Global Tourism in 2017

It’s 2017. And we’re off to an okay start.  We haven't exactly hit our climate targets. Trump got elected. Brexit happened and the rise of the far right is becoming more and more prominent in society.  

But amongst the torture, we are bound for good things at home. We've managed to shut down Hazlewood and invest more in renewables in Victoria. BP pulled out of drilling in the Great Australian Bite. 18C was shut down in parliament and people power has seen the prolonged Great Barrier Reef fiasco encounter a few positive wins. 

Globally, The US said goodbye to its plan for an oil and gas drilling rig in the Atlantic waters, Giant pandas were taken off the endangered list, Liberia was officially cleared of Ebola and world hunger reached its lowest point in 25 years.

Late last year, the United Nations declared 2017 as the International year of sustainable tourism for development. The idea is to advance the tourism sector under the following pillars of sustainability -  Social, economic and environmental.

In 2013, Australia generated $29 billion from the tourism and travel industry alone. We’re well on track to achieve our target by 2020 and hit between $115 - 140 billion dollars. With increasing globalisation, tourism is growing faster than ever before.

As I wandered through Flinders Lane on my lunch today, I noticed it was full of bustling  tourists. Short tourists, tall tourists, tourists with hats on, or beards, German tourists that bumped into me and carried on with their day without noticing, Italian tourists that spoke at a million miles an hour in their mother tongue, Chinese tourists, Lebanese tourists. All travelled from opposite ends of the globe to see the buzzing Melbourne city. I think of what it's like in New York right now, Dehli, Rome, Beijing...

Cities and people make tourism thrive, both economically and socially. This can be taken into account for third world and developing countries along with the Western world. Tourism creates employment and business services opportunities - for example through hotels, restaurants, transport, infrastructure and entertainment activities. Growing levels of disposable income in China in particular have enabled the industry to grow dramatically in recent years and will continue to do so. Humans want to be entertained, so investing in programs, activities and events to promote social tourism is only going to drive it higher.  

Natural wonders. Oceans, mountains, waterfalls, ancient cities, deserts, the highest of mountains looking over a ruined city from before your grandmother was born. People want to see this. People PAY to see this. Conserving the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development would be a good place to start.

The mining boom is dying and we’re slowly turning to renewables. Allowing Chevron to pop deep sea oil rigs in the Great Australian Bite doesn't seem like a great place to start. Neither does using the Great Barrier Reef as home for the Carmichael megamine to export more brown coal to India. Drilling in the Arctic between the Russian and Ukrainian political storm doesn't seem like that good an idea either.

The most detrimental affects of global tourism are the effects that it has on the environment. Carbon emissions polluting the air from added air travel, generation of rubbish in environmentally sensitive areas such as national parks and destruction of the natural environment and disturbance of wildlife and vegetation.

But, despite all this, there are good things happening. We have ocean sanctuaries set up around the global seas to avoid overfishing, depleting stocks and encourage breeding grounds for wildlife.  Putting aside resources for management and planning heritage listed areas, ecosystems and wildlife preservation helps degenerating environmental areas and sustains them for future generations.

We can use tourism as a global benefit - by raising awareness of the natural environment, creating meaningful employment and allowing cultural exchange - while minimising or preventing its detrimental effects through research and protective measures. Throughout the world, governments can invest in the environmental, social and economic aspects of tourism, which will continue to grow long after 2017 the year of sustainable tourism has passed.