By the following criteria you will get a general idea about the social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of tourism. If you like to evaluate an accomodation and join the hotel-ranking you may use these following criteria in order to get a better orientation in sustainable development in tourism. The Zanzibar-Network is pleased about any information from you about accomodations in Tanzania concerning the following topics:

 

1. Criterion: Poverty/Development

2. Criterion: Environment/Culture/Food Security/Territorial Rights

3. Criterion: Water

4. Criterion: Human dignity and coherent politics

5. Criterion: Participation of the civil society

6. Criterion: International economic and trade policy/Fair Consumption

Tourism must help overcome poverty — social justice and the participation of local people in destinations must be the foundations for this. Only by overcoming poverty can the foundation for a sustainable development be established. The efforts for eradicating all structures that cause poverty must take first priority.

 

Subsidising Tourism because of trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the structural adjustment programmes prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF):

Increasing their attractiveness in global competition, hope of quick foreign exchange earnings and employment creation, construction of infrastructure
such as airports, streets, energy and water supply for tourists is a heavy burden for the national economies of the destination countries, incentives such as tax exemptions, tax-free repatriation of profits etc.

 

Unfair competition practices:

An average of 40 to 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings from tourism leak back to the home countries of the travellers and tourism companies for imports of consumer and luxury goods, Domination of the market by transnational tourism companies in the form of new »all-inclusive« offers as well as in price negotiations with local suppliers, little insight into the local distribution of revenue or the ecological and social costs of tourism, fall in the cost of travelling, "working poor": people who work full time yet whose earnings are under the minimum subsistence levelpeople work under precarious conditions in tourism: long and irregular working hours, lack of job security due to seasonality, few opportunities for qualification and promotion, the informal sector: Self-appointed »guides« or street vendors they are often repressed by authorities, Tourism destroys jobs in traditional
sectors such as fishing or agriculture: extensive demands on resources by tourism businesses, lack of sales potential since the large hotels are able to import food and materials for accommodation and construction from the cheapest suppliers, increasing costs of living.

 

Challenges:

Instead of large, growth orientated projects, decentralised approaches should be preferred which are targeted towards public welfare and the participation of all those affected.

With the help of legal regulations and binding agreements, it should be ensured that private tourism companies, especially foreign and transnational companies, operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and create guaranteed markets for local producers. This must become a standard of quality in tourism and be ensured through the appropriate education of all those responsible.

The responsible players from politics and industry, especially from the governments of the industrialised countries and the administrative levels of the large tourism companies are urgently requested to redesign the international economic and trade policy frameworks in such a way that disadvantaged population groups in tourism countries can benefit more from tourism.

The responsible players from politics and industry, especially from the governments of the industrialised countries and the administrative levels of the large tourism companies are urgently requested to redesign the international economic and trade policy frameworks in such a way that disadvantaged population groups in tourism countries can benefit more from tourism.
The industrialised countries are requested to substantially increase funds for development cooperation and to contribute at least 0.7 percent of
their gross national product for official development assistance. These funds should be primarily used for the eradication of poverty, for health care, food
security, education, »empowerment« and participation.
No money from development aid should be used for the expansion of tourism or infrastructure from which local communities do not benefit.
Development co-operation is needed to empower disadvantaged groups of the population in their response to tourism. This includes health care in all areas of life as well as empowerment for the people to ensure their own interests and rights. Only then can specific support for local suppliers such as in education or access to affordable financing for tourist facilities as well as technical aid (the transfer of technology) come to fruition.
Funds from development co-operation should continue to be used to ensure that the interests of those disadvantaged by tourism development are heard at an international level and to expand awareness raising and information for travellers.

Environmental justice is an important aspect in order that future generations can also profit from tourism. Tourism feeds off the natural and cultural diversity of the planet — it must contribute to its survival.

 

Does the organisation of the hotel function in adaption to the cultural and environmental conditions of the country or are there any particularities as like e.g. ecological or social impacts?

