Sustainability: A Discussion with Costa Rica and Kenya

Tourism, now more than ever, has a central focus on sustainability due to the global understanding of the effects that the millions of tourists traveling throughout the world on a daily basis have on the environment. Eco-tourism stands out as the best practice when discussing sustainability and preservation in the tourism sector. Ecotourism encourages responsible travel directed toward supporting conservation efforts (TIES, 2015). According to the International Ecotourism Society, Ecotourism focuses on the pillars of Conservation, Communities, and Interpretation. Conservation is providing effective economic incentives for conserving and enhancing the natural environment (TIES, 2015). The focus on communities refers to increasing employment and local opportunities, ecotourism is a vital tool to move and support many local communities in the fight against poverty. Interpretation refers to enriching the travelers personal experience and increasing their environmental awareness, in turn, promoting a well-rounded understanding of nature, local communities, and culture. The two examples of successful ecotourism initiatives that will be of focus are Costa Rica and Kenya.

In the late 1990’s Costa Rica began as the pioneer of ecotourism. The concept itself molds true to the most biodiverse nation on the planet. The objective of Costa Rica was to become an attractive destination by using its natural environment and wildlife as the lure to bring tourists into the country. Of course, introducing national parks and biodiversity as your main attraction to the nation isn’t as easy as it seems, especially if you have hundreds of thousands of people visiting the nation yearly. Mass visits could potentially harm the flora and fauna. This is one of the main obstacles of ecotourism that everyone who participates faces. A main reason for why Ecotourism is a success for Costa Rica is because it’s the backbone of their tourism initiatives. According to the Costa Rican Embassy Index, the nation welcomes 1.7 million tourists per year which in turn generates over 1.7 billion dollars in earnings directly from tourism. This money has shown to be vital when invested in infrastructure that focuses in better supporting ecological efforts. When it comes to Ecotourism, Costa Rica has been one of the best in trying to mitigate the negative factors such as local displacement and compromising of land.

Another country that has delved deep into Ecotourism has been Kenya, specific to their national parks. In reference to Hubert Cheung’s analysis on Kenya from the University of Guelph, Ecotourism is the fastest-growing sector in tourism. According to his findings it is growing at a rate of 10 to 15 percent per annum (Cheung, 2012). Kenya has 65 national parks and reserves which are all operated by the Kenya Wildlife Service, these national parks have been central to tourism growth for the nation. Tourism consists of more than 15% of Kenya’s entire GDP makeup. Proponents of ecotourism point to these numbers to show the positive direction the Kenyan tourism sector is headed. Of course with successes, there are always complications. As previously mentioned, local communities are usually the first to feel the effects of major shifts, especially when it comes to the tourism sector where you see a high influx of people entering the local area. The increased tourists has disempowered communities, for it has given them a lack of voice when it comes to how they want to control and run their communities. This loss of control for their own community has caused social anxiety for community members (Van Marwijk, 2003). As mentioned when discussing Costa Rica, no matter how much care is given to the biodiversity, with the abnormality present (mass tourists) visiting, there is going to be a negative impact on various species and natural populations. For example, wildlife will be affected regardless what measures are implemented if there is an increase of what’s considered “above normal” amounts of tourists, followed by the lodging and vehicles that come with hosting a tourist. An example of the effects include the animal group of Leopards. They normally hunt during the day but were found hunting at night due to the noise pollution created by vehicles and tourists (Ikiara, M, 2002).

In both the cases of Costa Rica and Kenya, there is a clear cost benefit analysis, over time, both nations have been able to increase their efforts in integrating communities and their own communities into the ecotourism process. Governments have realized that without the local community involvement, it would be impossible for the Ecotourism initiative to be self sufficient in the long run. It has been shown that when the communities are involved from the ground up, that the results are positive. In these cases, money generated would be due to local involvement, and in turn that money would stay within the community, exchanging hands, building the community up and out of an impoverished state. Adjustments to Ecotourism frameworks have to take this vital analysis into account for the sake of the communities and the long term success of the increasingly popular ecotourism. As like in development projects, tourism operators must be culturally aware of the environment which they are entering, and fully understand what is and what is not acceptable, in addition the tour operators must effectively know how to relay and successfully educate the tourists on the culture and space they are entering. These adjustments are always being improved upon. It is exciting to see how the Ecotourism market keeps evolving and the potential it has to positively impact poor communities as well as nations.

References:

Ecotourism.org. (2015). What is Ecotourism? | The International Ecotourism Society. [online] Available at: http://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism.

Hubert, Cheung. (2012). Tourism in Kenya’s national park: A cost-benefit analysis. Volume 6 Issue 1. Department of Integrative Biology, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON Canada.

Ikiara, M., & Okech, C. (2002). Impact of tourism on environment in Kenya: status and policy. KIPPRA Discussion Paper Number 19. Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.

Kamauro, O. (1996). Ecotourism: suicide or development? Voices from Africa Number 6: Sustainable Development Part 2. United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service

Van Marwijk, R., & Joosten, M. (2003). A Small contribution? Small Tourism Entrepreneurs and Sustainable Development in Malindi. Thesis, Wageningen University. Wageningen, Netherlands.