Trends in Tourism

Top tourist destinations What countries do you think are the top travel destinations in the world?

Top tourist destinations France United States China Spain Italy United Kingdom Mexico

Trends Which area do you think has experienced the greatest growth in tourism over the last 25 years? –Africa –Asia –The Americas –Europe –The Middle East

Trends Where do you think most tourists come from? –Africa –Asia –The Americas –Europe –The Middle East

Ecotourism

Why Sustainable Tourism? Tourism has a serious negative impact on the environment –Burning fossil fuels for travel –Building airports, hotels, tourist attractions –Pollution and litter –Heavy traffic in sensitive areas

Sustainable Tourism “Tourism development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations of tourists” By far the biggest growth area for tourism in the last 15 years Goal is to minimize travellers’ impact on the environment

Requirements of Sustainable Tourism Should protect the existing and future use of an environment Should respect the people and the culture of the local area Should allow for the long-term use of the area Should provide long-term economic benefits to the people living in the tourist area

Sustainable Tourism Generally known as Ecotourism –Wilderness Tourism and Adventure Tourism also qualify as Sustainable They appeal to a smaller demographic though

Costa Rica Costa Rica is probably the poster child for ecotourism Check out p in the textbook –How important is the tourism industry to Costa Rica? –What % of tourism there is ecotourism? –How has ecotourism benefited the country? –Why do you think Costa Rica is well suited to ecotourism?

The downside There are many critics of ecotourism Check out page 27 and summarize the problems associated with ecotourism