Diving Tourism - Coursework Example

Diving tourism Introduction The tourism industry is one of the world's largest economic sectors that serve people who travel from one place to another just for fun or for recreation while earning host nations some revenue. Currently, the world is faced with serious problems of environmental degradation due to tourism activities like diving tourism. These problems are evident in every part of the world that has an ocean or sea diving centre. For that reason, there has been a call from international bodies compelling countries to practice tourism that will be self-sustaining so that future generations would be protected and would still have better environment to live in (Johnson 2002). Sustainable driven tourism is a way for nations to show their commitment to conserving the environment and local traditions while still earning an income and creating job opportunities. The reason why sustainable tourism is being encouraged all over the world is due to the fact that there is dire need to have positive development. Currently, diving as part of the tourism sector is a booming business. Many nations which have reef lined coasts are making a lot of money from dive tourism activities. However, the problem that is going to affect the economies of such booming business is the mechanical damage that is consequential of these activities. Niche Tourism Niche tourism addresses one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. This paper looks at the integrated picture of niche tourism. This tourism category is divided into micro and macro niche (Johnson 2002). This concept has an all-inclusive theoretical structure and it discusses policies, initiatives and strategies that are to be implemented internationally (Swarbrooke et al 2003). There is a growing concern on the international scene over issues like global warming, energy crises and climate changes. This influences personal choices such as travel destination, lengths of journeys and other issues like environmentally friendly services e.g. use of oil in transportation and waste management in tourism. To retain international competitiveness, nations are ensuring that they considerably decrease carbon emission and waste management (Jennings 2007). The coasts that are used for diving tourism are often fragile ecosystems and most of them run a limited scope of action in creating alternatives that conserve the environment (Neto 2003). Diving tourism has been developing very fast and hence tourism activities often had a very rapid and relentless impact on natural resources (Novelli 2005). The chief tourism related environmental concerns that face these coasts are several as outlined. The degradation of the environment is usually caused by developing infrastructure and services as well as the direct impact of the activities of the tourists. At the tourism coasts, there is a very high competition for land use (Jennings 2007). The prices of building are increasing causing much of the fallow land to be cleared for construction; as a result, erosion results. The developing tourism is a threat to the environment as human beings interfere with biological life both wildlife and vegetation. It is feared that this can lead to the permanent damage of the susceptible ecosystem (Swarbrooke et al 2003). With increased tourism, there is often a problem of waste management at the coast. Treating and disposing solid and liquid waste becomes very complex. Some coasts have very limited infrastructure and the capacity becomes overwhelmed during peak season. Dive tourism has been indicated to exacerbate this condition (Novelli 2005 & Uyarra et al 2008). There is so much disposition of unprocessed effluent to the areas that surround the sea. As a consequence, there is very high risk if not considerable loss of precious marine life, silting, erosion, and destruction of coral reefs on which tourism is highly dependent (Johnson 2002). Increasing tourism at the coast especially because of the increasing popularity of the dive tourism has been having adverse effects on the coast and islands of developing nations. Areas like Malta, Caribbean, Seychelles and Cyprus have facilities on their coasts that have not been evaluated for a while and this has caused the despoilment of much of the original spotless beauty of the coasts (Nowak et al 2005). In an effort to try and curb these destructions, governments of such states have recently taken measures via legislation to constrict and control the destruction of the coastal line. Prerequisite of construction and building size with a certain limit of room space and height have been set to ensure that there is harmony with the natural harmony of the environment (Jennings 2007 & Uyarra et al 2008). Increased mining of sand to create space for tourism activities is another serious problem at many of the coasts. Some nations like Bahamas, Seychelles, Maldives, Cook Island and Mauritius have curtailed such activities. There is a lot of pollution and sewage disposal in the sea that the sand mined cannot be naturally replenished. The close construction of building brings about extensive erosion (Jennings 2007). Many developing Nations clear their mangrove forests to accommodate the increasing number of tourists by constructing more hotels and touring facilities. As a result, the natural habitats of birds and other wild animals are destroyed (Neto 2003). Furthermore, the forests are very protective of the sea encroachment, but when removed, erosion is aggravated. Considering that in such incidences, there are also consequences in increased fishing, indiscriminate diving and boating (all which are tourism activities that worsen the degradation) (Garrod & Gassling 2008) conservation of environment is unattainable. Island and Coast tourism is very sensitive to climatic changes and since they are also mostly concentrated in the coast, there is a high vulnerability to the effects of the sea level (Uyarra et al 2008). There is an increase of about 1.5 millimeters per year of sea level due to the confirmed global warming phenomenon since the beginning of the 20th century (Jennings 2007). The effects of these on some small islands and coasts are that there