Explain how tourism can be made sustainable through management and responsible approaches

What this dot point is asking

SEAB wants you to explain how tourism can be made sustainable through management and responsible approaches. The central insight is that sustainable tourism seeks a balance: it lets a destination earn from tourism today without damaging the environment, culture or economy that future visitors and residents will depend on, achieved through careful management and approaches such as ecotourism.

The answer

What sustainable tourism means

Sustainable tourism is tourism that meets the needs of tourists and the industry today without harming the ability of future generations to enjoy and benefit from the destination. It rests on three goals:

• Protecting the environment so it is not damaged or used up.
• Respecting and benefiting local communities, so the people who live there gain.
• Remaining economically viable over the long term.

In short, it aims for tourism that can last, rather than tourism that exhausts a place and then moves on.

Managing tourism to make it sustainable

Several management strategies help:

• Limiting visitor numbers and managing crowds: visitor caps, booking and permit systems, and spreading visitors over time and space reduce overcrowding and pressure on the environment.
• Protecting the environment: treating waste and sewage, creating protected areas, controlling building, and conserving water and energy (for example, hotels using renewable energy).
• Involving and benefiting local communities: employing local people, buying local goods and respecting local culture, so benefits stay in the area and leakage is reduced.
• Educating tourists: encouraging responsible behaviour, such as not littering, respecting wildlife and local customs.

The role of ecotourism

Ecotourism is a key sustainable approach: small-scale, low-impact tourism in natural areas that protects the environment and benefits local communities, often funding conservation. By keeping numbers small, protecting nature and channelling income to locals, it preserves the destination while still earning from it, and it educates visitors to value the environment.

The limits and trade-offs

Sustainable approaches involve trade-offs. Ecotourism brings less income than mass tourism because it relies on small numbers, so a community needing greater economic benefit may find it insufficient; it can also be hard to manage, and if it grows too popular it may itself damage what it protects. The challenge is balancing economic benefit against protecting the destination.

Examples in context

Example 1. Visitor management at Bhutan. Bhutan follows a high-value, low-impact tourism policy, charging visitors a daily fee and limiting numbers to protect its environment and culture while still earning significant income per tourist. The fee funds services and conservation, and capping numbers prevents overcrowding. It is a clear example of managing tourism for sustainability by limiting visitors and ensuring tourism benefits the country without damaging it.

Example 2. Community ecotourism in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is known for ecotourism centred on its rainforests and national parks, where protected areas, local guides and lodges, and entry fees that fund conservation combine to preserve nature while benefiting communities and the economy. By keeping tourism low-impact and channelling income into protection and local livelihoods, it shows how ecotourism can make tourism sustainable, while also illustrating that careful management is essential to keep it that way.

Try this

Q1. Explain what is meant by sustainable tourism. [2 marks]

• Cue. Tourism that meets the needs of tourists and the industry today without harming the ability of future generations to enjoy and benefit from the destination, protecting the environment, benefiting local communities and remaining economically viable over the long term.

Q2. Describe two ways tourism can be managed to be more sustainable. [2 marks]

• Cue. Limiting visitor numbers and managing crowds (permits, booking, spreading visitors) to reduce pressure, and protecting the environment through waste treatment, protected areas and conserving water and energy; involving and benefiting local communities is also acceptable.

Q3. Suggest one limitation of relying on ecotourism. [2 marks]

• Cue. Because it depends on small numbers of visitors, ecotourism brings in less income and fewer jobs than mass tourism, so it may not provide enough economic benefit for a community or country that needs greater income; it can also be hard to manage or may damage the environment if it grows too large.