Ecotourism For Development In South Africa

Eco touristry For Development In federation AfricaThe mho Afri bay window government, along with many other governments of developing nations, has recognized the po xtial economic well-beings of touristry. These include job creation, inf offset of foreign exchange, and change magnitude gross domestic product (Kaplan 2004 219). The countrifieds government has also made ecotourism a priority, updating infrastructure to support the perseverance (Van Amerom 2006 115). If it does so with sustainability in mind, to the entropy Africa could use tourism to capitalize on the benefits of tourism and successfully gain their culture in the long- shape. My family and I got to endure southwestern Africas growing ecotourism assiduity when we moved there six years ago. My memories of living and traveling there sparked my interest in tourisms potence to reduce poverty. This paper allow for specific each(prenominal)y focus on how southeastward Africa could use the growing branch of ecotourism to enlarge employment and economic developing in some of the countrys poorest aras, which happen to be rich in ecotourism potential. southmost Africa has the power to use ecotourism in a way that benefits the countrys poor and simultaneously promotes environmental conservation to produce a sustainable derive-generating industry.Before I view how southeastward Africa could use ecotourism as a implicates of organic evolution, it is in-chief(postnominal) to recognize the stackive increase in tourism that the nation and the mere have witnessed in the last ten years, especially since the dismantling of a spark offheid. The developing in tourism has been truly huge and is demonstrated by UN World Tourism Organizations statistics. According to the WTO (2010), the continent of Africa power saw a total of 46 cardinal international tourists in 2009 (8). 28.1 million of these tourists went to Sub-Saharan Africa, up from 6.4 million back in 1990 (WTO 2010 4). This fig ure displays the noneworthy growth that has occurred in the voice in just nearly a decade. What is most critical is that, in the past ten years, Sub-Saharan Africa has seen an ordinary 6.3% annual rate of increase in the number of tourists arriving in the region (WTO 2010 4). This steady rate of growth in the atomic number 18a is promising for southeast Africas future and its potential to benefit from tourism and advance training. It is also important to note that South Africa is a major player in Africas tourism, capturing 15.4% of all of the 46 million international arrivals in 2009 (WTO 2010 9). composition is not cognise what percentage of tourists visiting South Africa are purely there as ecotourists, ecotourism is unquestionably a growing industry and has been credited for some of the growth of tourism on the African continent (Van Amerom 2006 112). This is why I am going to critically examine how such tourism and ecotourism industry growth can help South Africa to d evelop.The very nature of ecotourism necessitates it valuable to examine as a potential means of advancing development in South Africa. The South African government defines ecotourism as environmentally and socially responsible travel to natural or near natural areas that promotes conservation, has low visitor impact and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peck ( colour Papers 1996 Definitions). The circumstance that ecotourism is based in the environment, is supposed to be environmentally and culturally educational, and is environmentally sustainable (Ayotte 2009 14) means that it can work in South Africa and for the countrys overall development. South Africa is a country that is well dispose to take vantage of ecotourism (Van Amerom 2006 115) because it has basic tourism infrastructure coupled with the fact that it is rich in history, subtlety and environmental treasures- all things that ecotourists seek to experience. These assets fall thro ugh South Africa an advantage over many other countries in the tourism industry, which gives it comparative advantage in the world tourism market. Further more(prenominal), since ecotourism is nature and culture based, South Africans will be capable of and inclined to stay fresh these treasures that induce r until nowue. Ayotte points out that, because of its sustainability, ecotourism is an alternative to traditional resource dependent industries which deplete de moderate resources (20092). unity such casing is the mining industry, which not only depletes poseed resources but has also experienced muckleive job losses (Binns and Nel 2002 236). distant the mining industry, tourism can be sustainable, as in the incident of a local confederation being inclined to want to preserve a certain traditional ceremony of theirs that tourists will pay to experience. preferably of losing this aspect of their culture in any way, they will have the hap to profit off of it and preserve it for future profit. Profits support development of these host communities, especially in poorer rural communities, which ecotourism has the potential to extend to. Again, South Africa is in a superior position to take advantage of ecotourists because of the resources it has. What is more, tourism promotion is considered an inexpensive way to promote economic growth (Binns and Nel 2002236). These factors make ecotourism a estimable industry for long sustainable profit and sequentially long-term development.Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has been in a estimable position to take advantage of ecotourism for economic development. Since then, Western governments have been vehement to provide support politically and economically for the country that it had previously held sanctions against for decades (Van Amerom 2006 116). much(prenominal) sanctions were certainly an economic hindrance to development in the country. The international community embraced South Afri ca after apartheid ended, and the country was allowed to host the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 as well as the association football World Cup in 2010. This international attention has boosted the marketing of tourism attractions (Van Amerom 2006 116) The international attention that south Africa has received does not seem to be going anywhere. President Zuma recently boasted that he has already acquired ninety-five meetings and conferences betwixt 2010 and 2016 (Visas to promote tourism 2011) for the country, which surely adds momentum to its substantiative international standing. The country is therefore in a position to take advantage of its good image and all of the attention it has gotten. With all of that being s attend to, The West sleek over holds a considerable amount of influence over tourism to the country. admonitory media coverage or travel advisories could affect the future of South Africas tourism industry negatively (Van Amerom 2006 117). That i s why South Africa should continue to pursue its positive international image and simultaneously work to promote ecotourism, a air of tourism that also has a positive image.One development start which South Africa faces that can be alleviated with ecotourism is unemployment. The number of un utilize cocksure those too discouraged to seek work is currently close to 30% (The Economist 2011 54). That is why the South African government is presently focus on creating jobs and reducing unemployment. President Jacob Zuma gave an address to the nation on February10th where he declared that he wants to boost tourism because every sixteen tourists cause one job (Visas to promote tourism 2011). Regardless of how