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This international conference
was the UK's academic contribution to the United Nation's Year
of Eco-tourism and Mountains, and as such delegates came
from 24 overseas countries including Latin America, The Far East
and Libya. In addition, there were numerous representatives from
the global tourism industry, as well as Governments and NGOs
(e.g. Tourism Concern, WWF). The themes of the conference included:
Human rights of indigenous populations; Sustainable
and Eco-Tourism Management; and Development and Management
of Alpine, Rural, Marine and Coastal Tourism.
Patricia Barnet of Tourism Concern gave a keynote paper,
"From Clichés to Change: Addressing Human Rights
in Tourism", and outlined how tourism neither reduces
poverty nor looks after employees from the local community. She
gave us an insight into the plight of porters in Nepal and Peru
and advocated a triple bottom-line approach for tourism organisations,
which includes impacts on society and the environment as indicators
of success not just financial performance.
"Eco-tourism: the wheel keeps turning" was the
paper in which Erlet Cater from the University of Reading
outlined the internationalism of the concept. She reminded us
that Eco-tourism only amounted for 2 to 4 per cent of the world
tourism market, but it holds a far greater attraction for academic
and practitioner study. She pointed out that it is difficult
to be critical of the philosophy of providing eco-tourism experiences,
but stated the concerns of many as to its rapid and seemingly
unstoppable development. Her paper then explored the misappropriation,
commodification and misdirection of eco-tourism.
Alan Flook, Secretary General of IFTO and FTO, gave the
practitioner's perspective in his presentation, "The
Tour Operator's Role in Sustainable Tourism". He examined
how practitioners managed sustainable developments within a commercial
framework. Alan advocated the integration between academics and
operators to facilitate a better understanding of the issues.
Prof. Geoff Kearsley (University of Otago, New Zealand)
entertained us with an ethnographic study of front- and backcountry
tourism, "Tourism, Recreation and Wilderness in New Zealand's
Backcountry". He discussed the changes in the motivation,
perception and use among visitors from 1995/6 to 2000/1. He found
there was a strong perception of crowding and evidence of displacement
behaviour to accommodate this pressure from the frontcountry
to the backcountry areas. He also found changes in demographic
profiles from the earlier work: the young male orientation had
changed as the need to work to pay university fees was taking
up their free time; and overseas visitors, especially from the
Asian markets, were making up the difference. The wilderness
perspective of New Zealand's indigenous Maori people, along with
that of others, was explored and Geoff found that the two views
were incompatible. The Maori did not use the countryside for
any (leisure) activity and had deep spiritual feelings for it
whilst other groups saw it as a challenge to be conquered.
Brian Wheeler from the University of Birmingham presented
a unique study which deconstructed traditional approaches to
eco-tourism through the use of fish-related imagery. His approach
to the subject was not only distinctive and entertaining, it
also prompted the audience to contemplate alternate scenarios
relating to the consideration of the environment.
The conference was dominated
by papers on environmental impact assessment techniques, the
effects of foot and mouth on tourism (this is the area that our
paper investigated) and two sessions dedicated to international
case-studies on product development.
As leisure specialists, it was good for us to get exposure to
tourism academics' perspectives on sustainability. The question
we would pose is: "Where does countryside recreation
stop and eco tourism start?". We came away convinced
that there is much overlap and both schools could benefit from
reading the literature of the other. Some tourism academics seem
to be 'reinventing the wheel', already part of the countryside
recreation body of knowledge.
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