Development organizations are fixing their sights on the tourism sector at climate talks in South Africa.

The critics say the industry is hindering efforts to curb its climate impact and is hiding behind overblown claims of promoting poor countries' development.

"Tourism is frequently used as an excuse to block the regulation of aviation emissions," said Sabine Minninger of the organization Tourism Watch, which monitors travel in developing countries on behalf of Germany's Church Development Service (EED).

In a paper backed by over 30 environmental, church and development organizations, critics of the tourism industry said its representative bodies were failing to plan for the sector's explosive growth in carbon emissions.

Explosive growth

Tourism is responsible for a small but rapidly growing proportion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

A study last year in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism suggested the industry currently accounts for between 5 and 12 percent of the world's emissions, with aviation responsible for nearly half of that.

The trouble is, aviation's emissions could grow by 160 percent over the next 25 years, according to a 'business as usual' scenario in a United Nations study.

A cross section of countries has little appetite for burdening the industry with carbon regulations: cheap flights are popular in the West and many poor countries say tourism is crucial to develop their economies. 

Tourism Watch says industry umbrella groups like the UN's World Tourism Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization have failed to "come up with any significant and internationally binding measure or target" to reduce emissions, arguing instead that tourism remains crucial for another of the UN's goals – lifting people out of poverty. 

 

Few profit

Tourism Watch says the argument that tourism contributes to development is "highly simplistic." 

It says most tourism – about 60 percent – occurs between rich countries and that the world's least developed countries receive only 1.2% of tourism arrivals.

The group also says that up to 85% of tourism revenues 'leak' from developing countries and frequently end up in the coffers of international tour operators.

"Tourism is frequently just a source of income for an elite, or in the worst case in props up military dictatorships," Sabine Minninger said.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa, another of the industry's critics, says the sector needs to be reformed to make it more environmentally and socially responsible.

The world's first and only fair trade certification scheme for tourism promotes environmental protection, minimum wages for its workers and investment in local businesses.      

"We refer to what we call the triple bottom line – which is the environmental, the economic and the social aspects," said the organization's director, Kathy Bergs, adding that some 65 tourism operators in South Africa have been certified so far.

'Fair trade' tourism

One such operator is Advantage Tours in St. Lucia, near the South African border with Mozambique.

The area has been designated as a world heritage site and Advantage Tours offers boat trips through the iSimangaliso Wetland reserve here.

"It's driven by iSimangaliso, which is a black empowerment company," said Sean Grass, who's been operating boats here for 20 years among crocodiles, hippopotamus and rare birds.

He said the company "monitors everything in iSimangaliso park and promotes people from under-privileged classes into tour guiding and into the wilderness areas for their benefit."

In time, locals are to take over the operation independently. Yet they may have little to inherit.

Grass says the wetlands are fighting for survival. Climate isn't the main problem at the moment: Eucalyptus plantations nearby are drawing down the nature reserve's water.

Rising temperatures could prove too much for the ecosystem in the years ahead – and with it an environmentally friendlier form of tourism.

Author: Helle Jeppesen (nw)
Editor: Nathan Witkop