By Jisha Jacob
On July 5th 1841, 500 people took an excursion from Leicester to Loughborough on a chartered train. Thomas Cook had marshalled one of the first organized tourism packages ever, kick-starting the era of modern tourism. Little did he know that he had pioneered a global industry. Over the century, the travel and tourism industry has grown immensely. Today it has spread out into various niche areas; rural, medical, cultural and heritage tourism being few of the many. Globally, the industry directly contributed approximately USD 2.9 trillion to the GDP in 2019.
An overcrowded beach in Goa Photo courtesy: Incredible Goa
The Cifuentes Methodology is a commonly used protocol for tourism carrying capacity estimation. This formula has also been suggested by the International Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as well as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) guidelines for ecotourism in and around protected areas. The methodology involves calculating the carrying capacity in three phases. First, the maximum number of visitors who can be physically present at a certain time and place are estimated. This is known as the physical carrying capacity of the place. Then the real carrying capacity is calculated, by considering the limiting factors resulting from specific conditions of the place and their effect on the physical carrying capacity. Finally, the effective carrying capacity is derived, which is basically the maximum number of visitors that can be managed sustainably by the existing management of the place.
Pollution rises with the growth of tourism in Ladakh. Photo courtesy: Athar Parvaiz/ Scroll
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines sustainable tourism as, ‘tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of the visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities’. Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments. Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability.
Many forms of sustainable tourism have emerged in the last decades, ecotourism being one among them. Ceballos-Lascurain, in 1993, defined ecotourism as environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features ﹘ both past and present). Ecotourism also promotes conservation and has low negative visitor impacts. It provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations. In 2015, the International Ecotourism Society added the involvement of education and interpretation to this definition.
Mangalajodi. Photo courtesy: PV Seetaram
Most tourism practices do not follow a responsible approach and are only seldom regulated. When a large number of people visit a place, the micro-environment of the region gets disturbed. This applies to all kinds of places, be it natural or archaeological, although the effects on natural spaces are much greater. Nature-based tourism trends involve people visiting natural areas for recreational purposes. However, most of these practices do not benefit local communities in any way. Not only do they have no conservational value, but on the contrary, end up damaging the natural environment in various ways. “Some 105 sites (46%) of the 229 natural UNESCO sites, many of which are national parks or wildlife reserves… have no active tourism management plan,” according to UNESCO-commissioned research by Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. Usually by the time mistakes are realized, damages are already done, and in most cases, there is no returning back to normal.
It therefore becomes very important to check and regulate the practices followed in tourism. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are a great tool to study and quantify the effects of tourism projects. An EIA simplifies resource management and identifies the limits of acceptable changes. They can also contribute to developing effective management plans by estimating the carrying capacity of a place. Tourism carrying capacity, as defined by the UNWTO, is the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction.
Mangalajodi. Photo courtesy: PV Seetaram
The Cifuentes Methodology is a commonly used protocol for tourism carrying capacity estimation. This formula has also been suggested by the International Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as well as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) guidelines for ecotourism in and around protected areas. The methodology involves calculating the carrying capacity in three phases. First, the maximum number of visitors who can be physically present at a certain time and place are estimated. This is known as the physical carrying capacity of the place. Then the real carrying capacity is calculated, by considering the limiting factors resulting from specific conditions of the place and their effect on the physical carrying capacity. Finally, the effective carrying capacity is derived, which is basically the maximum number of visitors that can be managed sustainably by the existing management of the place.
Tourism congestion is not only about the number of visitors but also about the capacity to manage them. Another common myth about over-tourism is that it is a tourism-only problem. It is also important to understand that technological or smart solutions are important to tackle the issue, but they alone will not solve the issue of tourism congestion.
Responsible tourism is about ‘making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit’. It requires all stakeholders involved to take responsibility and act accordingly to make tourism more sustainable. Responsible tourism involves enlightening tourists about their do’s and don’ts. It educates host communities and teaches them to take pride in their culture. It promotes the spirit of conservation. Responsible tourism should be the core of management plans, pivoted on preventing, mitigating and monitoring the impacts of tourism.
Currently in the universe of tourism, sustainable tourism is represented only as a smaller subset within. Well-managed and regulated tourism practices need to be in place, in order to make sure this subset grows to fit the entire universe of tourism. There is an urgent need to shift to sustainable trends like ecotourism in natural places. Tourism needs to become responsible, and accountable for its ways. It is crucial that the era of modern tourism adopts sustainability in totality, for a better terra, for a better tomorrow.