is inundation of the coast and this is a threat to the sanitation of the water supplies in these areas (Beban & Emmelin 2006). The sea can easily infiltrate to fresh water in the subterranean water table and these results could be catastrophic. Erosion of the shoreline will undoubtedly cause sheer stress and damage to the manmade and natural surroundings of which financial loss is not estimable now (Eagles 2002). The conflict between the need to develop the economy and increase investment in diving tourism and the need to conserve the environment can be alleviated by considering the construction of underwater attractions for reef substitutes (Nowak et al 2005). Considering the fact that in the Northern Sea, there have been several successful experiments done, calcium minerals can be deposited at the sites directly by the process of electrolysis on any shape that is chosen (Shaalan 2005). Living corals can then be transplanted to enhance a diverse community of wildlife to grow (Eagles et al 2002). Such a model can lead to the development of various shapes of underwater recreational facilities like water parks and also the diver aggregation device. In this way, the pressure on the natural reef can be reduced (Garrod & Gassling 2008). The Sustainable Diving Tourism Development Greece: Due to the problems identified above, many nations have resulted into offering solutions to the degradation of the environment. Most of this is being done by the use of legislation. In Greece for instance, operating a diving sector is one of the biggest challenges considering that the previous bans had been lifted (Eagles 2002). However the new legal requirements are designed in a way that it takes care of the cultural inheritance by protecting the marine antiquities and the natural underwater environment by establishing some particular standards for its sustainability. Their ministerial directives give specific qualifications and conditions that must be met by every diving centre (Garrod & Gassling 2008). The public and municipal tourism attractions like diving parks have been given a directive to manage themselves based on the private financial criteria since it has been established. Only under these circumstances financial viability can be achieved together with the sustainability of the park's conservation and protection measures (Eagles 2002). The state control for legal set up of and management of the parks according to terms and conditions implemented by law and the above mentioned ministerial solution is the role of the professional divers since the usual coast guard control from the surface is not adequate for such a case (Neto 2003). The state target is to control the natural environment and ensure compliance with the directive that is established by the overall legislation as well as the contract (Eagles et al 2002). The Hellenic centre for marine and the coast guards are currently in charge of the diving parks to supervise the observance of law (Beban & Emmelin 2006). According to research concerning the Greek diving tourism, its evident that most of the stakeholders wanted the conservation of the environment to be considered first, since other issues of debate still are pending like transport (Garrod & Gassling 2008). The diving industry of the Greeks was erroneously inclined purely on the matter of spending, short of business criteria and lack of strategic plan together with the propensity of disconnection from any type of competition. There are plans underway for tourism to be improved a great deal in Greece and other nations especially around Caribbean and West Africa regions. Developing sustainable tourism requires that equilibrium be set while establishing the value of the market elements (Demunter 2008). This addresses all the factors at all levels to act in agreement with the principles of sustainable improvement. In order to meet the goals of the new directive it is appropriate to comprehend, identify and satisfy all the requirement of the visitors, since they could otherwise share negative implication of their individual experience with others in the environment and spoil the image of the diving centre (Garrod & Gassling 2008). In addition it is important that preconditions that are required for the businesses to run at a profit on the market will be ensured. To create an optimistic working environment circumstances are established to make sure there is influx of innovative investors and the prospectus tourism development (Eagles et al 2002). Another factor is to invest in the education and training of workers for the tourism industry across the nation at all stages, since there is exceptionally personal interaction with visitors and the indispensable need for vastly knowledgeable managers. Furthermore one needs to insist on the conservation and rehabilitation of natural wealth, which is of course a chief resource for the Greek tourism sector (Garrod & Gassling 2008). Lastly, is to respect the cultural norms and the diversity of the dive centers, i.e. destinations and the local residents who are set to benefit directly from development of the tourism sector. The attitude of the local people towards the tourists is crucial to the image that the nation implies; its impact on both the visitors' satisfaction and on the general advantage from tourist activities (Novelli 2005). Through these means, the precondition can be achieved and a very stable and permanent sustainable tourism development can be established. In the light of the global social, economical, environmental challenges, the international community also has created a framework to make sure that sustainable development is attainable (Demunter 2008). Koh Kra. Site: this diving centre has been very efficient in ensuring that it develops a sustainable marine park. In order to reduce the overall amount of pressure from the tourist activities like fishing and dressing in illegitimate gear, the government of Thailand offered training to the farmers and workers in that area so that sustainable living and practice like the Mari-culture could be maintained (Beban & Emmelin 2006). The tour boat operations and diving instructors are also trained, to handle people and manage environment. The