The Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development
Sustainable tourism is the concept of only making a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy of the country or location the tourist is visiting. The UN points out that sustainable tourism can have a positive effect in developing countries by eradicating poverty, protecting the environment, and overall improving the quality of life.
By Anuska Joshi
Our demands are unlimited but the resources that we have are limited, and here comes the concept and importance of sustainability. In case of tourism sector, the development, local upliftment and the environmental concerns go hand in hand. Nepal — the country of Lord Buddha, Kathmandu — the city of temples and the Himalayas — the top of the world, is an incredible country where once is not enough. Millions of tourists come to visit Nepal each year.
Tourism plays a major role in revenue generation and sustaining the livelihood of many people, and many strategies are brought forward to bring in tourists from all over the world and showcase Nepal. But the extensive amount of tourist can also have negative impacts, for instance, Mt Everest was once full of wastes dumped by high number of climbers. Therefore, sustainable tourism is important to sustain the resources of any place.
The United Nations (UN) has declared 2017 as The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development with the aim to raise public awareness to the importance of international tourism in appreciating and understanding different cultures. It has been targeted as a year to recognize that tourism is important in fostering better understanding among people. While declaring the year as the year of sustainable tourism, the UN mentioned that “International travel leads to greater awareness of the heritage of other civilizations, and as a result an appreciation of other countries.” According to the UN, this contributes to the strengthening of world peace. Sustainable tourism is the concept of only making a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy of the country or location the tourist is visiting. The UN points out that sustainable tourism can have a positive effect in developing countries by eradicating poverty, protecting the environment, and overall improving the quality of life.
More than one billion people are estimated to travel each year and therefore tourism can help in accelerating the development of any country. Tourism is one of the driving forces of global economic growth, and currently accounts for 1 in 11 jobs worldwide. Even in Nepal, from the owners of the local tea shops along any trekking route to the owners of bigger travel and trek agencies are all earning and sustaining due to tourism. In this way, tourism provides important livelihood opportunities, helping to alleviate poverty and drive inclusive development. But to what extent do we allow tourism to exploit the environment of the place is also a major concern.
Nowadays, the intense number of tourist visiting any place also creates a lot of pressure to that place and results in its deterioration. An example of this was given by Yeshi Dorjee, the president of Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators (SAATO), at an international conference organized recently in Kathmandu. He presented the present scenario of tourism in Sikkim where the Indian state having population of just around 600,000 is welcoming 700,000 visitors. He shed light on the various approaches Sikkim was taking to make the place more capable to deal with this intense tourism. They are adopting various eco tourism methods like banning the use of plastics and Styrofoam, and working for sustainable tourism. Dorjee mentioned the fact that tourism does not only involve sightseeing but also the interactions with local, and the tourists visiting Sikkim come across more people of their own kind rather than the locals, and this is also hampering the touring experience. He also warned about the fact that while tourism does help in generating revenue, sometime the inflation by tourism is more than the revenue generated, and this is something to be very careful about to ensure the development of the place.
Sikkim has been trying to promote a better tourism strategy by also creating tourism dispersal mechanisms by sending the tourists to other lesser known areas in Sikkim and also by promoting responsible tourism through various awards. According to Dorjee, these awards help in promoting tour operators who have been working hard for promoting sustainable tourism
In similar ways, excess tourism without the regard to the local places, culture, and environment can result in its deterioration and even affect the tourism sector in the long run. The declaration of the year as the year of sustainable tourism aims at promoting tourism’s role in five key areas namely Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth, Social Inclusiveness, Employment and Poverty Reduction; Resource Efficiency; Environmental Protection and Climate change; Cultural Values, Diversity and Heritage; and Mutual Understanding, Peace and Security.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, has been mandated to facilitate the implementation of the International Year, in collaboration with governments, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, international and regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders. The resolution, adopted on December 4, recognizes “the importance of international tourism, and particularly of the designation of an international year of sustainable tourism for development, in fostering better understanding among peoples everywhere, in leading to a greater awareness of the rich heritage of various civilizations and in bringing about a better appreciation of the inherent values of different cultures, thereby contributing to the strengthening of peace in the world”.
UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai mentioned that “The declaration by the UN of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development is a unique opportunity to advance the contribution of the tourism sector to the three pillars of sustainability – economic, social and environmental, while raising awareness of the true dimensions of a sector which is often undervalued. As the lead UN agency for this initiative, UNWTO is very much looking forward to proceeding with the organization and implementation of the International Year, in collaboration with Governments, relevant organizations of the UN system, other international and regional organizations and all other relevant stakeholders.”
The decision follows the recognition by global leaders at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) that “well-designed and well-managed tourism” can contribute to the three dimensions of sustainable development, to job creation and to trade. The sector’s contribution to job creation is recognized in target 8.9 “By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products,” the decision reads.
