The
most common definition of sustainable development is: “development which meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).”
In essence, for sustainable development to occur there must be some sort of
trade-off between the aspirations of the present and those of the future.
Successful management of resources is the cornerstone of sustainable
development. Creating sustainable development is especially important to nature
based tourism because it completely relies on an ecological resource that is
usually non-renewable and irreplaceable. Once the environmental resource has
developed past the point where it is no longer attractive to perspective
tourist the entire economy of the dependent host community will collapse. Through
tourism, the Philippines aspires to become a stronger player in the integrated
travel industry of today. Yet, the country realizes that to do so, it must
conserve, protect, and strengthen the cultural, historical, and natural
resources upon which the Philippines draws its unique competitive advantages.
All these are in a manner that can be sustained for the benefit and enjoyment
of future generations of Filipinos.
I want
to discuss what the content of the research entitled “Sustainable Tourism:
Challenges for the Philippines” by Ramon Benedicto C. Alampay in cooperation of
the Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN) and the Philippine Institute for
Development Studies (PIDS.) I hope this would be a challenge to our
environmentalist and ordinary citizen to take care for our environment.
The
Challenge of Sustainable TourismDevelopment in the Philippines
The article has attempted to describe the
challenges of sustainable tourism development in the Philippines in terms of
economic sustainability, ecological sustainability, and social equity. It has
also outlined the roles that three key sectors—national government, private
industry, and local communities— need to play in building partnerships for
sustainable tourism development at both the national and local levels.
We know the fact that tourism
holds the promise of increased employment and income opportunities,
particularly for Filipinos living in the coastal and rural areas of the
country. Yet, it is an industry built upon the most fragile of natural and
cultural environments, where the most inconsequential and innocent of human
gestures can easily wreak havoc on the site’s resources. This is the challenge
of sustainable tourism development.
It was pointed out that tourism is expected
to become an even more important weapon in the Philippines’ economic arsenal.
However, both our tourist markets and the Philippine tourism industry itself
have become more aware of the negative environmental and social costs
associated with tourism development. The country has thus begun to recognize
the need to adopt new development approaches in order to come up with tourist
products that are environmentally sensitive and economically viable.
Developing a sustainable
national tourism industry:
Rodolfo’s (2003) examined the
role of national government in facilitating or constraining the sustained
growth of the national tourism industry through a comparative analysis of the
tourism development policies of Thailand and the Philippines. Applying the
three core principles of sustainable development to the national tourism
industries of Thailand and the Philippines, his study showed that the economic
sustainability of tourism is the primary driver of both countries’ tourism
industry.
A
Comparison of Tourism Policy Frameworks:The Philippines and Thailand
Main idea: The
Philippines lags behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of volume of
arrivals (tourist) due to higher costs of tourism products and services in the
Philippines relative to Thailand and Malaysia, insufficient air access, and the
lack of variety in attractions and products.
The first section discusses the
background of the study while the second one explores the role of policiesin
tourism development. The next two sections trace the evolution of policy
frameworks in Philippines and Thailand. The levels of policy influence in
critical decision areas like market priorities, ownership, concentration of
power, nature of development, infrastructure, manpower, and environmental and
cultural concerns, are then compared in the succeeding section. Finally, the
author summarizes the lessons from Thailand’s experience and its findings.
Toward the Development of
Sustainable Tourism Indicators: An Analysis of Sustainable Tourism Programs and
Practices Among ASEAN National Tourism Organizations
Main Idea:The tourism masterplans have very strong
resemblance to each other in terms of strategies forachieving tourism
development.
The NTOs of the Philippines,
Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand have incorporated sustainable tourism
principles into their tourism master plans. This orientation in turn was
brought about by the growing clamor for change in development paradigm from the
international community. The tourism master plans have very strong resemblance
to each other in terms of strategies for achieving tourism development.
While there has been significant
progress in the adoption of sustainable tourism paradigm at the national
levels, the diffusion of such philosophy to the local level has been quite
slow. This may be attributed to a lack of understanding and appreciation of the
concept of sustainable tourism development. Concepts of ecotourism,
community-based tourism and sustainable tourism, though related, tend to be
used interchangeably. The operationalization of sustainable tourism principles
has also been very sluggish. The scarcity of case materials on best practices
the lackluster participation in voluntary initiatives attest to the uneasy
transition to sustainability.
A
Framework for Classifying Ecotourism Initiatives in the Philippines
Main Idea: Ecotourism has been one of thefastest
growing tourism niches in the Philippines. Its promise of
sustainedenvironmental, social, and economic gains makes ecotourism the
preferredtype of development for different tourism organizations
This article looks into the current status of
ecotourism initiatives in the Philippines and suggests a classification scheme
or framework to be followed and adopted by the industry. This study looks at
ecotourism programs and projects in the Philippines and attempts to develop a
framework for classifying and evaluating such initiatives that the tourism
industry could subsequently adopt.
