Travel and Tourism: Sustainable Practices, Whaling vs. Watching Report

This report examines sustainable tourism practices through the lens of whale watching, focusing on the community-based tourism organization Whale Watch Kaikoura (WWK) in New Zealand. It analyzes WWK's sustainable operations, which prioritize ecotourism and marine conservation, providing insights into their eco-friendly practices and educational initiatives. The report delves into the debate between whaling and whale watching, arguing for the prioritization of animal rights within the context of sustainable tourism, while also acknowledging the importance of cultural rights. It outlines sustainable practices for whale watching, including the use of eco-friendly vessels and waste management, to minimize negative impacts on marine life and the environment. The report references the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and highlights the economic benefits of whale watching for local communities and the importance of balancing cultural practices with animal welfare and environmental protection. The assignment demonstrates how sustainable tourism can contribute to both economic development and the preservation of natural resources.

Running head: TRAVEL AND TOURISM
TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1. Discuss how a community based tourism organisation such as WWK is acting sustainably.
Provide reasons and examples to support your answer...................................................................2
2. In the debate on whaling versus whale watching, should cultural rights be prioritized over
animal rights within the context of sustainable tourism?................................................................3
3. Provide an outline of sustainable practice that can be used in whale watching to ensure that
it does not have impact on the whales.............................................................................................4

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1. Discuss how a community based tourism organisation such as WWK is
acting sustainably. Provide reasons and examples to support your
answer.
Whale Watch Kaikoura (WWK) is operated by the Maoris, the local community of New
Zealand. WWK focuses on ecotourism where the main attraction is the Giant Sperm whales and
other marine creatures like dolphins. The main focus of WWK is to give the tourists an insight
about the marine life, educate the tourists about the marine creatures and the importance to
conserve the marine creatures and also in fostering appreciation for the natural habitats and
provides a marine experience for the tourists. It is seen that WWK focuses on growing and
developing in a sustainable way and thus resorts to activities that promote sustainable work
WWK provides eco-friendly vessels to operate so that it protects the sea and the marine life. The
tour guides provide the necessary information and education about whales while the activities of
whale watching which encourages the conservation of the marine creatures like the whales and
various different environmental actions. It also encourages the tourists to appreciate the natural
beauty of the whales and the environment and encourages them to protect the whales by the
participatory experience with the marine creatures. According to scholars, sustainable tourism
helps in minimizing the negative impacts on the society and environment and sanguine impacts
on the economy and the local communities (Gale & Hill, 2016). WWK has contributed to the
development of the economy of Kaikoura and has provided employment opportunities for the
locals in Kaikoura that shows the sustainable activities of WWK which has resulted in bringing
Kaikoura on the map and making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in New Zealand.

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2. In the debate on whaling versus whale watching, should cultural rights
be prioritized over animal rights within the context of sustainable
tourism?
Whaling is a practice where whales are killed in order to obtain their products that are usable
like blubber and meat. There are few countries like Iceland who practice commercial whaling to
acquire the meat of the whales to make authentic dishes which helps in promoting the culture of
the country to the tourists (Ashkenazi, Jacob & Axelrod, 2017). On the other hand, whale
watching is the kind of tourism where tourists come to observe the whales and obtain a
memorable marine experience. According to Article 3 of the Globe Code of Ethics for Tourism
for sustainable development in tourism it is the responsibility and duty of all the stakeholders of
the tourism industry to safeguard natural environment (Ethics.unwto.org, 2019). In context to
sustainable tourism, it is important to prioritize animal rights over cultural rights because in the
name of tourism there have been incidents that has lead to unjust suffering of animals which has
resulted in many animals becoming endangered. On the other hand, cultural rights is also
important in tourism, Article 4 of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism states that financial
resources that are usually derived from the visits that are made to monuments and cultural sites
be used effectively for the embellishment and development of the heritage and the tourism
activities need to be planned in a manner that will help in flourishing the cultural aspect and
degenerate them (Ethics.unwto.org, 2019). Article 5 states that the local population should be a
part of the tourism activities and should benefit from tourism like employment and the policies
of tourism need to be made in a way that helps in improving the standard of living of the
particular region (Ethics.unwto.org, 2019).. Cultural rights are being maintained and from the
example of WWK in Kaikoura it can be seen that the local community are the main people who

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are operating the tourism their thus animal rights need more focus so that they are protected from
being endangered and be a healthy part of the ecosystem.
3. Provide an outline of sustainable practice that can be used in whale
watching to ensure that it does not have impact on the whales.
Whale watching is considered to be ecotourism and a sustainability activity as it does not
harm marine creatures rather encourages tourists to appreciate the natural beauty of the marine
creatures. Whale watching is considered to be a sustainable activity however there have been
several arguments that suggest that whale watching has direct negative effects on the whales and
dolphins because of the vessels that often harm the creatures. In order to sustainably carry whale
watching activities, tour companies need to follow some measurable steps like the following:
 The vessels in which tourists are taken to the sea need to be made of materials that will
not erode in water like they bottom of the vessels should not have copper paint as it can
destroy the creatures and the fauna and flora of the sea.
 Use electric vessels that will help operate with the help of solar energy that will help in
avoiding the risk of oil spillage which has negative impacts on the sea as well as the
marine life.
 Use of Marine Sanitation Devices that will help in accumulating the human waste in the
vessel itself and not spill in the sea.

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Reference
Ashkenazi, M., Jacob, J., & Axelrod, R. (2017). Whaling (ICRw) and the International Whaling
Commission.” In Science and In-ternational Environmental Regimes: Integrity and
Involvement, ed. Arild Under-dal, Steinar Andresen, Tora Skodvin, and Jørgen
Wettetstad. Manchester, Eng. Toward a Sustainable Whaling Regime, 337.
Ethics.unwto.org. (2019). Global Code of Ethics for Tourism - Article 3 | Ethics, Culture and
Social Responsibility. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism-article-3
Ethics.unwto.org. (2019). Global Code of Ethics for Tourism - Article 4 | Ethics, Culture and
Social Responsibility. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism-article-4
Ethics.unwto.org. (2019). Global Code of Ethics for Tourism - Article 5 | Ethics, Culture and
Social Responsibility. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from
http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism-article-5
Gale, T., & Hill, J. (2016). Ecotourism and environmental sustainability: An introduction. In
Ecotourism and Environmental Sustainability (pp. 21-34). Routledge.