Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T13:34:45.967Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tourism, Environment, and Sustainable Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Richard W. Butler
Richard W. Butler
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the effects of tourism and related developments upon the environment of ‘destination areas’. The increasing popularity of the concept of sustainable development has resulted in tourism being viewed as an activity which could easily be developed along those appropriate lines. It is argued, however, that such a viewpoint is often simplistic and naïve, because of a lack of understanding of the complex nature of tourism. While tourism is dependent upon the environment for much of its well-being, the prevailing lack of knowledge, responsibility, and long-term planning, has often resulted in development which is neither environmentally nor culturally sympathetic to the host area and community.

A broad definition of environment is necessary in this context, encompassing both the physical and human realms and also Nature's, as is an equally wide view of human leisure activities, which needs to include far more than tourism. It is necessary to take a critical view of some alternative approaches to mass-tourism, which have been suggested as appropriate for environmentally significant areas; for at least some of the problems resulting from tourism-related developments are more profound, and less easily solved, than has often been suggested. Solutions are inevitably a combination of compromise and positive planning and management, and successful examples are difficult to find. Improved understanding of the complex nature of tourism, and of its linkages to the environment, is crucial if a symbiotic relationship is to be attained and maintained.

It is necessary to appreciate that tourist destination areas evolve and change over time, both responding to, and being altered by, changes in tourism. They are not static environments, and need responsible and pro-active planning and management. Reliance upon local initiatives, uncoordinated planning, and self-regulation in a situation of ill-defined responsibility, will not result in a secure long-term future for either the tourist industry or the environment of the destination area. Coordination of policies, pro-active planning, acceptance of limitations on growth, education of all parties involved, and commitment to a long-term viewpoint, are prerequisites to the successful linking of tourism and sustainable development.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1991 , pp. 201 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brugger, E.A., Furrer, G., Messerli, B. & Messerli, P. (1984). The Transformation of the Swiss Mountain Regions. Paul Haupt, Berne, Switzerland: 699 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Butler, R.W. (1974). The social implications of tourist developments. Annals of Tourism Research, 2(2), pp. 100–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, R.W. (1980). The concept of a tourist-area cycle of evolution and implications for management. The Canadian Geographer, 24 pp. 5–12, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christaller, W. (1963). Some considerations of tourism location in Europe: the peripheral regions — underdeveloped countries — recreation areas. Papers of the Regional Science Association, 12 pp. 95–105.Google Scholar
Dickinson, G. (1982). An Assessment of Pathway Damage and Management: The West Highland Way. Geography Department, Occasional Paper No. 10, Glasgow University, Glasgow, Scotland, UK: i + 15 pp.Google Scholar
Edington, J.M. & Edington, M.A. (1986). Ecology, Recreation and Tourism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: viii + 200 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
English Tourist Board (1979). English Cathedrals and Tourism. English Tourist Board, London, England, UK: 128 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Grosjean, G. (1984). Visual and aesthetic changes in landscape. Pp. 71–9, illustr., in The Transformation of Swiss Mountain Regions (Eds E.A. Brugger, G. Furrer, B. Messerli & P. Messerli) q.v.Google Scholar
Gunn, C.A. (1976). Tourism-recreation-conservation synergism. Contact, 8(4), pp. 128–38.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162 pp. 1243–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayward, S.J., Gomez, V.H. & Sterrer, W. (1981). Bermuda's Delicate Balance. Bermuda National Trust, Nassua, Bermuda: vii + 402 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Holder, J.S. (1987). The pattern and impact of tourism on the environment in the Carribean. Pp. 7–20 in Environmentally Sound Tourism Development in The Caribbean (Ed. Edward, F.). University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: xxiii + 143 pp.Google Scholar
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (cited as IUCN) (1980). World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: ‘iii + 70 pp.’ (unnumbered), illustr.Google Scholar
Jackson, E.L. (1984). Energy development, tourism and nature conservation in Iceland. Pp. 387–403 in Northern Ecology and Resource Management (Eds Oldson, R. et al. ). University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: xvii + 438 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Jayal, N.D. & Motwani, M. (Eds) (1986). Conservation, Tourism and Mountaineering in the Himalayas. Natraj Publishers, Dehra Dun, India: 212 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Jefferies, B.E. (1984). The Sherpas of Sagarmatha: the effects of a national park on the local people. Pp. 473–8 in National Parks, Conservation and Development (Eds McNeely, J. A. & Miller, K.R.). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA: 838 pp.Google Scholar
Kaur, J. (1985). Himalayan Pilgrimages and the New Tourism. Himalayan Books, New Delhi, India: xxii + 300 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Krippendorf, J. (1984). The capital of tourism in danger. Pp. 427–50, illustr., in The Transformation of Swiss Mountain Regions. (Eds Brugger, E.A., Furrer, G., Messerli, B. & Messerli, P.). Paul Haupt, Berne, Switzerland: 699 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lew, A.A. (1987). A framework of tourist attraction research. Annals of Tourism Research, 14(4), pp. 553–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, P.H.C. (1984). How protected areas can help meet society's evolving needs. Pp. 72–9 in National Parks, Conservation and Development. (Eds McNeely, J.A. & Miller, K.R.). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA: 838 pp.Google Scholar
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and Personality. Harper, New York, NY, USA: xiv + 411 pp.Google Scholar
Mathieson, A. & Wall, G. (1982). Tourism: Economic, Physical and Social Impacts. Longman, New York, NY, USA: 208 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Messerli, P. & Brugger, E.A. (1984). Mountain areas between self reliance and dependancy, between economy and ecology: a summary. Pp. ??—19 in The Transformation of the Swiss Mountain Regions (Eds Brugger, E.A., Furrer, G., Messerli, B. & Messerli, P.). Paul Hupt, Berne, Switzerland: 699 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Mishra, H.R. (1984). A delicate balance: tigers, rhinoceros, tourists and park management vs the needs of the local people in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Pp. 197–205 in National Parks, Conservation and Development (Eds McNeely, J.A. & Miller, K.R.). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA: 838 pp.Google Scholar
Morrison, A. & Dickinson, G. (1987). Tourist development in Spain: growth versus conservation on the Costa Brava. Geography, 72(314), pp. 16–25.Google Scholar
Murphy, P.E. (1985). Tourism — A Community Approach. Methuen, New York, NY, USA: xvi + 200 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Nelson, J.G. & Butler, R.W. (1974). Recreation and the environment. Pp. 290–310 in Perspectives on Environment (Eds Manners, I. & Mikesell, M.). Association of American Geographers, Washington, DC, USA: v + 395 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Plog, S.C. (1973). Why destination areas rise and fall in popularity. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Association Quarterly, 13 pp. 13–6.Google Scholar
Sadler, B. (1987). Sustaining tomorrow and endless summer: on linking tourism and environment in the Caribbean. Pp. ix–xxiii in Environmentally Sound Tourism Development in the Caribbean. University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: xxiii + 143 pp.Google Scholar
Wall, G. (MS). Economic aspects of tourism and heritage. To appear in Conference Proceedings, Tourism and Heritage Preservation, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, P. (1987). Tourism in small island nations: a fragile independence. Leisure Studies, 6(2), pp. 127–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Commission on Environment and Development (cited as WCED) (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, UK: xv + 383 pp., illustr.Google Scholar