a form of development that steadily isolates them. Studies of prominent tourism destinations in India and the Caribbean show that in the tourism sector women are forced to hold low-level jobs such as housekeeping, reception and other services, often seasonal and temporary, with significant wage disparities between men and women. “The world trade rules clearly indicate a case of democratic deficit. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) came into force with the establishment of the WTO in 1995, and is aimed at deregulating international markets in tourism to ensure that corporations are provided non-discriminatory rights of entry into markets worldwide. Local governments across the world are unaware of the commitments that their national governments have made under GATS, and this has led to ignoring the welfare and social development aspects of tourism,” Rao says.
The general consensus among speakers like Rosemary Vishwanath and T T Sreekumar of Equations, Adama Bah of the Gambia-based Tourism Concern, P G Padmanabhan of the Kumarakom Grama Panchayat and Roland Martins of Jagrut Goenkaranchi Fauz is that the time has come to demand corporate accountability. “The tourism industry has not been scrutinised by the media or the public for its ethical performance, contribution to sustainable development and respect for human rights,” says Sreekumar.
According to a World Tourism Organisation report, tourism has the unique capacity of generating trade and investment directly at the local level, as tourists and entrepreneurs seek new destinations. It can contribute significantly to rural development, agricultural transformation, community enrichment and social empowerment. But this must be balanced with the tremendous pressure on natural, cultural and socio-economic environments of popular places of tourist interest.
Case studies in this respect provide clear indicators. In Karnataka, a Rs 100 crore safari project is being planned in the Bannerghata National Park with the help of the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Funds for the wildlife wing of the forest department, or for proper management of the park, may be difficult to come by, but the state tourism ministry has no problem considering Rs 25 crore as state participation in the project. In Kerala, the forest and tourism departments have initiated a process by which all 12 wildlife sanctuaries in the state will be opened for tourism. In West Bengal, the Sahara Group has proposed a mammoth Rs 900 crore project to develop eco-tourism in the mangroves of the Sunderbans, which will include catamarans, luxury launches, houseboats, helicopters and even an exclusive jetty on the Hooghly river in Kolkata for the esteemed tourists. As to how these will affect local communities and the environment is something government agencies and corporate bodies will hardly bother to consider. environmental activist and author of Troubled Islands -- a compilation of his writings on the indigenous peoples and environment of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: “Eco-tourism is like a wave sweeping through wild and natural India, capitalising on the diversity and beauty of this country's rich and varied natural heritage. It does not matter that our forests, grasslands, wetlands and rivers are the very basis of our life systems. Across the length and breadth of this country, from Maharashtra to West Bengal, from Kerala to Uttaranchal, the eco-tourism juggernaut is on the roll, particularly in those areas that are being protected and conserved for wildlife.”
Does this imply that there are no solutions? There are, and they lie in the shift towards sustainable tourism. “The paradigms for sustainable tourism development draw on internationally-accepted covenants on the conservation of biological diversity and rights of local communities and indigenous peoples. They include principles of conservation of natural resources and binding regulatory frameworks for the creation and maintenance of tourism infrastructure and facilities that are in coherence with the needs of local environments and cultures,” suggests a document prepared by Equations.
Taking it a point further, Rev Tan Chi Kiong, one of the editors of the newsletter of the Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism says that exploitation in the name of tourism can be stopped only if it gets a “human face”. The answer lies in community-based tourism.
Presenting six experiences from different regions of Brazil, Instituto Terramar believes that “community tourism can help create positive impacts and provide economic benefits to local communities, value local culture and protect the environment”.
That means new challenges for travellers, including sensitivity for the feelings of others in terms of realising that people in other countries have different thought patterns, customs and needs. It also means mounting campaigns against those who think that golf courses are necessary to promote tourism. It also means investigating the effects of drug trafficking. Much more than what meets the eye.