Tourism and Otherness

Creating better environments for people to live and travel is considered as responsible tourism. The idea of responsible tourism frequently calls for tourism activities to balance the goals of tourists with the requirements of involved communities. People are aware of how tourism affects the environment, and numerous groups and movements are actively encouraging responsible and sustainable travel (Swarbooke, 2023).  Tourism may not be entirely responsible because its impacts directly interfere with communities and nature and thus can only be conducted in a manner that enables people to thrive.

Does Responsible Tourism Exist

Although the idea of responsible tourism exists, it cannot be implemented as planned. To engage in responsible tourism, people must consider the destination, duration, and the frequency of their travel.  Committed to maximizing economic advantages and minimizing environmental damage, responsibility encourages tourists to learn the traditions of host communities and potential environmental implications (Gmelch, 2019). Thus, engaging in responsible tourism requires considering the big picture and how one’s travels affect others.

Tourists frequently visit ecologically vulnerable areas, such as landscapes that offer some originality and beauty away from the norm. The vulnerable habitats quickly deteriorate since tourism involves a lot of hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities that devastate nature. Even if visitors behave responsibly, there are already too many people per square meter and there is an excessive demand on the environment (Gmelch, 2019). Large populations significantly affect host communities and ruin the environment, making it impossible to promote responsible tourism even with sustainable practices. Hotels and other forms of infrastructure are frequently established for tourism purposes. The infrastructure is established in vulnerable areas including marshes, waterways, mangroves, and mountains. Several fish and bird species are found in the affected ecosystems, and when those habitats are destroyed to build structures, nature is wiped out. Thus, even with appropriate tourism activities, the simple usage of structures still has a harmful impact on communities and the environment.

Activities such as laundry, swimming, cleaning, taking showers, cooking, and swimming need a lot of water. Tourism water usage is frequently higher than local consumption, and if the facilities involved do not recycle, this erodes water sources. Using a lot of water results in a lot of waste, and draining too much groundwater might increase salt intrusion. Since excessive resource use is already irresponsible and might not be sustainable, doing responsible tourism activities might not be beneficial (Gmelch, 2019). In addition, travel for tourism frequently involves air, land, rail, and water transit, all of which release gases into the atmosphere. Alongside noisy and potentially dangerous activities, traveling near tourist attractions can disrupt the surroundings and host communities. Traveling is an unsustainable aspect of tourism, therefore even under regulated circumstances, responsible tourism cannot be achieved.

As it aims to develop sustainable activities that should have a good influence on the environment and communities, responsible tourism is not an intrusive act. Nevertheless, the idea cannot be implemented because resources and tourism-related activities are already invasive in some areas. The displacement of residents to make way for game parks and resorts, the eradication of mangroves and wetlands to make way for beaches, and the frequent travel to sensitive areas is examples of intrusive tourism (Gmelch, 2019). After tourism has facilitated resource depletion, population shifts, and pollution, the industry is already detrimental, making it difficult to pursue possible responsible and sustainable actions.

The need for responsible tourism cannot be satisfied because investors want a quick financial return and many people are unaware of what it entails. Worldwide, tourists are no knowledgeable about sustainability and responsibility in their activities and focus more on getting value for their money (Swarbooke, 2023). Investors are compelled to take responsibility while their customers may not comprehend the advantages and may exhibit undesirable habits, such as littering, that have detrimental effects. Some investors want to make money from off their investments and services, thus they tolerate resource overuse, littering, and noise in order to satisfy customer demands and increase profits.

Conclusion

The idea of tourism is already damaging and responsible tourist activities cannot be fully realized. Nonetheless, responsible tourism has appealing goals and beneficial effects that aim to advance the tourism industry in the direction of developing safe environments and sustainable host communities. Responsibility would be more readily achieved if tourism was risk-free and did not contribute to resource depletion or pollution, among other issues.

References

Swarbooke, J. (2023). Why Sustainable Tourism Failed. Why Sustainable Tourism Failed, 2, 1–44.Published by Responsible Tourism Partnership, 6 Plane Tree Court, Church Road, Faversham ME13 8GZ https://responsibletourismpartnership.org/rtp-library/

Gmelch, S. (2019). Why Tourism Matters, 3,1-14.