The Economic and Environmental Impact of Growing Tourism on Local Populations and Resources at Galapagos Islands
Selected Issues Research Project
The economic and environmental impact of growing tourism on local populations and resources at Galapagos Islands
December 11, 2011
Ecotourism, one of the most important and stronger trends nowadays is rapidly growing at Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, since we can now refer to Galapagos’ tourism as “mass tourism” there are now several consequences that need to be taken care of. Certainly it has become in one of the most important profit maker for the country because of the hospitality industry development but is it everything about it positive? What about the effects in the endemic biodiversity and the population itself of the islands?
The Galapagos Islands came to be known as the “Enchanted Islands” by the 17th century because they disappeared to the eyes of the sailors into the fog at certain times of year, some Spaniards even said that the Galapagos Islands were not islands, but only shadows (Danulat, 2003). Since this time the islands became a demanded place mostly because the islands served as source of food in long journeys. But, it was by the year 1835 when Charles Darwin made his discoveries about the species that were thought before to be immutable to be now part of the “Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection” which says that the species adapt according to their environment, that the Islands gained a lot of recognition and more people became interested in visiting them. (Danulat, 2003) and, but that time of course anyone thought about what could happen long term due to the amount of tourists that started to visit and even recognizing Ecuador just because of the “ Enchanted Islands”, because it certainly brought effective consequences since that time until now, in fact, the annual income ($250 million) that tourists contribute to Ecuador’s gross domestic product (Danulat, 2003) means a lot for the country and there is no reason of not taking advantage of it, but because of this way of thinking is that now the Islands
The economic and environmental impact of growing tourism on local populations and resources at Galapagos Islands
December 11, 2011
Ecotourism, one of the most important and stronger trends nowadays is rapidly growing at Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, since we can now refer to Galapagos’ tourism as “mass tourism” there are now several consequences that need to be taken care of. Certainly it has become in one of the most important profit maker for the country because of the hospitality industry development but is it everything about it positive? What about the effects in the endemic biodiversity and the population itself of the islands?
The Galapagos Islands came to be known as the “Enchanted Islands” by the 17th century because they disappeared to the eyes of the sailors into the fog at certain times of year, some Spaniards even said that the Galapagos Islands were not islands, but only shadows (Danulat, 2003). Since this time the islands became a demanded place mostly because the islands served as source of food in long journeys. But, it was by the year 1835 when Charles Darwin made his discoveries about the species that were thought before to be immutable to be now part of the “Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection” which says that the species adapt according to their environment, that the Islands gained a lot of recognition and more people became interested in visiting them. (Danulat, 2003) and, but that time of course anyone thought about what could happen long term due to the amount of tourists that started to visit and even recognizing Ecuador just because of the “ Enchanted Islands”, because it certainly brought effective consequences since that time until now, in fact, the annual income ($250 million) that tourists contribute to Ecuador’s gross domestic product (Danulat, 2003) means a lot for the country and there is no reason of not taking advantage of it, but because of this way of thinking is that now the Islands
References: Altobelli, R. Kirstges, T. Mass tourism. (2008). In The Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/cabitrme/mass_tourism Baldacchino, G. Island Tourism. (2008). In The Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments. Retrieved November 22, 2011 from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/cabitrme/island_tourism Dance, A. Galapagos invaders go native. (2008) Nature International weekly journal. Retrieved December 9, 2011 from http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080717/full/news.2008.959.html News Danulat , E. El turismo en la Reserva Marina de Galapagos: analisis global y en sitios de Puerto Ayora. (2003). Fundacion Charles Darwin Nash, S. Ecotourism and other invasions. (2009) Nature International weekly journal. Retrieved December 8, 2011 from http://jw3mh2cm6n.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Ecotourism+and+other+invasions%3A+Darwin%27s+200th+birthday+comes+to+a+conflicted+Galapagos+with+shorter+horizons&rft.jtitle=BioScience&rft.au=Nash%2C+Steve&rft.date=2009-02-01&rft.pub=American+Institute+of+Biological+Sciences&rft.issn=0006-3568&rft.volume=59&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=106&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=194192796 Schnedler, J. Could success of tourism spoil delicate islands? (1992). Chigago Sun-Times. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://jw3mh2cm6n.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=news&rft.atitle=Could+success+of+tourism+spoil+delicate+islands%3F&rft.jtitle=Chicago+sun-times+%28Chicago%2C+Ill.+%3A+1985%29&rft.au=Jack+Schnedler&rft.date=1992-01-26&rft.spage=7&rft.externalDBID=UABF&rft.externalDocID=114443592