With the advent of the World Tourism Day it is time for a quick retrospection. The theme, “One billion tourists,One billion opportunities,” is clearly celebrating the success of tourism. But is tourism really being able to accomplish such fruitful opportunities?
Carefully considering the statement, Thailand and Nepal are heavily dependent on tourism and do receive good amount of tourists but still emerge as the worst economies in Asia. Tourism has become more academic than practical. With new forms of tourism emerging since the mid nineties the implementation of these environmentally friendly tourism practices have been very slow. There has been a failure for local tourism sources to confirm with tourism literature and terms like sustainable development have been lost where practical models have developed.
The UNWTO has pledged bring in more sustainable development through tourism by alleviating poverty. They have planned 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets that claim to erode poverty completely in its 2015 development agenda. But countries like China and India which give more importance to shopping malls over playgrounds for children sustainability may be a farfetched thought. Observing cycling expeditions for World Tourism Day to show how sustainable the countries are may not be the real picture. In a bid to follow the first world countries these nations are heading more towards industrialization and the disasters are manifold.
Going by the tragedy that happened with 700 Hajj pilgrims meeting their death on a holy day shows the fragility of tourism. Airlines from all over the world offered flights at cheap rates to bring maximum people to the venue, without even considering whether the place is equipped enough to accommodate the pressure of the pilgrims. A billion tourists may bring a billion opportunities, but there is an urgent need reconsider this ability. The Nepal Earthquake in 2015 affected millions of people across many countries and thousands lost their lives tragically. All these reflect the fragility and resilience of tourism. The rebuilding and rehabilitation that follow these disasters provides a reminder of the potential advantages of locally generated development.
Development is still inherently unequal and uneven particularly in the third world countries. There is a stark difference with the Western countries that are held as a model by the poorer countries and in bid to keep pace with their social ethics and conduct there is more unsustainable means being adopted with projected sustainability. Places like Maldives are continuously facing rising ocean waves and it will not be long when the island will disappear completely. However the island is repeatedly depending on more tourism and constantly aiming to set greater targets at receiving more tourists.
It is imperative today that the United Nation takes more penetrating measures to make nations more acquainted with their objective. If not, the collective movement to bring a global change through tourism will definitely be lost.
