Sustainable and Responsible Tourism Management

Sustainable and Responsible
Tourism Management
1

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Explain how the concept of sustainable and responsible tourism has evolved......................3
P2 Determine the role, function and mission of leading global organisation involved in the
promotion of sustainable and responsible tourism......................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Explore the purpose and principles of tourism development and planning to minimise the
adverse impacts of tourism..........................................................................................................6
P4 Evaluate the process of tourism development and planning, and the associated challenges
and problems, providing specific tourism examples...................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Investigate the impacts of tourism activity generated by a specific tourism destination from
an economic, social, cultural and environmental perspective...................................................10
P6 Examine how principles of sustainability being implemented by a specific tourism
business/attraction meet stakeholder requirements and expectations........................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
P7 Evaluate how sustainability is being developed and managed in a range of tourist
destinations worldwide..............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
2

INTRODUCTION
The following report is being prepared for the Association of Ecotourism in Spain which is a
non-profit organisation established in 2010 for sustainable management and development of
tourism destinations of Spain. Menorca Islands is one of the island amongst the group of Balearic
Islands in the country of Spain and has been a very popular tourist destination since the early
1960s (Gómez-Pujol and et. al, 2013). In the following project report, an attempt is being made
to understand the evolution of the concept of sustainable tourism and role of various
organisations in promotion of sustainable tourism. The report also aims to evaluate the various
principles of tourism management, impacts of tourism activities and the importance of
stakeholder engagement and community participation in increasing sustainability and
responsibility in tourism industry with an example and reference to Menorca Islands.
TASK 1
P1 Explain how the concept of sustainable and responsible tourism has evolved.
Sustainable tourism can be characterized as an idea which includes addressing the
requirements of tourists, the travel industry and all the networks which go about as hosts without
compromising on the future generation’s capacity and ability to address their requirements
(Harris, Williams and Griffin, 2012). Sustainable tourism has the target of limiting the negative
effect of any type of the tourism activity on different social, financial and ecological
3

measurements or dimensions. One of the basic fundamental principle of sustainable tourism
involves increasing awareness between the various stakeholders involved in the tourism industry
with respect to the current negative impacts of tourism and the importance of implementation of
a sustainable and responsible tourism model (Liu, 2003). Tourism activity has witnessed an
exponential growth over the past many years and has become a major attraction for various
companies and organisations. The economic impact and importance of tourism industry can’t be
overstated to the management of AES. However, the other adverse impacts of tourism industry
primarily on social and ecological elements couldn’t be ignored for long. In the early 1980s, the
idea of sustainable development gained massive popularity and importance which was primarily
based on the argument that there exists a responsibility to ensure that future needs and
requirements of coming generation’s are not being compromised as a result of negligence and
carelessness which was widely evident by the current generation. It led to major awakening in
the industrial sector and business organisations all over the world. This also gave birth to the idea
of sustainability and responsibility in tourism industry and the likely impacts of tourism activity
on social, economic and environmental dimension were being evaluated. The importance of
sustainability in tourism started gaining popularity since the year 1987 and accelerated at a rapid
pace as a result of the Rio Summit in 1992 and the Agenda 21. Issues such as global warming
and climate change were the key agenda of these meetings and forums and impact of every
activity on these issues was assessed (Du Plessis, 2002). This was the first instance when the
impact of tourism industry was evaluated beyond the profits and generation of revenue for
different countries and it demonstrated an immediate need to take measures and policies which
helps in mitigation of the negative impacts of tourism and improves the positives associated with
the industry. Further in the year 1997, key issues and concerns in the debate which goes around
sustainability and responsibility in tourism industry were identified and as a result, emphasis was
laid on adopting measures to remove the negative outcomes of tourism industry such as
contribution to pollution and discharge of ozone-depleting gases (McGehee, 2014). Menorca is
one amongst the group of Balearic Islands in the country of Spain and has been a very popular
tourist destination since the early 1960s. A sudden rise in the tourism activity in and around the
islands led to some damage being done with respect to sustainability in the tourism activity on
the islands. The management of AES needs to consider that the initial rise in the tourism activity
of Balearic Islands exhibited ineffective management approach. However, riding the wave of
4