Sustainable Tourism

To many, sustainable tourism might be interpreted as sustaining attractions just to ensure there is a continuation of visitors and tourists coming in. However, this understanding is too juvenile. According to a 1987 report, Our Common Future, sustainable development is define as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED, 1987). Fundamentally, sustainable development ‘advocates the wise use and conservation of resources in order to maintain their long-term viability’ (Elber, 1992).

At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Earth Summit and held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the sustainable development approach was further elaborated and expressed in the plan, Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992). The World Tourism Organisation (2004) has then retune the concept of sustainable development into the tourism industry by defining as, ‘Sustainable tourism involves meeting the needs of visitors and the local community while protecting and boosting the tourism attraction for the future concurrently as part of a national economic supply. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support systems.

Principles of sustainable tourism can be broaden as the following five points mainly the natural, historical, cultural and other resources for tourism are conserved for continuous use in the future while still bringing benefits to the society; Tourism development is premeditated and managed so that it does not produce severe environmental or socio cultural problems in the tourism area; The overall environmental quality of the tourism area is preserved and made better where needed; A high level of tourist satisfaction is maintained so that the tourist destinations will

References: Acott, TG. LaTrobe, HL. & Howard, SH. 1998. “An Evaluation of Deep Ecotourism and Shallow Tourism”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism 6(3). Allen, W. 1992. Increased dangers to Caribbean marine ecosystems: cruise ship anchors and intensified tourism threaten reefs, Bioscience, 42, 330-5. Ash, J. and Turner, L. 1976. The Golden Hordes: International Tourism and The Pleasure Periphery, St. Martin Press, New York. Beesley, K. and Russwurm, L. 1981. The Rural-Urban Fringe: Canadian Perspectives, York University/ Atkinson College Geographical Monographs, No. 10. Bernhard Elber. 1992. Challenges for Sustainable Regional Tourism: A Best Practice Model for Low-impact Nature-based Tourism Facilities in Remote Areas. [Online] Available from: [Accessed 20 April 2008]. Big Cedar. 2007. The Big Cedar Home Page. [Internet] Available from: < http://www.big-cedar.com> [Accessed 28 March 2008]. Blamey, R. 2001. Principles of ecotourism, In The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism (D. Weaver, ed), p.155-71, CABI Publishing. Chagres National Park. 2005. The Chagres National Park Home Page. [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 06 April 2008]. Costa Rica. 2007. The Costa Rica Home Page. [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 22 March 2008]. Harris, R., Griffin, Tony. and Williams, P. 2002. Sustainable Tourism: A Global Perspective, Butterworth-Heineman, Burlington. Hawkes, S. and Williams, P. 1993. The Greening of Tourism from Principles to Practice, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby. Hiller, HL. 1996. “Marketing Florida”, Florida Trend, March, p.41-49. Holland, AC. 1998. “Public Has Its Say On Preserve”, Kansas City Star, June 9, pB1, B4. Liu, J.C. 1994. Pacific Islands Ecotourism: A Public Policy and Planning Guide, HI: Pacific Business Center, University of Hawaii at Monoa. Lynch, I.P. 2003. “Paddle the Might Roanoke”, Wildlife in North Carolina, April, P.2. Malley, M. 1999. “Turning Green Practices into Greenbacks”, Hotels and Hotel Management, May 17. National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the Interior. 2008. The Salt River Bay Home Page. [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 18 March 2008]. Ritchie, J.R.B and Goeldner, C.R. 1994. Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Shackley, M. 2000. Visitor Management: Case studies from World Heritage Sites, Butterworth-Heinemann. Sorkin, M. 1992. Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space, Hill and Wang. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. 2002. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Home Page. Available from: [Accessed 10 April 2008]. Wolf, P. 1999. Hot Towns: The Future of the Fastest Growing Communities in America, Rutgers. Wood, R. 2004. Global currents: cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea, In Tourism in the Caribbean: Trends, Development, Prospects, Routledge, p.152-71. World Tourism Organization. 2004. Indicators of Sustainable Development for Tourism Destinations, A Guidebook. Wright, P. 1997. North American ecotourists: Market profile and trip characteristics, Journal of Travel Research 24(4), p.2-10. Zeppel, H. 2006. Indigenous Ecotourism: Sustainable development and Management, CABI Publishing. Zurick, D. 1992. Adventure travel and sustainable tourism in the peripheral economy of Nepal, Annuals of the Association of American Geographers, 82, p608-28.