Is waste management and sewage disposal paticularly organised? Do they use alternative energy resources? Do they offer conceivable comfort that uses high energy costs as like e.g. air conditioning, heated pools, imported goods.

To what extent the former owners of the estate, where they build the accomodation that shall be evaluated, had a say in selling it? Were they pad equitably?

 

Impacts of development of the land by tourism/eco-tourism :

Local inhabitants must make way for tourism and reduce or even give up
their traditional use of resources, often without adequate alternatives or
compensation.

Loss of access to water and land after nature reserves were established by tourism projects: Development projects often claim to have the goal of reducing the debts of developing countries under the guise of nature conservation and at the same time propagate tourism as a new source of income. This can lead to the loss of rights of disposal over land and to the further impoverishment of the local population.

The ecological damage caused by tourism outside the parks' fences and on the way to the parks must be fully included in the balance. Controlling the numbers of park visitors would be an appropriate measure for protecting nature, but this also costs money, which many park administrators do not have or are not willing to give up. Nature tourism, which is eagerly sold under the label of »ecotourism« is gaining popularity and often opens up the doors to more massive developments which damage these fragile areas even more.

 

Food-Security:

Since the land was sold to investors and is strictly reserved for natural conservation projects, agricultural production decreased and expensive food had to be imported. Only a few of those who once lived on the land are able to find jobs in tourism. As the people no longer had the possibility to produce food for their own subsistence, they were no longer able to earn their living.

Results of overfishing because of extensive demands: Near the coast it is increasingly fished by foreign high-tech cutters. After many fishermen have to give up their jobs due to poor catches, the community is put under even more pressure. The fishermen's unstable economic situation due to the dwindling fish population causes uncontrolled tourism growth, which aside from a few poorly paid jobs scarcely brings any advantages for the community. Once the local economy is weakened, people are much more susceptible to the ill effects of tourism.

 

Territorial Rights:

In search for alternatives, some people were forced to sell their land. Due to unregulated land-ownership, real estate agents have an easy job — land is thus given away to foreigners for tourism projects. Especially people who live from jobs in the informal sector such as traditional livestock keeping and agriculture or gathering, are affected by tourism's land consumption. However, in some areas, these forms of income total up to 60 percent of the costs of living especially for indigenous peoples or marginalised minorities. The informal sector is essential for food security and health care especially in poor countries that do not have a functioning social security system. Each restriction of access to land is a concrete life risk for these communities.

Access to the sold land is often prohibited. When a combination of protected areas and »ecotourism« is discussed, excluding the population instead of including them, the process is often accompanied by a loss of intellectual property. Knowledge of traditional forms of fishing or forestry is lost if it is not used and passed down to the following generations.

 

Challenges:

A regional supply of goods, energy and water could save, ie avoid, enormous transportation costs. All stakeholders are required to build up and
support a regional supply in tourism through Local Agenda 21 processes and integrated regional planning. A change in the trends in tourism to ecological and socially appropriate forms is possible only if tourism is integrated into efforts for environmentally and socially sustainable regional development. Tourism planners are requested to link tourism to an environmentally sustainable regional agriculture, energy and water supply and sewage treatment and to help establish regional cycles of production, recycling and recovery. With appropriate political measures, private investors and tourism companies should be urged to supply food from regional/local markets.

Without fair access to land and guaranteed rights of usage for local and indigenous communities sustainable development is not realisable — whether with or without tourism. The obligations of the International Pact on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights must also be fulfilled with respect to land and soil, particularly by those responsible for tourism. The often legally unregulated land rights, or collective forms of land ownership and use that do not include private property, must not be undermined by (foreign) land speculators. All countries must take responsibility for this.

Those responsible in tourism politics are requested to insist on the observation of limits posed by the ecological and socio-economic carrying capacity of areas with regard to biological diversity. Local communities must be able to take part in deciding on the criteria for evaluating these limits, also with regard to culturally shaped landscapes.

