Sustainable

Potential impacts include harm to the environment, society and local economies of tourist destinations around the world. Awareness and action about these concerns are on the rise within tourism industry, Govts. And NGOs. Bigger planning and management is in dire need to control the tourism industry, and more important protect and conserve the biodiversity of tourist places. Dealing predominantly with such serious issues, sustainable tourism comes in great handy, as it is all about conserving the resources, valuing the local culture and tradition and contributing largely in economy.

It is tourism that truly benefits those who are on the receiving end and that does not exploit and degrade the environment in which they live and form which they must earn a living after the last tourist has flown back home. Thus tourism is brought within the debate on sustainable development in general SD (and ST) takes into account three central points: - The necessary interactions between the environment and economic activity.
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Long term time scale and Inter as well as intra-governmental equity-providing for the needs of current societies without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.

ST is simply SD achieved through tourism.

Just as SD assumes continued economic growth, so ST assumes continued tourism growth. ST is tourism dev that avoids damage to the environment, economy and cultures of the locations where it takes place. ST is a kind of approach to tourism meant to make the development of tourism ecologically supportable in the long term. The very important of ST lies in its motives to conserve the resources and increase the value of local culture and tradition. ST is a form of tourism that follows the principles of sustainability.

The aim of ST is to ensure that dev is a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and tourist themselves. ST development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. - UNWTO, 1995 (Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry). ST is responsible tourism intending to generate employment and income along with alleviating any deeper impact on environment and local culture. ST is often equated with nature or eco-tourism; but ST development means more than protecting the natural environment. It means proper consideration of host people, communities, cultures, customs, lifestyles and social and economic systems.

ST can reduce the impact of tourism in many ways including: i. Informing themselves of the culture, politics, and economy of the communities visited.
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Anticipating and respecting local cultures expectation and assumptions.

Contributing tolerance. to intercultural understanding and

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Supporting the integrity of local cultures by favouring business which conserves cultural heritage and traditional values.

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Supporting local economies by purchasing local goods and participating with small, local businesses. Conserving resources by seeking out business that are environmentally conscious and by using the least possible amount of non-renewable resources. When we refer to ST activities we mean any activity that can be carried out in the same or similar way for an indefinite future (sustainable in time) in three main aspects: a. Environmentally: - the activity minimizes any damage to the environment, i.e plants, animals, water, soils, energy use etc and provides a benefit to the environment through protection and conservation.

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Socially and culturally: - the activity does not harm, and may revitalize, the social structure or culture of the community where it is located. Economically: - the activity can sustain itself economically; it continues to contribute to the economic well being of the local community through local ownership, employment, buying local etc. A sustainable business should benefit its owners, its employees, and neighbours.
When we take these three aspects into account, this is called the triple bottom-line. Sometimes it is referred to as doing well by doing good.

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Principles of Sustainable Tourism: 1. Using resources sustainably: i. The conservation and sustainable use of resources (natural, social, cultural is crucial and makes long term business sense).
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Reducing over consumption and waste: Reduction of over-consumption and waste avoids the costs of restoring long-term environmental damage and contributes to the quality of tourism.
Maintaining Biodiversity: Maintaining and promoting natural, social and cultural diversity is essential for long term ST and creates a resilient base for the industry.

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Integrating tourism into planning: Tourism dev which is integrated into a national and local strategic planning framework and which under takes environmental impact assessments; increase the long-term viability of tourism.

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Supporting local economies: Tourism that supports a wide range of local economic activities and which takes environmental costs and values into account both protects these economies and avoids environmental damage.
Involving local communities: The full involvement of local communities in the tourism sector not only benefits them and the environment but also improves the quality of the tourism project.

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Training Staff: i. Staff training which integrates ST into world practices, along with recruitment of a personnel at all levels, improves the quality of tourism product.

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Marketing tourism responsibility: 1. Marketing that provides tourist with full and responsible information increases respect for the natural, social and cultural environments of destination areas and enhances customer satisfaction.
Undertaking research: - On going research and monitoring by the industry using effective data collection and analysis is essential to help solve problems and bring benefits to destinations, the industry and customers.

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