Worldwatch has released a new study on the effects of international tourism, "Traveling Light: New Paths for International Tourism" by Staff Researcher Lisa Mastny. Tourism was the world's fastest growing industry before September 11, generating significant impacts on cultures and environments around the world. The current slowdown is an opportunity to move towards sustainable tourism.

Press Release
TOURISM, TERRORISM, AND TOMORROW

As fewer overseas travelers pack their bags this holiday season, millions of tourism industry workers worldwide are losing their jobs. Before September 11th, travel and tourism was the world's largest industry, accounting for one in every 12 jobs. When the massive $3.6 trillion industry almost ground to a halt after the terrorist attacks, the ripple effects extended well beyond the United States, exposing the vulnerability of countries too dependent on international tourism, reports the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based environmental research organization.

"The aftermath of September 11 has shown us how important travel and tourism are to the global economy, but also how over-dependence on tourism can devastate lives and derail economies," says Worldwatch Staff Researcher Lisa Mastny, author of "Traveling Light: New Paths for International Tourism." "Now, more than ever, it is time to put issues of sustainability at the top of the global tourism agenda."

In the paper, Mastny discusses ways that countries can redirect their tourism activities to make them more socially beneficial and environmentally sound. She highlights a wide range of positive efforts underway to minimize tourism's negative impacts and to boost its benefits for local communities and the environment.

Revenues from tourism have been especially important in the developing world, which stands to suffer severe economic losses from the slowdown. "Tourism is the only economic sector where developing countries consistently run a trade surplus," says Mastny. "It's especially significant in poorer countries that have few other options: for the world's 49 so-called least developed countries, tourism is the second largest source of foreign exchange after oil."

Businesses in the developing world are particularly worried about the sharp drop in bookings as the winter high season nears:

* India and Nepal, which are close to Afghanistan, are already feeling
the effects of a drop in demand.
* In October, resort company Club Méditerranée was forced to close 15 of
its holiday villages in the Caribbean, Central America, the Middle East,
Europe, and Asia.
* Operators in Costa Rica report a 30 percent decline in bookings from
last year.
* International tourism is now expected to grow by only 1.5 to 2 percent
in 2001, compared with the robust 7.4 percent rise in 2000.
* The International Labour Organization estimates that as many as 9 million of the world's 200 million hotel and tourism workers could lose their jobs in the wake of the attacks. Nearly three quarters of these positions are outside the United States and Europe, many in countries with weak social safety nets.

Even in the best of times, the consequences of tourism's rapid growth have not always been positive. On average, as much as 50 percent of tourism earnings ultimately "leak" out of the developing world-in the form of profits earned by foreign-owned businesses, promotional spending abroad, or payments for imported goods and labor. And uncontrolled tourism development-on mountaintops, along coastlines, or in remote jungle areas-stresses many fragile ecosystems and cultures.

"Tourism does not have to have such negative impacts," Mastny says. "Many governments and businesses, local communities, and tourists themselves are already paying more attention to the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of their activities."

Such changes can save money as well. Some hotels, tour operators, and other businesses are taking formal steps to restructure their management and operations along environmental lines-often at considerable cost savings. Between 1988 and 1995, for example, Inter-Continental Hotels reduced its overall energy costs by 27 percent, saving $3.7 million in 1995 alone. The Green Hotels Association reports that hotels that have adopted such conservation measures and green practices have been better able to weather the revenue loss, falling occupancies, and higher energy costs in the aftermath of the September attacks.

In the paper, Mastny also examines the role of ecotourism, or responsible tourism in natural settings, in protecting and enhancing environmentally fragile areas. If done well, ecotourism can bring benefits to both local communities and conservation. The ecotourism sector had been growing even faster than the tourism industry as a whole (20% vs. 7%). But Mastny cautions that some businesses are "greenwashing" their operations, slapping on the ecotourism label without actually changing their practices. -END-

QUICK FACTS: Worldwatch Paper 159 Traveling Light

* Between 1950 and 2000, international tourist arrivals increased nearly 28-fold, to 698 million. They are expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020.

* The number of people taking cruises worldwide nearly doubled between 1990 and 1999, to 9 million passengers annually. In 2001 some 53 new vessels were on the order books.

* Each year, up to 5,000 hectares of the Earth's land surface-an area half the size of Paris-is cleared for golf courses. One 18-hole course can consume more than 2.3 million liters of water daily.

* The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan practices a policy of "high-value, low-volume" tourism and accepted only 7,500 visitors in 2000, at a cost of $250 each per day.

* Nearly 80 percent of international tourists come from Europe and the Americas, while only 15 percent originate in East Asia and the Pacific and 5 percent in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia combined.

* The share of international tourists traveling to Asia and the Pacific rose from just 1 percent in 1950 to 16 percent in 2000. By 2020, Asia will be the most popular destination after Europe, attracting a quarter of world tourist traffic. China is expected to unseat France as the most visited country and to become the fourth largest source of tourists.

* In 1999, international tourist spending abroad accounted for nearly 8 percent of world exports of goods and services, surpassing trade in such items as food, textiles, and chemicals. Tourism is also the most rapidly growing export in the services sector, representing more than 40 percent of world services exports.

* In some small island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific, tourism generates more than 40 percent of GDP.

* On average, women account for 46 percent of workers in the hotel, catering, and restaurant sectors-a much higher share than in labor markets overall.

* The passenger jet is overtaking the automobile as the primary means of tourist travel. An estimated 43 percent of international tourists now fly to their destinations, while 42 percent travel by road and 15 percent use either rail or ship.

* In 1992, aircraft emissions contributed roughly 3.5 percent of human-generated greenhouse gases-and this share is expected to rise steadily as air travel increases.

* A 1997 study found that roughly 83 percent of the American public supported green travel services, and that people were willing to spend 6 percent more on average for travel services and products provided by environmentally responsible companies.

Purchasing Information: "Traveling Light" costs $5.00 and can be purchased through the Worldwatch website: www.worldwatch.org or by calling 1-800-555-2028 in the U.S. and 1-301-567-9522 from anywhere else.

Copyright (c) 1998 Worldwatch Institute, All Rights Reserved Published by: Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036, 202-452-1999 http://www.worldwatch.org This publication may be freely copied or retransmitted provided it remains intact and without changes. No partial display, partial retransmission, or partial duplication in any medium, including BBS, Intranet, Internet Email, or website duplication, is permitted without the attachment of this copyright notice. Any partial duplication unaccompanied by this copyright notice will be considered a copyright infringement. Worldwatch Institute

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