Wildlife Tourism - Research Paper Example

Wildlife Tourism Wildlife tourism is defined as trips to places with the sole reason of viewing the fauna. According to the definition, it shows that wildlife tourism comprises of different niche markets such as birds watching, exploring marine life like how crocodiles live, swimming and feeding habits of big water mammals such as whales and others. This type of tourism is based upon the animals that are not domesticated. The viewing of animals takes place in different locations; these include animals’ natural habitat or environment where they live. Tourism involves actions that are termed as non-consumptive, these include taking photographs, looking at the places and observing eating procedures, also participating in events that involve game hunting and catching the animals by use of traps, as well as recreational fishing. Wildlife tourism can involve tours, experiences accessible in association with the accommodation of tourists, attractions at fixed sites, or it can come about as unguided meeting by independent travelers (Spenceley, 2012, pp. 85-88). Wildlife tourism has several stakeholders. The first stakeholders in this sector are the visitors. They have an expectation of accessing experiences that are of affordable high quality. These experiences include interesting activities of wildlife watching and guided excursions. Some tourists would like to have opportunities to familiarize themselves with the local culture through interacting with the people inhabiting those areas (Benson, 2001, p. 132). Another set of stakeholders in the tourism industry includes private and public sectors, such as travelling and bringing together industrial associations. This ensures that there is development in the wildlife sector. They also ensure the individual operators get maximum short term profits. The third stakeholder is the host and the indigenous community. The indigenous community improves minimal negative social effect of this sector. While capitalizing on profits from the local area, they ensure that there is no disruption on the local wildlife (Lovelock, 2007, pp. 152-156). Another role they play is trying to protect the environment together with the livelihood assets, at the same time minimizing the disturbance that might be encountered by the community, hence, disturbing the culture. It has the capability of adding tourism-related benefits, such as improving the condition of living, creating job opportunities for the locals, improving the infrastructure with the local business opportunities, and this will stimulate revenue generation (Sosinski, 2011, p. 88). Wildlife managers in public plus private sectors are other stakeholders whose sole duty is the conservation, NGOs protection of wildlife habitats, biodiversity, generation of revenues, coming up with awareness programs through wildlife tourism so that the locals will understand why the environment should be conserved. They should also show the government, general public and local people the importance of conserving the environment. They make use of tourism in the support of goals of conservation (Newsome, Ross, & Moore, 2005, p.256). The government agencies are a stakeholder that deals with the planning and promotion of tourism. They are vital in fostering sustainable increase of wildlife tourism socially, economically, as well as ecologically (Hoyt, 2000). The environmental managers, especially government conservation agencies, belong to another class of stakeholders whose significance is in sustaining the activities of wildlife tourism ecologically, making use of tourism in support of goals of conservation and satisfying public relation goals. Lastly, we have the tour operators. This is a category of stakeholders that have the capability to come up with the tourism market products that are made from wildlife and market them easily to tourists while watching the wild animals. This will not only depend entirely on the demand in the market, but also on the environment conditions such as road network, the condition of the housing, capability of accessing the site, catering and the presence of local business people in the ground so as to offer local business services (Hoyt, 2000, p. 69). Tourists in the wildlife sector are some of the most varied of any niche market. They range from the knowledgeable specialists who would like to seek new places that remain comparatively undiscovered to the new tourists travelling together to one of the common game reserves. Transversely, these range consumers differ considerably in gender, age and socioeconomic grouping. Package tourists vary from planned travelers through to those that stay in small limited lodges or tented camps (Isaacs, 2000, pp. 145-149). On the other hand, specialists are likely to be independent travelers who are prone to stay in essential accommodation and are normally very flexible with their travelling arrangements. Even though the luxurious package market is likely to be most demanding regarding the conditions of the infrastructure and services, they also produce the greatest income. These consumers are likely to be in the third-age group (50-65 years); often they include the early retired (Knetsch 1963, p. 96). In the US, there