Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch

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Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Process | Positioningpapergovernments in order to implement their agenda. In 1995, the World Tourism Organization,jointly with the World Travel & Tourism Council and the Earth Council, defined containspriority areas for action in the tourism sector. They were published in the report, "Agenda 21for the Travel & Tourism Industry. Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development" 36 ,which analyses the strategic and economic importance of the sector and demonstrates theenormous benefits in making the whole industry sustainable. 37The "Millennium Vision" document on travel and tourism by WTTC recommends togovernments to accept tourism as an economic development and employment priority. Theyalso call for a move towards open and competitive markets by supporting the implementationof the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), liberalise air transport and deregulatetelecommunications in international markets. 38They also encourage and support market-based mechanisms like the "Green Globe"certification with UNWTO. In 1997, the WTTC successfully opposed a UN proposal to tax airtravel to fund environmental protection, preferring instead to focus on the industry’s selfimprovementincentives and light-handed regulation as its millennium vision for theenvironmental policy agenda in tourism. 39A 2000 survey by WWF claimed that "Green Globe", the WTTC-backed environmentalcertification scheme, allowed 500 companies to use its logo, although only about 60 of theseactually met the criteria involved. In 1995, a fake travel business set up by a TV company(World Television News) was given the right to display a Green Globe symbol for US$200,simply by sending in an application form. 40Their programmes are very much industry and market centric, further reflecting theinequalities between countries (especially between tourist sending and receiving countries).International Financial InstitutionsOther supranational organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been imposing so called StructuralAdjustment Programmes (SAP) upon Third World countries. They often propagate the ideaof a "trickle down" effect of tourism as an argument to justify projects supported by them.Beyond these institutions, there are the World Trade Organization (WTO) and regional tradeagreements also curtailing the independence and sovereignty of Third World countries. Theconcept of sovereign states is also fading with mechanisms such as North America Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA) or the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thesearrangements can reinforce disparities between countries and regions and, in effect, imposecertain "choices" upon weaker countries both within and outside the agreement.36Agenda 21 for the Travel & Tourism Industry: Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development (1996) World Travel and TourismCouncil, World Tourism Organization and the Earth Council.37UNWTO background note, Annex: Source: www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/448Annex_unwto_cln.pdf, retrieved on26/5/201238Third World Network :Tourism, globalisation and sustainable development, www.twnside.org.sg/title/anita-cn.htm, retrieved on 24/5/201239Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA Discussion Paper No. 19 November 2002) Impact of Tourism onEnvironment in Kenya: Status and Policy,www.kippra.org/docs/DP19.pdf, retrieved on 22/5/201240Sustainable tourism and eco tourism, compiled by Mark Mann, posted on 6th September 2004.http://www.peopleandplanet.net/?lid=26785&section=47&topic=26, retrieved on 20/5/201260
Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Process | PositioningpaperIt is interesting to note that along with the political relationships and economic actions theseinstitutions increasingly use the language of sustainability in their policies. They use thislanguage to co-opt celebrities and the international community to further influence theagenda of the discourse. Many international, national and regional NGOs are also co-opted bythese agencies or respective governments. Most of these NGOs represent middle class or uppermiddle class interests. As an end result, they protect the interests of industry. It is necessary toexamine the combination of these groups and to find out for whom they speak, whom theyrepresent, and who controls them.Tourism as a development model?Before getting into a development debate, we need to examine the power relations within thetourism industry. International donors like the World Bank, the IMF and other InternationalFinancial Institutions (IFIs) define the dictated development path through pre-conditionedguidelines for their finance. They often ask for further liberalisation, competitiveness, etc.which results in uneven and unequal tourism development.Tourism today is an extension of this uneven and unequal development paradigm. Also,tourism in Third World countries is often an expansion of colonialism because it structurallybenefits companies in the north or elites in the destinations. Even countries that pursuesocialist strategies and ideologies follow the same model: Tourism is seen just as a "cash crop".In some developing countries, more than two thirds of the revenue from internationaltourism never reaches the local economy because of high economic leakages. In this free tradeand liberalised investment era, the situation may even be worse because profits and otherincome from tourism are repatriated by foreign companies.Any destructive model of development today is easilyjustified by pointing to its contribution to GDP. For mostgovernments around the world and for agencies likeUNWTO, the rate of increase in GDP represents growthand development. The real question is whose growth doesthis represent? The rich are getting richer at the cost of thepoor who are getting poorer and poorer. Tourism is noexception. The contribution of tourism is calculated basedon indicators such as GDP, tourist arrivals and foreignexchange earnings. Other larger development indicatorsand tourism’s contribution to sustainable development arejust ignored and nowhere in the discussion. This applies,for example, to development indicators developed by theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for theHuman Development Report (HDR). As a UN agency,UNWTO would be well-advised to cooperate with UNDPto get a better understanding of human development andto answer the core questions: Who benefits from tourism? Who bears the costs?Why good governance in tourism?Governance in tourism is a very important issue which needs more attention in the currentdevelopmental debate. The participation of stakeholders and rights holders in the tourismgovernance process is vital for achieving the goal of sustainable tourism development.Promoting decentralization and strengthening local governance can allow greaterrepresentation and participation of all stakeholders in the decision-making process, as well ascloser involvement of citizens in the policy making process. In fact, there is a growing61
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Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch

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