SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Have you ever thought of travelling abroad with a little cost of money? You are not the only one. There are cheap airport tickets so more and more people can enjoy short holidays at the bank of Spain or Greece or even a weekend in Paris ,Berlin, Amsterdam or whichever other destination.

Tourism is one of the world’s rapidly growing industries in the world. Millions of tourists travel abroad while the World Tourism Organization predicts that this number will have increased to 1,6 billion each year by 2020.

However, like other forms of development, tourism plays a leading role in the process of destroying the natural habitat of several species as well as in the global issue of environmental pollution, loss of cultural heritage and ecological degradation. Our holidays can have bad effects on the environment and the everyday life of local populations. For example, the construction of new hotels and resorts is considered to have a negative impact on the flora and fauna of the local ecosystems. At the Mediterranean coast for example, there has been huge touristic development during the last thirty years. On the other hand, the natural environment has been completely destroyed and an alarmingly great number of destinations, which used to attract tourists, have changed dramatically.

Despite the fact that travelling can be more affordable nowadays, there is a huge cost on the environment because of the footprint of the carbon dioxide our actions leave. Airlifting is one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. A recent research which took place in England showed that 54% of respondents are really concerned about the environmental effects of flights.

Undoubtedly, banning vacations in not the solution to the problem. More responsible alternative choices can be made in order to ensure the protection both of the environment and the local civilizations of the worldwide popular destinations. Sustainable tourism can be the potential environmentally friendly choice.

Sustainable tourism has been the key factor in the tourist industry nowadays as it advocates:

• Respect to the local culture and natural environment
• Recognition that water and energy are the most valuable resources which we have to use carefully and we should not waste our natural resources unwarily
• Protection of the fauna which is threatened by extinction and conservation of both the natural and the cultural heritage of the locations we visit.

There are a lot of small things we can do to minimize the environmental and social effects of our holidays. As responsible travellers we could travel by train instead of airplanes as in this way we could see more and broaden our knowledge about the cultural heritage of the local communities. Moreover, it is wise to turn off the air conditioning and the lights when we leave a room. We had better support the local society by buying souvenirs from local businesses and by tasting the national cuisine instead of international dishes like pizza -except if we are in Italy. We should respect the endangered species and we should not buy products which are made of animals and which have a harmful effect on the natural environment.

In general, as more regions develop their tourism industry, this produces significant impacts on natural resources, consumption patterns and pollution. The need for sustainable tourism management is imperative, on the one hand, for the survival of the tourism industry as a whole and on the other, for the protection of the natural world. Hopefully, sustainable tourism will become the mainstream of the future travellers in countries like Greece which can boost their economy by depending on alternative forms of tourism.

Sources: Το Βιβλίο των Νέων της Ευρώπης (2000-2010), Unesco.com

This article was written by Anastasia Nikolla , Vaso Gretsi, Dimitris Dedinis, Amalia Bragou

 (16 year- old teenagers)- Diapolitismiko High school of Evosmos, Thessaloniki, GREECE .