is a bat colony that is located at the Congress Avenue Bridge. The bridge is found in the town of Austin, Texas, the residence for more than one million Mexican free tailed bats also known as Tadarida brasiliensis. In the evening, they appear as a stunning flock and hunt creating a good view for tourist. The bats move from one place to another, from April till November, they live at the bottom of the bridge and when the winter season starts, they migrate to the south. During the summer period, they feed on more than 15,000kgs of insects and uncountable number of pests (Knetsch, 1963, p. 146). The emergences of the colony has turned out to be a tourist draw for the people who live in the city; of the total number of the people who watch the bats, the city residents represent a third of the total number of visitors. Every afternoon in the town, the bats are viewed by more than 1400 people from a viewing point. The viewing involves looking at the information sections of the bats, how they behave and their ecology. The viewing point is built in a grassy hill near the bridge. The bats are viewed free of charge, but the local area benefits significantly out of this. A body called Bat Conservation International carried out a survey in the area trying to know how much each visitor spends in a visit to watch bats, the survey was conducted through both interviews and filling questionnaires (Weidner, 2009, p. 152). Information obtained, as well as daily statistics on the number of tourist, shows that the expenses incurred directly in the tour totals to more than 3.2 million United States dollars annually. The body has authority to manage Bracken Bat Cave together with nature reserve; this was obtained so as to keep it away from the development of housing. The cave is residence for a great bat maternity colony of about 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats from March till October. These bats migrate to Mexico in winter (Weidner, 2009, p. 156). Generally like bats, this variety is vulnerable to development because it results in the reduction of resting and feeding place; larger colonies risk perishing from destruction of environment. BCI members are the only one who has access to the reserve. They pay a yearly subscription of USD 35. The reserve is also accessed by invited visitors that include students, potential donors and other civic organizations, as well as local volunteers who give assistance in the running of the reserve (United Nations Environment Program, 2006, p. 196). It is approximated that more than 35,000 visitors visit Bracken Bat Cave annually. The number of visitors accessing the site is regulated in order to bring down disturbance to the bats. The visitors are accompanied by an interpreter. The site has very basic facilities for tourism, but BCI is planning for the construction of an interpretative center that will be used by the public. The management is underway planning to shift the viewing point far away from the entry point of the cave so as to decrease the negative impacts on the bats (Weidner, 2009, p. 152). Economic Impact of Wildlife Tourism on Income and Employment Wildlife tourism is a significant section of tourism which has spread swiftly in many nations in the past few years and it has grown to become a major industry. Many tourists are influenced by wildlife when visiting a country/region and extend their stay. Wildlife tourists comprise specialists, as well as generalists. What has kept the wildlife tourism growing and competitive is its demand by the locals who have kept the sector growing and also the foreigners who added up to the local demand. Foreign tourists’ quantity is growing rapidly year in year out and often tallies with seasons of holidays (Tisdell, 2002, p. 54). In the same way, the revenues drawn from the sector vary depending on the type of animals that inhabit certain areas, the type of visitors; averagely, specialists, like birdwatchers, spend more cash than generalists. Furthermore, the presence of wildlife in the area is the good enough reasons for the tourist to spend more of their time in the area (Tidsel 2002, p. 55). There are a number of ways therefore that have been used to come up with the benefit mainly economic brought about by this kind of tourism. The most suitable way to calculate has been the one that draws from the reason for the exercise other are misleading and often lead to results that are conflicting. Part of the reason why it is often not easy to come up with the right method is because the costs connected with it are diverse and many and difficult to single out. This includes travelling, food, and accommodation. Additionally, visitors frequently come to see very many things that attract them and wildlife is the major attractive feature for both domestic residents and foreigners. There has been over the year’s difficulty in the estimation of specific sites, this is mainly because visitors got themselves entangled in a number of travels to different sites, at the same time making it difficult to use their cost travel to come up with the value of the site. Nevertheless, in spite of diverse challenges, there have been a number of studies carried out all over the world and all came with results that pointed