precise this statistic is, tourists do create jobs, and South Africa needs jobs. at that placefore, the country should do all it can to promote tourism which alleviates joblessness and consequently promotes development. Kaplan elaborates that in addition, tourism typically emplo ys a high proportion of women (Kaplan 2004 219). Ecotourism as an industry that is capable of staggering round profits and benefits which promote development for more people.Along with providing jobs for women, ecotourism is able to spread development benefits to the poorer rural areas of South Africa, making it a beneficial aid to countrys overall development. These communities often hold unique cultural traditions or are located near natural treasures that are appealing to ecotourists. Ecotourism would bring profit and thus development to rural regions of the country that are excluded from the economic benefits of mass tourism, for instance in Cape Town or Johannesburg. This is what makes ecotourism superior to mass tourism. Binns and Nel explain that the government is anxious to ensure that the benefits of tourism are felt in all parts of the country (2002 236). Ecotourism can do this.Binns and Nel highlight an example of a townspeopleship called liquid speak, which experien ced economic collapse after its fishing industry failed. The area consequently faced a smuggled 85% unemployment rate (2002 240). The town desperately needed to diversify its scrimping and create jobs so they began to market themselves as a tourist destination, affair the town The Bay of Sleeping Beauty (Binns and Nel 2002 241). The leaders of the community also coordinated to build the Jagersbosch Community Care Centre, which managed funds to promote development. The Bay of Sleeping Beauty tourism campaign was remarkably successful because the town is located along The Garden Route, an already popular tourism area. Still Bay was also blessed with incredible natural beauty as well as archaeological heritage sites, whale watching, and an annual town festival. All of these factors helped lower the unemployment rate to almost 0% (Binns and Nel 2002 242). Binns and Nel examine this brass study to prove what a success ecotourism can be for a community, even though it may not work 100 % of the time. There are still many areas in South Africa which could benefit from ecotourism and experience a success story similar to Still Bays.Ecotourism as a means of development has its criticisms but these can be alleviated with skills development. One such criticism is that most companies involved in ecotourism have their home office in the north, and a large proportion of profits are repatriated (Wall 1997 488). While this is true, skills development can change this because it can promote entrepreneurship. Fortunately for South Africa, they have already established much of the ironware of the tourism industry such as the necessary airport and road infrastructure. Entrepreneurship gives people in marginalized communities a chance to create products and services which, in their sale, can benefit the whole community. For ecotourism to be truly successful at reducing unemployment and promoting development, South Africa must insure that it puts in place the industrys software of a masterly local work stick (Kaplan 2004 217).The country urgently needs better skills development for local people, which will not only enhance its competitiveness in the tourism industry but is central to the countrys development as a whole (Kaplan 2004 217). Skills development and thus the employment of local people will reduce leakage of profits to internationally hired employees. This is because now more and more local people can be hired, sometimes even at a lower cost. Kaplan also highlights the issue of inequality of who is employed in what positions in the tourism industry. Unfortunately, the more significant managerial roles are usually occupied by white males while b drop South Africans, particularly women, do the unskilled jobs (2004222). This issue, which is largely rooted in the countrys despicable history of apartheid, can be alleviated with skills development initiatives. Ultimately, a lack of skills undermines the industry and will cripple its positive effect o n development in the nation (Kaplan 2004 225). Therefore, the South African government should invest as much into this software as much as is does in the hardware of the tourism industry to make it sustainable and beneficial to the countrys most underclass(prenominal) citizens.One such criticism of ecotourism is that it is merely a marketing-gimmick that people bribe into (Wall 1997 487) and is therefore not superior to mass tourism and will not benefit development. While this would be unfortunate, I think that because one of the thoroughgoing principles that ecotourism is rooted in cultural and environmental education, this cynical critique is sufficiently refuted. With the growth of the industry and as more and more people are exposed to and fashion educated about ecotourism, people will imply an honest and superior product in comparison to mass tourism. The south African government also has the ability to make sure that ecotourism doesnt become a mere gimmick by enacting law s that restrict the usage of the term ecotourism in marketing unless it meets their definition laid out in The White Papers.Another criticism or paradox of ecotourism that seems to discount its potential as a means of development is that countries who aggressively promote it actually campaigning the risk of killing the industry because large influxes of tourists can easily malign the fragile environments they visit. Fortunately, the South African government can single-handedly proceed this from happening to South Africas special treasures. The government can impose caps and limits on the number of people who visit certain areas and what they are allowed to do in those areas. I know from personal experience that these types of restrictions exist in assailable environments in South Africas neighboring country, Botswana. Though caps and limits may seem to limit economic growth in the short term, they are critical for long-term benefits of the ecotourism industry. Fundamentally, the South African government has control over ecotourism and how it is carried out in the country. In order for it to be successful, they must help to insure that South Africas resources are not exploited to the point that they no longer exist.As the statistics from the World Tourism Organization demonstrated at the beginning of my paper, tourism in Africa is growing rapidly. More and more people visit the continent each year, even through this current economic recession. But the fact that tourism is inevitable does not dispel all criticisms of it and it does not mean that people should not try to assess its effects. This fact actually makes tourism more important than ever to scrutinize and critique because the industry that has a large impact on economies around the world. We need to understand this baron that is tourism and how it can be used as a force for good in development. This paper has argued that ecotourism is a superior form of tourism because it is sustainable, can stimul ate the economies of sidelined communities by creating jobs, and can improve South Africas overall development situation. Ecotourism is an industry that South Africa can uniquely take advantage of. For these reasons, ecotourism is a critical industry to examine as a potential method of development. When paired with other development initiatives, ecotourism can be part of a comprehensive development plan for South Africa.