In favour of sustainable tourism development
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Mohammad Shahidul Islam
TOURISM -- the organisation and operation of holidays, especially commercially -- provides the opportunity to know other cultures. It can promote closer ties and peace among peoples.
Development of tourism needs to meet the economic expectations and environmental requirements, and must respect not only the social and physical structure of a location, but also the local population.
Tourism development should be sustainable, which means that it must be ecologically bearable in the long term, economically viable, as well as ethically and socially equitable for the local communities. Tourism requires to integrate the natural, cultural and human environment, in order to be sustainable. It must respect the fragile balances that characterise many tourist destinations, in particular many small islands and environmentally sensitive areas. To be sustainable, tourism development must be based on the opportunities offered by the local economy. It should be fully integrated into, and contribute positively to, the local economic development. Governments and authorities should promote coordinated actions for planning of tourism with environmental NGOs and local communities to achieve sustainable development.
The World Conference on Sustainable Tourism, held at Canary Islands in 1995, taking into consideration of all these, had drafted a charter for sustainable tourism, guided by the principles set forth in the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, and the recommendations based on its Agenda 21.
Agenda 21 delineates actions that governments, international organisations, industries and the community can take to achieve sustainability. These actions recognise the impacts of human behaviours on the environment and on the sustainability of systems of production.
The objective of Agenda 21 is the alleviation of poverty, hunger, sickness and illiteracy worldwide while halting the deterioration of ecosystems that sustain life. Adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Summit meeting on June 14, 1992, Agenda 21 covers all the issues referred to UNCED by the UN General Assembly in its Resolution 44/228 of 1989.
Tourism touches the highest and deepest aspirations of all people. It is an ambivalent phenomenon since it has the potential to contribute to socio-economic and cultural achievement. It can, at the same time, contribute to the depletion of the environment and the loss of local identity. This is why it should be approached with a global methodology.
In the Bali conference, the UNWTO had to face criticism for climate change. The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organisation, Francesco Frangialli said: "We are all part of the great global economic pattern of tourism". "Whether we come here to enjoy the beaches or the conference halls - or both, we are contributing to local commerce, to jobs, to investment and to export income. In so doing we are providing sustainable livelihoods through a long supply chain which we must increasingly help to make carbon clean. And we must start now," he also said.
Bangladesh has also agreed with the do's and don'ts of the Summit for facing climate change. It called for international support to safeguard the country's tourism industry against the peril of climate change.
The international community, it said, needs to provide environmentally vulnerable and low-lying countries with financial and technical support to help them address the concerns about global climate change.
Bangladesh needs to adopt an environment friendly tourism development policy at the earliest. Like Sri Lanka's "earth lung community", Bangladesh needs to declare "Green Bangladesh: No Cyclone," or "25 per cent, re-forestation by 2020," or "Kill environment, kill yourself" as the guiding themes in order to help promote the concept of sustainable and responsible tourism before inviting foreign or local investors in the sector.
The writer is a tourism worker, can be reached at e-mail:
mohd-s-islam@myway.com
TOURISM -- the organisation and operation of holidays, especially commercially -- provides the opportunity to know other cultures. It can promote closer ties and peace among peoples.
Development of tourism needs to meet the economic expectations and environmental requirements, and must respect not only the social and physical structure of a location, but also the local population.
Tourism development should be sustainable, which means that it must be ecologically bearable in the long term, economically viable, as well as ethically and socially equitable for the local communities. Tourism requires to integrate the natural, cultural and human environment, in order to be sustainable. It must respect the fragile balances that characterise many tourist destinations, in particular many small islands and environmentally sensitive areas. To be sustainable, tourism development must be based on the opportunities offered by the local economy. It should be fully integrated into, and contribute positively to, the local economic development. Governments and authorities should promote coordinated actions for planning of tourism with environmental NGOs and local communities to achieve sustainable development.
The World Conference on Sustainable Tourism, held at Canary Islands in 1995, taking into consideration of all these, had drafted a charter for sustainable tourism, guided by the principles set forth in the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, and the recommendations based on its Agenda 21.
Agenda 21 delineates actions that governments, international organisations, industries and the community can take to achieve sustainability. These actions recognise the impacts of human behaviours on the environment and on the sustainability of systems of production.
The objective of Agenda 21 is the alleviation of poverty, hunger, sickness and illiteracy worldwide while halting the deterioration of ecosystems that sustain life. Adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Summit meeting on June 14, 1992, Agenda 21 covers all the issues referred to UNCED by the UN General Assembly in its Resolution 44/228 of 1989.
Tourism touches the highest and deepest aspirations of all people. It is an ambivalent phenomenon since it has the potential to contribute to socio-economic and cultural achievement. It can, at the same time, contribute to the depletion of the environment and the loss of local identity. This is why it should be approached with a global methodology.
In the Bali conference, the UNWTO had to face criticism for climate change. The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organisation, Francesco Frangialli said: "We are all part of the great global economic pattern of tourism". "Whether we come here to enjoy the beaches or the conference halls - or both, we are contributing to local commerce, to jobs, to investment and to export income. In so doing we are providing sustainable livelihoods through a long supply chain which we must increasingly help to make carbon clean. And we must start now," he also said.
Bangladesh has also agreed with the do's and don'ts of the Summit for facing climate change. It called for international support to safeguard the country's tourism industry against the peril of climate change.
The international community, it said, needs to provide environmentally vulnerable and low-lying countries with financial and technical support to help them address the concerns about global climate change.
Bangladesh needs to adopt an environment friendly tourism development policy at the earliest. Like Sri Lanka's "earth lung community", Bangladesh needs to declare "Green Bangladesh: No Cyclone," or "25 per cent, re-forestation by 2020," or "Kill environment, kill yourself" as the guiding themes in order to help promote the concept of sustainable and responsible tourism before inviting foreign or local investors in the sector.
The writer is a tourism worker, can be reached at e-mail:
mohd-s-islam@myway.com