»Ecotourism« cannot be recommended or promoted as a general concept for nature conservation. Instead, tourism developments which are a part of this concept need to be reviewed. The UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are requested to have an independent committee analyse the positive and negative impacts of so-called ecotourism on the environment and the every day life of the affected people.
Tourism must be recognised as a catalyst for biopiracy and theft of intellectual property and must be taken seriously. Binding legal instruments are needed to prevent biopiracy at national as well as international levels. The theft and marketing of local people's knowledge without their consent must be prevented with appropriate measures.

Refreshing water is more precious on our travels than at home. Has the hotel created its own water supply or does it source the water from the public main water pipe?

Proceeding privatization of water, lack of water and water shortage for more than 1.2 billion people and rising trend continues, suffering from lethal diseases due to a lack of access to clean water, the daily 2,000 litre consumption of water per guest in a Tanzanian hotel may be an exception, however even 400 to 600 litres is much higher than the average 25 litre consumption in Zanzibar. Ground water reserves which have been tapped out or polluted endanger the water supply especially in arid zones and on islands. There is an extreme shortage of freshwater reserves in these areas. The predicted rates of tourism growth put future supplies at stake. Some holiday islands are dependent on rain water as their only source of freshwater. When freshwater supplies are tapped on coral islands, the fragile ecosystem can be disturbed, the protective reef can be damaged and the island could collapse. Sewage disposal in the sea damages coastal and marine ecosystems. Algal blooms endanger the fish population which is accompanied by losses in fishing.

 

Challenges:

The right to an equal access to water as a basis of life is a precondition for socially sustainable development in general, and in tourism in particular. The international community is called upon to maintain water as a public good through appropriate agreements and to secure the right to water for all. The international community is requested to proceed with establishing the still ineffective international precautionary and polluter pays principles with respect to the consumption and management of freshwater and oceans. Tourism as one of the causes for water conflicts must be integrated into international programmes to solve the water crisis.

Those responsible in industry and politics are requested to implement concrete precautionary measures. Governments must ensure that the planning of water supplies is based on communal and participatory principles. Local Agenda 21 processes offer an appropriate framework for this. No one should be able to use water without the active and prior-informed participation of the local population.
Regional water supply should be in the hands of the community. Tourism as a user would then have to be integrated in appropriate ways.

Those responsible in the tourism industry and governments are urged to introduce and implement immediate water saving measures and sewage reduction. Just as urgent is the self-commitment of the tourism industry to an immediate sewage management. Governments should encourage this through appropriate regulations and guiding measures. Especially garbage and sewage from cruise ships do not belong in the ocean or in inland waters!
Travellers everywhere are urged to be thrifty in their use of water.

Especially women, children and indigenous groups need protection and »empowerment« to make sure they have equal rights. Political commitment is crucial for protecting human rights and for the creation of integrated policies to balance environmental, economic and social concerns at all levels. Only then will future generations everywhere in the world be able to live in dignity and enjoy their holidays and leisure time.

 

Women can often successfully earn their main or secondary source of income with jobs like these. But in order to be successful, they require a »starting capital«, whether a house for renting rooms, a farm for receiving holiday guests, fields to grow produce, or special knowledge such as cooking, handcrafting, accounting or language skills.

Women do have an important role in tourism. According to recent ILO estimates, 70 percent of tourism employees are women. Not included in these calculations are the women who attempt to earn a living in the informal sector — as fruit sellers, souvenir producers, landladies, restaurant owners. It's a different story for many women who are employed by tourism companies. World wide, they earn 20 to 30 percent less than men in the same positions. Women with families have a double burden. On top of the long working hours, they also have housework to complete, which often comes to more than 90 hours a week. In all fields of service, women are in danger of sexual abuse. The more dependent their position is, the more they are susceptible to sexual exploitation.

