Sustainable Tourism Development in Developing Countries: Some Aspects of Energy Use

Tourism has, in recent years, received increasing attention as a low-impact, non-consumptive development option, in particular for developing countries. This positive view contrasts with the fact that major parts of the tourist industry have remained harmful to the environment and that some aspects, like the use of energy and its global consequences have virtually been excluded from the discussion on sustainable tourism development. In this article, the evolution of tourism paradigms is reviewed with a focus on developing countries. It is shown that tourism has become of prime economic importance for many developing countries, in particular small island states. However, as the cash income generated by tourism is mainly derived from visitors coming from industrialised countries, who have to rely on air travel to arrive at their destination, the issue of energy use is analysed from an ecological perspective. It is shown that the tourism-related use of fossil fuels is significant and has detrimental environmental consequences. Afforestation programmes are discussed as a strategy to overcome the negative effects associated with the emission of greenhouse gases. Overall, it is claimed that energy use is an issue that urgently needs to be integrated into the discourse on sustainable tourism development.