Vague, with buzzwordsIndeed, the de

Vague, with buzzwords
Indeed, the debate on tourism principles and guidelines is a tricky one - not only because it is heavily overshadowed by politics of global players. Another point of concern is that guidelines and programmes, as discussed and adopted by advocates of sustainable tourism at the international level, naturally remain very vague. Usually, they are also overly euphemistic, with buzzwords abounding: e.g. empowerment of local communities; local participation and control; equitable income distribution; benefits to nature conservation and biodiversity protection; etc.
A tourism researcher from the University of British Columbia, Nick Kontogeorgopoulos, suggested that attempts to implement tourism projects based on such guidelines are bound to fail altogether because it is simply impossible to apply them to highly disparate and heterogeneous destinations. He says, 'While these altruistic principles are laudable in theory, the absence of place-specific context strips them of empirical evidence.' In conclusion: Not the global game, but local circumstances and conditions represent the essential determinant of success for sustainable development.
In Asia, social and environmental activists argue that the inflationary tourism policies in the context of globalization have greatly contributed to the present economic crisis. During the era of the so-called bubble economy, indiscriminate and unsustainable investments led to the rapid conversion of lands into massive tourism complexes, including luxury hotels, golf courses and casinos, and related infrastructure such as airports, highways, and dams to generate electricity. With economic liberalisation, the tourism, real estate and construction industries boomed, backed by local banks and global speculative capital. An essay written by renowned tourism critic and media activist Ing. K. reflects the anger of many Thais about the developments that have led to the country's bankruptcy. She presents the hard facts as follows:
'Land speculation became a national pastime, permeating every beautiful village, however remote. Land prices skyrocketed. Villagers sold agriculturally productive land to speculators. Practically overnight, fertile land became construction sites. The plague kept spreading; corruption got out of control. National parks and forest reserves were encroached upon by golf courses and resorts ...
'Many instant millionaires were made, but much of this new rich money was not wisely invested in productive ventures. Instead, most of it was spent on luxury "dream" products and services, in pursuit of the consumer lifestyle.
'Many of these people were merely imitating tourists and were influenced by the prevailing free-spending frenzy. Greed and consumerism devastated whole communities all over Thailand, raising the temperature even higher, on every level of society...
'In the end, we have nothing to show for it but whole graveyards of unsold high-rise condominiums, shophouses, golf course and resort developments and housing estates.'
Now, all discussions and work programmes relating to the implementation of global and local Agendas 21 and sustainable development appear - more than ever -removed from reality in view of the unfolding Asian crisis - a human disaster with millions of unemployed and landless people falling below the poverty line. According to the latest figures from UN agencies, more than 100 million people in the region are newly impoverished. And there are growing fears that the machinations of unregulated global speculative capital now threaten to ruin not only Asian economies but the rest of the world as well.
A major question that needs to be addressed in this context: Where will all the money come from for sustainable development and tourism projects? In Thailand, for example, the World Bank and the Japanese OECF have agreed to provide loans to improve and expand tourism as part of a social investment programme (SIP) aimed at tackling the problems of unemployment and loss of income arising from the economic crisis. It has been stressed that tourism development is crucial for the country's economic recovery, and 'community participation' and 'sustainability' are mentioned as major components in projects. But critics have warned that firstly, tourism is not a quick commodity that can pull the country out of its economic pains. And secondly, much of the borrowed money will be used for new developments in national parks and biodiversity-rich areas in the drive to promote 'ecotourism'.
Let me confront you with a provocative idea now. It is not the longstanding efforts by the many experts promoting and working on the implementation of global and local Agendas that bring us closer to sustainable tourism. Ironically, it is rather the current all-embracing crisis which may eventually make tourism more sustainable - at least in environmental terms. Why?
First of all, a basic problem of sustainable tourism has been the rapidly expanding numbers of travellers. But as a result of the crisis, tourism growth has come to a standstill. Due to currency devaluation, increasing unemployment, declining income and deflation, Asian markets are collapsing. Even the numbers of Japanese going abroad for holidays are now declining for the first time in 18 years. European and American holidaymakers have also shunned South-East Asian countries because of 1997's smog disaster, caused by forest fires in Indonesia, and political turmoil in the region - e.g. in Burma, Cambodia and - more recently - Indonesia.
As the economic contagion is spreading, the travel fever that had gripped Russia and other East European countries after the fall of the Soviet Union is also on the wane, as the Russian currency, the rouble, has plummeted dramatically and the economy slumps. Moreover, amid the decline of business activities in Asia, stockmarket slumps and fears of a global recession, nervous companies around the world are limiting corporate travel spending. The WTTC, which had earlier in 1998 forecast growth averaging 7% a year throughout 2008, now expects the global tourism market to remain flat in the next years. This may be bad in terms of economics but, unquestionably, the environment will benefit from stagnating or even decreasing tourist numbers.
For instance, the air travel industry has been identified as one of the biggest environmental villains in tourism. With fewer people travelling, however, the Asia-Pacific aviation industry is now flying into a deep recession. Airlines are fighting for survival by closing or cutting unprofitable routes, selling aircraft and cancelling orders for new aircraft. Governments are forced to cut budgets for airport expansion and construction. Ultimately, that means less pollution and less environmentally damaging developments.
The real estate and construction industries, which are both inextricably linked to the tourism industry, were the first industries that crash-landed when the Asian bubble economy burst. As a result, many speculative and unsustainable hotel and resort development projects have been abandoned, and new construction is down to a trickle. An excellent example is golf, which became a symbol of globalized leisure and tourist lifestyle in Asian tiger societies. But as the frenzy to build luxurious golf course complexes - including hotels, housing estates and shopping centres - has almost stopped completely, and middle-class people affected by the crisis are turning away from the expensive sport of golf, environmentalists can be relieved: The malaise of rampant land grabs, national park encroachments, deforestation, etc. related to golf courses is no longer as threatening as it was a few years ago.
On the other hand, while many tourism-related companies may have scrapped or postponed potentially harmful projects, one needs to acknowledge that because of the financial crunch, public and private investments in environmental protection are also being cut. Moreover, there have been warnings that the crisis has resulted in an upsurge of crime, prostitution, drug abuse and other social vices related to tourism.