Perceived
Tourism Impact on Indigenous Communities: A Case Study of Sagada in Mountain
Province: Juline R. Dulnuan
The emergence of new forms of tourism has
focused the discussion of tourism impact on indigenous peoples (IPs) whose
pristine and biologically diverse homelands have become natural targets. In
particular, ecotourism, often defined as nature-based sustainable tourism, is
currently the most aggressively promoted product of a global tourism industry that
sells “relatively undisturbed and preserved natural environments and exotic
areas” (Chavez 1999).
This study describes the impacts of tourism
as perceived by the residents of Sagada, a mountain resort town in the
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in Northern Luzon. The Cordillera
(Figure 1) is home to the most number of indigenous peoples in the country,
accounting for almost 1.4 million out of the 7 million inhabiting the
Philippine uplands. The region is vast and rich in natural resources. It is
where most of the country’s mineral reserves, particularly gold and copper, are
found. It is also the watershed cradle and prime ecological zone of Northern
Luzon.
Tourism development level, access and control
Tourism in Sagada is in place and can be categorized as community-based. Its
development which was unplanned (“tourism just happened”) started small and
slow and remains to be so. This may change, however, in the next few years as
the tourist arrivals grow. In 2000, for example, the total number of visitors
to the community accounted for 40 percent of the total tourist arrivals in
Mountain Province. The number was also higher than the registered arrivals in
Abra and the combined total arrival volume in the provinces of Kalinga and
Apayao. Clearly, Sagada is now one of the most visited destinations in the
Cordillera, notwithstanding the fact that the local tourism industry does not
advertise itself.
Impact
of Whalewatching on the Cetaceans and Coastal Populations in Bais City,
Philippines
Whale watching is an ecotourism activity accepted as a
sustainable use of cetacean populations
Whale watching ecotourism has provided a new source of income to the
residents of Capiñahan. Although the income from whale watching ecotourism is
not significantly higher than that of fishing and other livelihood activities,
the households involved in the conduct of whale watching spend significantly
higher on items (e.g., recreation) other than their basic necessities.
Whale watching has influenced the residents’ perception of the economic
benefits from cetaceans. This in turn has led them to believe that keeping the
cetaceans alive is more beneficial than hunting them. Yet, there are opposing
perceptions about whale watching activities among the households.
Contested
Space: Tourism, Power, and Social Relations: Jose Eleazar R. Bersales
How does rapid and accelerated change brought
about by the appropriation of space reconfigure local power and social
relations? This study intends to answer this question by looking at tourism
development in two islands in Central Philippines. Specifically, it will look
at the political dynamics of Philippine tourism development at the local level.
This involves the study of space its appropriation and development, and how
this relates to tensions in local social relations. It also focuses on the
dimensions of power and how these are exercised locally.
While tourism policy has been generally
elite-driven in most countries, including the Philippines, everyday struggles
and conflicts that ensue at the local level reveal the culturally mediated
manners in which issues are disputed and resolved. They also show the kinds of
claimants to social and political influence. Such conflicts reveal the degree
of community cohesion and the type of social relations that in turn are
implicated in local understandings of tourism, the tourist-host encounter, and
the attendant appropriation of space for tourism development
Maintaining Competitive Advantage in Tourism Organizations:
Emerging Patterns of Employment and Challenges for HRD: Susan L. Solis
Globalization
and changes in the world economy have threatened the economic viability of
establishments worldwide. Labor flexibility, as one of the measures commonly
utilized by many establishments to cope with the impact of globalization, is
seen as being characterized by conditions inconsistent with the elements that
would account for quality worker performance
The need to bridge the gap between conditions surrounding
labor flexibility and conditions that ensure quality worker performance must be
addressed if firms, particularly service establishments like hotels, are to
gain competitive advantage and thus ensure their economic viability.
Insight:
This
book is consist of various research made by different contributors that present
different challenges for Philippines about sustainable tourism. The researchers
gave different strategies about how other countries in Southeast Asia possibly
survive in terms of sustainable tourism. The book itself is very detailed whereas
the author wants to explain briefly what they have studied. It also tackles
different perspective about sustainable tourism to compare the plans of our
country Philippines is richer than other countries in
terms of natural resources but it is very evident that we don’t have a long
term plan for this unlike to Thailand. I hope before it’s too late our
government take some actions in order to create various programs to sustain our
resources through sustainable development
No comments:
Post a Comment