Tourism and conservation

• Revenue generated by diving, snorkelling and coral viewing has been estimated at 10-20 times higher than income from fishing in reef areas. Tourism to Australia's Barrier Reef is estimated to be worth over US$1.67 billion a year. In the Maldives, divers spend US$2.3 million a year on shark dives - estimated at 100 times more than the export value of the shark meat.
  

• In 1998, 6 million people went on whale-watching trips, generating £31 million a year. Whale watching is a significant tourist activity in 65 countries and 300 locations. The number of tourists going whale watching is increasing by 10 per cent a year. (Green Travel Guide)
  

• One ecotourism researcher (Olindo, in Whelan, Nature Tourism , 1991) calculated the value of a Kenyan elephant at US$14,375 a year, or US$900,000 over an average elephant's lifetime.
  

• In the last 32 years Earthwatch, an organisation that offers volunteer working holidays, has provided 10 million hours of volunteer time to environmental research projects in over 118 countries. It has raised US$50 million for environmental research.
  

• Since 1998, UK tour operator Discovery Initiatives has contributed over US$50,000 per year to Tanjing Puting National Park in Kalimantan, through a partnership with the Orangutan Foundation. This money was raised from only five tours a year, yet is equivalent to the income from 1.25 million visitors paying the park entry fee of 12 cents.
  

• A recent and far-reaching development is that four of Europe's largest tour operators have signed up to co-operate with The Travel Foundation, a charity created to help manage tourism more sustainably, increase economic benefits to local communities and, in turn secure the future of the travel business. ( www.thetravelfoundation.org ).

National parks

In 2000, the UNEP estimated that protected forests accounted for 479 million hectares, which is equivalent to 12.4 per cent of the world's forest area. Tourism can provide vital funding for national parks and other conservation areas:

• Tourist income in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador generates US$2 million a year for the Galapagos National Park, more than double the park's funding from the Ecuadorian government. (Honey)
  

• Income from tourism in Kruger National Park exceeds the cost of managing the park and supports 3,000 local jobs.
  

• In the mid-1990s, gorilla-viewing trips in Bwindi National Park in Uganda generated US$400,000 a year for the national park, of which 10-20 per cent went to local community projects.

Local communities

Many analysts now argue that if tourism is to contribute successfully to conservation, it must also benefit local communities, giving them a stake in the conservation process:

• Rocktail Bay, a safari lodge in South Africa, provides salaries of US$2-3,000 for 30 people, and casual employment for another 60, providing a collective income for 1,500 people. (www.propoortourism.org.uk)
  

• A study of the Penduka community tourism project in Namibia, which employs 30 women, found that each member of staff supported between 30 and 50 people. Community tourism projects in Namibia generate US$230,000 a year for poor Namibians. (www.propoortourism.org.uk)
  

• At Magbais on Mindanao Island in the Philippines, illegal logging has fallen by 95 per cent since the construction in 1997 of a rainforest canopy walkway for tourists, run in conjunction with the local community. (WTO: Sustainable Development of Tourism: A Compilation of Good Practices, 2000)

Consumer demand

Surveys and polls indicate that many holidaymakers are willing to pay more for more sustainable travel:

• A MORI poll for ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) in 2000 found that 85 per cent of UK holidaymakers said it was important not to damage the environment. 71 per cent thought tourism should benefit local people while 64 per cent said they would pay between £10 and £25 more for their holiday if it benefited local people, charity or the environment.
  

• A separate survey found that 50 per cent of UK holidaymakers would pay an average of 5 per cent more for their holiday if the money mean fairer wages for local people or protecting the environment. (Tearfund: Tourism: An Ethical Issue, 2000).
  

• A 1995 survey by the TIA (Travel Industry Association of America) found that 83 per cent of travellers said they would spend more for tours/facilities that conserved the environment.

Greener tourism

There is huge potential for hotels and resorts to cut energy and water use. For instance:

• Hilton Hotels are now on the FTSE 4 Good Index, one of the first travel and tourism companies to be on the sustainability index.
  

• Banff Springs Hotel, Canada, cut waste by more than 85 per cent through a recycling programme.
  

• By placing recycling bins in 70 rooms, Toronto's Skydome Hotel collected 58,000 cans and 12,000 bottles in a year.
  

• LeSport Resort, St Lucia, saved a million gallons of water in a year by recycling 'greywater' (run-off from washing) to water lawns. Apple Farm Inn, California, saved US$5,000 and 4,200 gallons of water a day by recycling greywater to flush toilets.
  

• By reducing toilet flush volumes Hotel Beausejour, New Brunswick, Canada, saved 26,400 gallons of water a year.
  

• The Seattle Westin Hotel, USA, cut energy use in rooms by 66 per cent and saved US$400,000 a year by fitting energy-efficient light bulbs.
  

• As part of its EcoTaj initiative, the Taj Hotel chain uses solar heating to supply between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of hot water in its hotels. The group has found that the initial investment can pay for itself in as little as two years.
  

• Lapa Rios resort in Costa Rica has planted 25,000 native palms to use as roofing material for thatched guest cabins.
  

• The luxury Al Maha Resort in the United Arab Emirates has set aside 98 per cent of its 3,500-acre site as a nature reserve. Lapa Rios in Costa Rica has also created a 1,000-acre private reserve.
  (The Green Host Effect, J Sweeting et al, Conservation International, 1999)

This section was compiled by Mark Mann, author of The Gringo Trail and Tourism Concern's Community Tourism Guide.

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