Tourism & sustainable development

Thierry Baert

Sustainable development

Integrated local development

Tourism & local development

Specificities of Tourism

Towards sustainable tourism

Specific threats for the area

2

Origin of sustainable development as a

worldwide political concept :

« Our Common Future »aka the Brundtland report to the UNO(1987)United Nations world commission on Environment and

Development

« Meeting the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their own needs »

3

Social and environment issuesare considered as constraints.

Economy

Environment

The traditional industrial economy

Economy is dominating

With its social-démocratic version compromises at national levels in - mainly -northern Europe (1880-1980)

4

Economy

EnvironmentSocial

Social

the social dimensionacquires some power and some

autonomy

Economy

EnvironmentSocial

And What political regulation ?

Toward sustainable development

Liveable

Fair Viable

Sustainable

A new sustainable compromise

What spatial and temporal scales ?

Economy

Social Environment

5

Regulating interactions between

economic, social and environmental mattersCan this be operational/accepted ?

What kind of social and

political coalitions are

needed?

What does it mean at local level?

6

Traditional local

developmentIntegrated local development

thematic /“silos”

approach

Inter-departmental

approach

Easy to conceive, uneasy to implement as this means confrontation between various professional and cultural identities.

7

Cross-fertilization

Traditional local

developmentIntegrated local development

Easy to conceive, uneasy to implement as this means New relationships between levels of government/decentralisation

8

Hierarchical approach

Specialised approachcontractual approaches

Multilevel agreements

Traditional local

developmentIntegrated local development

Easy to conceive, uneasy to implement as this means Forgetting prejudices and defining common interests/developing trust

9

?

+

Fragmented areas

Territorial competitionCooperation between

local authorities

networks

Peopleand

Gender

(social)

Place(environment)

Institutions(economy

and politic)

10

Institutions(economy and politic)

People(social)

Place(environment)

Traditional local

developmentIntegrated local development

From government

To governance

No single relevant level:

multiscale integration

Polycentric urban and rurban

region level

11

Neighbourhood level

Citylevel

Integrated local development is

both a process and a product:

local development plans/agenda 21

Diagnosis:

Evidence,

Challenges &

opportunities

Public

Information/

sensibiisation

Options

And

Strategies

Implemen

tation

program

me:

Responsibilities

and tasks

Monitoring & review

Availabl

e

ressour

ces

time is

another key

dimension

Tourism and integrated local development ?

Cross sector industry

13

Tourismand directly related activities

airport

port

beach

heritage

site

Shopping

area

nature

site

hotelshotels

hotels

hotels

Cross territorial industry

Tourism policy

Tourism policy

Tourism policy

Tourism policy ?

Tourism policy

To

uri

sm

co

mm

on

str

ate

gy

Tourism and integrated local development ?

Towards a Cross-institutions/multilevel policy?

Peopleand

Gender

(social)

Place(environment)

Institutions(economy

and politic)

15

Institutions(economy and politic)

People(social)

Place(environment)

How is this applying to tourism ?

From government

To governance

Mass international tourism is a Euro-mediterranean issue

Posh « authentic » hollyday area

Trendy exclusive place

Middle class family ressort

Mass tourism attraction

Junk tourism destination

Luxury accomodation

Clubs and tour operators

Cheaper accomodation

Low cost flights

Pro

perty

mark

et in

cre

ase

Qu

ality

decay

unexpected consequences of attractiveness

Sustainable tourism

A traditionnal definition

Sustainable tourism is a place, event or tourist attraction that is

sustainable in three main areas, it meets the "Triple Bottom Line".

To be sustainable, it must be economically, environmentally and socio-

culturally sustainable.

Not many tourism ideas and places are, but they can meet the Line partially.

Or again « Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their own needs

An alternative one

Not only present needs vs future ones

But also local needs vs tourists ones

i.e. Actively contribute to integrated local development

sustainable tourism should:

1. Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key

element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological

processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.

2. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve

their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute

to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.

3. Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-

economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including

stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services

to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation

UNEP United Nations Environment Program

Regional pick oils

Resilience

This implies :

• Resistance – the degree of disruption that can be accommodated without the

community undergoing long term change. A highly resilient community can

withstand considerable disruption before undergoing long-term change.

• Recovery – the community’s ability to pull through or bounce back to its pre-

disaster state. A highly resilient community returns to its pre-disaster state, or

moves beyond that, quicker than a less resilient community.

• Creativity – the community’s ability to build on learnings of a crisis or disaster, to

gain an improved level of functioning and increased levels of resilience. A highly

resilient community will adapt to its new circumstances and learn from the disaster

experience.Freely adapted from the Australian government definition

Community resilience is the capacity of groups to

withstand, recover from, and respond positively to crisis,

disasters or adversity.

Thank you for your attention

Thierry Baert - tbaert@nordnet.fr

mailto:tbaert@nordnet.fr