Subject: Taming the Superlatives

Summary: Tourism, the subject of this forum, is important in the global
economy but it is definitely not the biggest player. Agriculture occupies a
larger share of the labor force than does tourism, especially in developing
countries where much of the biodiversity interest is focused. And retail
trade generates more in revenues than does tourism.

Keywords: tourism, agriculture, labor force, retail trade, revenue

In our quest for superlatives to use in describing our work, we are prone to
claim (and repeat other's claims) that tourism is variously the biggest,
fastest growing, or largest earner of foreign currency. I admit that it is
comforting to feel that our chosen field is not fading away, but we need to
keep the proper perspective.

Tourism is dependent on discretionary income. The tourism industry
contracts during recessions and slows during economic downturns. For the
four billion people in the world living on less than four dollars a day,
becoming a tourist it is not even a distant dream.

The tourism industry is dynamic, with dramatic ups and downs. Destinations
and entire countries fall into and out of favor. If the conservation of
biodiversity is conditioned on adequate tourist dollars pouring into a
country, what happens when the flow of tourists slows? The impacts of these
dynamics on biodiversity are essentially unstudied. In spite of great
photographs and entertaining anecdotes, we still have a long way to go to
demonstrate in a convincing way that nature-based tourism is good for
biodiversity over the long term.

If I sound too pessimistic, perhaps it is because the superlatives sound too
optimistic. While I am confident that global markets will continue to offer
high-quality tourism experiences, and tourists will continue to seek high
value for their tourist dollars, I see no reason to expect that the
conservation of biodiversity will be a major or even a minor consideration
in what will be basically economic decisions.

Research on the roles and values of biodiversity within the tourist economy
may help us to convince politicians and other decisionmakers of the need to
consider long-term biodiversity values. But tourism could just as easily
become a commodity product, and the tourist industry be viewed as a
short-term extractive industry, if alternatives appear that offer higher
returns of investment. The existence of Disneyland and safari parks clearly
demonstrates that many tourists don't know the difference or don't care.

(I want to acknowledge the work of Dr. Robert Healy at Duke University who
has done considerable work on some of the themes in this short essay,
especially the connection between ecotourism and agriculture.)

John Shores
http://www.geocities.com/shores_system/