Trends in Tourism

Top tourist destinations

• What countries do you think are the top travel destinations in the world?

Top tourist destinations

• France

• United States

• China

• Spain

• Italy

• United Kingdom

• Mexico

Trends

• Which area do you think has experienced the greatest growth in tourism over the last 25 years?– Africa– Asia– The Americas– Europe– The Middle East

Trends

• Where do you think most tourists come from?– Africa– Asia– The Americas– Europe– The Middle East

Ecotourism

Why Sustainable Tourism?

• Tourism has a serious negative impact on the environment– Burning fossil fuels for travel– Building airports, hotels, tourist attractions– Pollution and litter– Heavy traffic in sensitive areas

Sustainable Tourism

• “Tourism development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations of tourists”

• By far the biggest growth area for tourism in the last 15 years

• Goal is to minimize travellers’ impact on the environment

Requirements of Sustainable Tourism

• Should protect the existing and future use of an environment

• Should respect the people and the culture of the local area

• Should allow for the long-term use of the area

• Should provide long-term economic benefits to the people living in the tourist area

Sustainable Tourism

• Generally known as Ecotourism– Wilderness Tourism and Adventure Tourism

also qualify as Sustainable• They appeal to a smaller demographic though

Costa Rica

• Costa Rica is probably the poster child for ecotourism

• Check out p. 24-26 in the textbook– How important is the tourism industry to Costa

Rica?– What % of tourism there is ecotourism?– How has ecotourism benefited the country?– Why do you think Costa Rica is well suited to

ecotourism?

The downside

• There are many critics of ecotourism

• Check out page 27 and summarize the problems associated with ecotourism