Sustainable tourism still a while away
Here are two fun business section facts: Tourism is one of the world's largest growth industries and ecotourism, specifically, is growing three times faster than the industry in general.Before you grab your snorkeling gear and celebrate you may want to read this report from ClimateChangeCorp.com.
Turns out, while sustainable tourism can help with things like conservation and helping out local populations, the reality of this type of green-friendly traveling is not close to where it needs to be. What makes things even worse is that the tourism industry is not ready for climate change even though they will get hit very hard by it - more hurricanes and rising seas make daiquiris on the beach so much less enjoyable.
The report quotes the United Nations Environmental Program by pointing to tourists who pollute way more than the locals and are rarely required to pay anything to offset ecosystem damage when they visit that sandy beach (maritime tourism is singled out as being especially hit). And what about helping the locals? Popular all-inclusive resorts are often isolated from local populations and the benefits of tourism are not always felt by those living beyond the security fence past the seafood beach buffet.
Okay, so it's not all doom and gloom when it comes to getting away for a couple of weeks. The report does go on to site things like the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change project that talks about developing inland tourist destinations (to reduce the resource-crush on coastal areas) and sites the idea of small island states becoming very eco-friendly and carbon neutral to attract a niche, eco-conscious crowd.
The report also singles out Costa Rica as possibly heading in the right direction (they aim to become carbon netural by 2020). A bunch of Costa Rican tourism companies are demanding to be certified as sustainable to attract this hopefully growing ecotourism market.
On an individual level, it would be swell if we could offset that carbon-spewing flight or look for operators that are making an effort to protect the environment. Of course, ecotourism is more than just the physical environment - it's also about paying attention to the local population and culture. So drop that mohito and try visiting a sustainable farm or an animal sanctuary and meet the people that are trying to protect what you came to enjoy.
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