Ingredients for Sustainability

The tourism economy will only flourish with:

• the full support of the local community; and
• it will only last as long as the natural environment remains healthy and preserved; and
• cultural uniqueness is upheld through a genuine pride in popular traditions

Sustainable development means, in the words of the 1987 World Commission on Environment, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

In other words, sustainable development is a comprehensive approach to promoting development in ways that do not harm the environment or deplete natural resources so that they will still be available in the future.

The Times story covering the 2007 Virgin Responsible Travel Awards available here.

Always a great way to find out about the cream of the crop from the sustainable tourism industry.

2007 was a big year for responsible travel, it is a growing market and undoubtedly 2008 will be even harder to judge.

Unfortunetly, the awards process really focuses on the larger shows in town, the example of Finca Esperanza, a small community based tourism project in Nicaragua is the only one of its kind. I know it must be hard to quantify the comparative 'sustainability' of the little finca and a 4 star hotel chain based in the UK, but I really hope to see a lot more small operators in next years competition.

Tourism values two things that are ignored by economic analysis from other businesses, namely unique culture and untouched natural beauty.

FACTS :

• Tourism is one of the leading engines of economic growth, job creation and income re-distribution around the world today. Accounting for $ 883 billion USD in 2006, put another way, international tourism earns nearly $ 2.4 billion USD per day.
• Between 1995 and 2005 the number of international travelers increased at a rate of 4.1 percent annually, exceeding 883 million in 2005 and is expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020. This represents the largest peacetime, non-migratory population movement in history.
• Like any other industry in the 21^st century, tourism has a powerful and transformative effect on local landscapes; economies, cultures and environments. Unlike other industries, tourism relies on the original attractiveness of local landscapes for its own survival. As such, the tourism economy cannot be as blindly developed as other industries, and requires unique attention to sustainable management if the benefits and revenues of tourism are to be ongoing.