A Rationale for Teaching About Sustainable Tourism

Four reasons to teach about sustainable tourism are:

1. While tourists are predominantly from the wealthier countries of the world, tourism and travel is nonetheless an increasingly widespread experience for people in many countries. So studying the impact of tourism on development has direct implications for the way visitors think about and conduct themselves in travel to other places. It provides useful opportunities to develop understanding of economic, social and cultural differences. Helping students to become understanding ‘travellers’ rather than simply ‘tourists’ can have real benefits if it leads people to assess how they behave when travelling and how they relate to people from other cultures.
2. Increased world tourism means that there should be no shortage of people and resources on this topic. Visitors can give first hand accounts of the developing world and developed: people from developing countries can give a different perspective on the impact of tourism; and tourist promotion agencies and literature allow the study of the public image of tourism to the overseas consumer. All these provide resources for close study of the tourist industry and experience.
3. Tourism is a major growth industry worldwide, and its positive and negative effects are evident everywhere. This means that the study of tourism in the developing world can be related to the students’ experience of tourism wherever they live, and in many cases responses to issues can be compared with similar issues in students’ own locations. This comparison can provide a bridge between people in many countries, with great potential for empathy and understanding.
4. Tourism has been closely linked to cultural and economic imperialism. For instance, the hotel market is dominated by American multinationals like Holiday Inn, Best Western and Sheraton. In 1991, eight of the top ten tourist hotel chains were American, one was British and one French. Also, tourism has brought certain images and experiences of the developing world to members of colonising nations, and these need to be critically examined by all involved. As a result, the study and teaching of tourism and development offers opportunities to developing nations to inform the rest of the world about their own histories, culture and environments, how they should be understood, and how they can be protected.