Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability

Abstract

This article has the aim to provide a methodological framework for the calculation of ecological footprints related to leisure tourism. Based on the example of the Seychelles, it reveals the statistical obstacles that have to be overcome in the calculation process and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. As many tropical island-states depend heavily on foreign exchange earnings derived from visitors arriving by air, special attention is paid to the use of energy associated with air travel. Furthermore, implications of the findings for national greenhouse inventories are discussed. Finally, as the Seychelles have safeguarded a wide range of ecosystems in protected areas, which are for their existence ultimately dependent on financial resources derived from tourism, the question is raised if long-distance travel can be a means to safeguard biodiversity.

Introduction

‘Sustainable tourism’ has become one of the keywords in the debate on environmentally integrated tourism development, largely a result of the insight that the environmental consequences of this rapidly growing industry can no longer be ignored (e.g., Hunter and Green, 1995). In the past, a number of concepts have been suggested (i) to evaluate the environmental consequences of tourism, such as Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA; e.g. Green and Hunter, 1992); or (ii) to understand which levels of change can be tolerated, such as the carrying capacity concept (CCC) and the limits of acceptable change system (LAC) (O'Reilly, 1986, McCool, 1994). However, EIA, CCC, and LAC focus on changes occurring in the local environment, largely ignoring the global consequences of travel. A number of recent publications (Becken et al., 2002, Gössling, 2000, Gössling, 2002, Høyer, 2000) have pointed out, though, that transport (particularly air traffic) is responsible for the majority of the environmental impacts associated with long-distance tourism, for example more than 90% of a typical journey's contribution to climate change (Gössling, 2000). Existing concepts are thus insufficient to make clear statements about the sustainability of particular forms of travel or the sustainability of certain destinations. The same is true for ‘ecotourism’, which is characterised by integrated planning involving local communities. By definition, ecotourism is not harmful to the environment and thus largely understood as sustainable (e.g., Fennell, 1999). It is thus proposed and supported as a favourable development path by environmental organisations and institutions as dissimilar as the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Bank (cf. World Bank, 1998, WWF, 1995). However, even ecotourism projects often seem to ignore the global environmental aspects of travel. Ecotourism may thus be sustainable on the local level (in the sense that it puts a minimum threat to local ecosystems through the conversion of lands, trampling, collection of species, etc.), but it may in most cases not be sustainable from a global point of view. In the light of this, the article seeks to discuss ecological footprint analysis (EFA) as a concept to assess sustainability in tourism and to test the hypothesis of ecotourism as a sustainable form of tourism. The focus of the article is on leisure tourism as opposed to business tourism according to definitions as provided by the World Tourism Organisation.

The Seychelles have been chosen as the study site because they have based their marketing on the image of a pristine, exclusive eco-destination that seriously attempts to integrate environmental conservation and development. As a high-value destination, the islands attract a particularly wealthy clientele.