tourists can directly dive and operate boats and this has greatly increased the income of the site (Neto 2003). The visitors are usually trained and gain the insight of the sustainable management measures that have been carried out in the area (Novelli 2005). To increase the awareness of the inhabitants and the awareness of the visitors concerning restoration of the coral reefs, there are small demonstration sites that have been set up in Koh Kra Site. The size of the site is small for it to be manageable and for the benefit of the tourists, public teaching and research (Beech & Chadwick 2006). Natural coral fragments are used to sustain the survival of the fragments that could otherwise be buried. The techniques that are applied are kept to the very simple level and the cheapest materials are used, which can be accessed from the local people and those that offer hard substrate for the recruitment of coral (Shaalan 2005). There are four methods that are being used at the site; first, the substrate is provided in the pyramid shaped form of concrete tubes; second a branched acropora species is attached to a PVC pipes with screw nails in a coral nursery; third, additional substrate is provided by using clusters of concrete block which promote natural development of the coral and lastly affixing the coral fragments to the dread branched corals by use of a plastic clasp (Demunter 2008). The management of natural resources in Thailand is generally done through the centralized government management (Uyarra et al 2008). The management of Mu Koh Chang sustainable tourism, however, falls under the jurisdiction of several government departments each of which operate under different management bodies, with very little harmonization between them and as a consequence there is cascading of activities (Davies & Cahill 2000). The aim of developing the Mu Koh Chang site of demonstrating the management of the coral reef was to ensure that Thailand had a guideline to the society about management of sustainable resources and that all the stakeholders were involved in ranging from the visitors to the local residents who benefit directly from the society at local and national level (Davies & Cahill 2000). The plan shows suitable activities that are decided by a meeting of all the stakeholders that should be practiced in the region and are accepted for implementation by every responsible agency. This process has also been able to facilitate corporation among several government agencies (Shaalan 2005). The concept of developing a sustainable tourism is as a consequence of proper tourism process plans in combination with environmental protection agencies. The case of Istrain for instance is still being preserved to attain natural equilibrium (Beech & Chadwick 2006). It is quite obvious that if tourism was not controlled, then it could easily jeopardize the project. There are a lot of individuals taking the initiative to improve and sustain the environment and the number of organizations has also grown considerably. Essentially, the number of tourists should be manageable because when the number is exaggerated, the site becomes ecologically susceptible to damage (Neto 2003). This is because larger numbers can be very hard to manage in terms of regulating waste disposal, vandalism, obedience of the simple rules and regulation of the facility as well as accommodation (Novelli 2005). Conclusion Due to the large numbers of tourists, there have been problems of sustainability in many dive sites across the world. However, the need to have a sustainable environment has been a very viable resolution that many nations have vowed to achieve. In this regard, the sustainable tourist was established. Some people refer to it as eco-tourism or the green tourism. This is the kind of tourism practice that is environment friendly and offers cultural responsibility. Dive tourism has the potential to assist in the protection of marine environment especially the coral reef habitats. The marine protected areas have been very effective in El Nido Resort and Sandy bay; while others set up conditions for the use of the site as a diving centre. Other areas like Mu Koh use demonstration sites. Dive tourism has been feared in coral reef coast, because of the degradation that could result from sedimentation, clearing the forest, sewage and over fishing. Dive resorts can offer direct stewardship for marine protected regions and play a very essential duty in preserving coral reefs. References Beban, A., & Emmelin, O.L (2006). Impact of Tourism to the Sustainable Development of the Local Society. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol 32. Issues 45 Pp 36 - 89 Beech J. & Chadwick S. (2006). The business of tourism management. Prentice Hall Davies, T., & Cahill S. (2000). Ecological Proposal of the Tourism Industry: Capital for the Future. Tourism Management. Vol 78 Issue 56 Pp 231 -245 Demunter, C. (2008). Is Modern Development In Tourism Compatible With Sustainable Development Journal of Travel Research. Vol 80 Issue 34 Pp 345 Eagles, P. F. & McCool S.F & Haynes C.D (2002). Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. Strategy for Planning and Management. International Journal of Tourism Research. Eagles P.F (2002). Sustainable tourism in Safeguarded regions. Directives for development and administration. Issue 8 IUCN Garrod B. & Gassling S. (2008). New Frontiers in Marine Tourism. Diving Experiences, Sustainability. Amsterdam Elsevier Jennings G. (2007) Water-Based Tourism, Sport, vacation, and amusement Experiences. Butterworth-Heinemann Johnson D. (2002). Environmentally sustainable Dive tourism. A reality check Marine Policy. Vol. 26, Issue 4, pp 262 - 273 Neto F. (2003). A New Strategy to Sustainable Tourism progress. Working Beyond Protection of Environment. Forum of Natural Resources. 213- 232 Novelli M., (2005). Niche Tourism. Contemporary issues, trends and cases. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Oxford Nowak, J., et al. (2005). Tourism. Rising Returns and interests, the Economics of Tourism and Sustainable Development. Edward Edgar Publishing Limited Pp 88 -106 Shaalan I.M (2005). 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