out to the fact that wildlife tourism are rising and expanding. Several studies have shown that the jobs created by tourism relating to expenditure are huge and when the multiplier effect is considered, the total number of jobs created is bigger (Tisdell & Wilson, 2002, p. 308). Though large approximation of income as well as employment created as a result of growth in the tourism sector is huge and very useful to a country because it support it politically, at times this estimations can be misinterpreted (United Nations Environment Programme, 2006, p. 106). For example, in spite of the large national approximations, the benefit to the vicinity within the area where wildlife inhabits is very small because the payments and other formalities are done outside those areas. This concerns a lot because it will have incredible effects on the maintenance of this areas and wildlife; we are to bear in mind that these monetary effects take place in areas outside the areas in question; therefore, it doesn’t represent the whole economic activities expected (United Nations Environment Program, 2006, p. 109). Due to difficulties involved in the calculation of all the expenditures that arise in wildlife tourism, it is more important as well as difficult to come up with benefit that goes to local area (Tisdell & Wilson, 2002a, p. 294). Future challenges to the wildlife tourism are the enthusiasm of the wildlife tourists who would like to get too close to their target (Weaver, 2005, p. 43). This causes discomfort to the creatures. Interference with breeding due to human visitation is a major challenge. It has been reported that birds abandon their nests due to this. Human visitation may lead to a drop in reproduction rate for several types of marine birds that breed colonially due to the disturbance inflicted by visitors (Higham & Lück, 2008, 59). Apart from birds, the crocodiles and alligators abandon their eggs when boats get too close. This results in the loss of eggs to predators. For the turtles, the presence of tourists on the shores inhibits breeding. Habitat clearing interferes with essential resources for behaviors like feeding and breeding. Due to the population growth of humans, quest for land leads to this. Growth of the number of tourists may also need extra parking space that will lead to a habitat clearing, hence, posing a challenge to future tourism (Tisdell & Wilson, 2002b, 159). Recommendation Wildlife tourism can make imperative contributions to community growth as well as conservation by raising awareness of the wildlife creatures and their habitats. Another way is to create revenues for maintenance as well as to create jobs and income for the communities that are local to the habitat. To achieve this assistance, wildlife tourism should be well organized; management by the tourism body, government bodies and conservation groups should also be well coordinated. As a result of high speed growing influx of wildlife tourists, controls should be put in place to prevent unpleasant effects on the local communities and wildlife (Weidner, 2009, 151). References Benson, E. D. (2001). ‘Wildlife and recreation management on private lands in the United States,’ Wildlife Society Bulletin, 29(1):359–371. Hoyt, E. (2000). Whale Watching 2000: Worldwide Tourism Numbers, Expenditures and Expanding Socioeconomic Benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare. London: Crowborough. Higham, J., & Lück, M. (2008). Marine Wildlife and Tourism Management. Cabi Series. Indiana: CABI. Isaacs, J. (2000). ‘The limited potential of ecotourism to contribute to wildlife conservation,’ Wildlife Society Bulletin, vol. 28, pp. 61-69. Knetsch, J. (1963). Outdoor recreation demands and benefits. New York: Land Economics. Lovelock, B. (2007). Tourism and the Consumption of Wildlife: Hunting, Shooting and Sport Fishing. Kentucky: Rout ledge. Newsome, D., Ross, K., & Moore, S.A. (2005). Wildlife Tourism Volume 24 of Aspects of Tourism, Kansas: Channel View Publications. Spenceley, A. (2012). Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development. New York: Rout ledge. Sosinski, C. (2011). Wildlife Tourism in Germany: Exploring the domestic wildlife tourism market in Germany - an analysis of the country's wildlife tourism potential and its link to wildlife conservation. Chicago: GRIN Verlag. Tisdell, C.A. (2002). The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas, London: Edward Elgar Cheltenham. Tisdell, C.A. & Wilson, C. (2002a). ‘Economic, Educational and Conservation Benefits of Sea Turtle Based Ecotourism – A Study Focused on Mon Repos’ Wildlife Tourism Research Report Series, No. 20. Tisdell, C. A. & Wilson, C. (2002b). ‘Ecotourism for the survival of sea turtles and other wildlife’ Biodiversity and Conservation, vol. 11, pp. 1521-1538. United Nations Environment Programme. (2006). Wildlife Watching and Tourism: A Study on the Benefits and Risks of a Fast Growing Tourism Activity and Its Impacts on Species. London: UNEP/Earthprint. Weaver, D. B. (2005). ‘Comprehensive and minimalist dimensions of ecotourism’ Annals of Tourism Research, 32 (2), pp. 439–455. Weidner, S. (2009). The Quest for Authentic Experiences in Wildlife Tourism - a Review of Issues. Chicago: GRIN Verlag. Read More