Not all young employees in tourism are exploited. Yet their jobs in tourism
prevent many millions of children and youths from going to school. They
often must do difficult and dangerous work for little or no pay and often have no chance for an education.

Gap between decisions made at international levels and their implementation at national, regional and local levels: Absence of committees for control of the compliance with the conventions:

CSD-7to15-Resolution: Comprehensive programme of action on tourism and sustainable development of the the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)

ILO- Conventions No 172 (Working Conditions in Hotels and Restaurants), Nr. 169 (Protection of indigenous groups)

Convention of biodiversity (CBD)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights regarding economic, social and cultural rights

Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry by tourism organizations

Global Code of Ethnics for Tourism by the World Tourism Organization (WTO-OMT)

Strategies for sustainable development that were worked out on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002 in Johannesburg

Programme for the International Year of Ecotourism (IYE) in 2002, designed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO-OMT)

 

Challenges:

Full consideration of gender aspects in all tourism and development plans. This includes women's interests and perspectives as well as their grievances on how development in general and tourism in particular affects them and their children.

Consistent measures at all levels against gender discrimination and for the protection of women against exploitation in tourism: equality and the specific promotion of women in tourism companies; education and support for local suppliers.

Ratification of the ILO conventions on the protection of children against exploitative labour as well as targeted measures against the exploitation of children in all forms of labour including appropriate prevention: obligatory and free education for all; specific protection and rehabilitation for children in exploitative work situations; implementation of child protection laws and consistent interpretation in favour of the children, increased persecution of perpetrators who exploit children, also on the basis of extraterritorial legislation.

It requires effective multilateral institutions with a high degree of responsibility and transparency that follow democratic, participatory rules and guarantee equal opportunities of participation for developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

At national levels we need responsible, coherent governmental leadership.
Public funds must be used in a transparent manner and must be in line with the goal of sustainability, supported by an appropriate trade and investment policy. Decision-making processes must be democratic and participatory.
The tourism industry, especially transnational corporations, must follow the principle of responsible management and leadership (Corporate Social Responsibility). They must actively contribute to sustainable development in the social dialogue with employees, by observing labour standards and continuously improving working conditions, by consistently implementing codes of conduct and the already existing comprehensive commitments for environmentally and socially responsible business ethics, by acknowledging the principles of good governance and by fighting corruption.
Last but not least, citizens and travellers must responsibly orientate their travel and consumer behaviour to the goal of sustainability. They must closely follow the implementation of political measures to achieve this goal. To be able to do so, independent, critical media coverage is indispensable.

Striving for global environmental
and social sustainability means improving the status of environmental and social standards in international policies in the UN and providing the necessary structures to ensure that these standards are fully considered in economic and trade policy.

All social players, especially disadvantaged peoples and minorities, must have the right to decide on tourism development and benefit from it.

 

Which measures were taken by the hotels to involve the local population as participating players in decisions or rather to support them by e.g. projects, funds?

 

Tourism plans are often made without the participation and even without the knowledge of the local population. Land is sold to hotel chains, beaches are shovelled away and golf courses are built, forests are redefined as »ecoresorts« and land for the construction of roads is appropriated before the people living there are even informed of the plans and can enquire about their land rights.

Zanzibaris first heard about the project of the largest East African hotel complex to be built on the peninsula Nungwi through the local press only after the plans had already been officially approved. The map submitted by the East African Development Company for the four billion US dollar project comprising 16 luxury hotels, 100 villas, a marina, golf courses and sports fields no longer shows any villages. No room is provided for the 20,000 people who live there and no one had thought about water supply systems or sewage and waste disposal. But up to that day the investor from Oman hasn't kept his promise to start the project in 1998. Some of the land he has already sold in order to gain more profit by real estate speculations on the Isles of Zanzibar.

The tourism industry takes advantage of the weak position of many people
in the travel destinations of the South. Tourism products are advertised using pictures that respond to the wishes of tourists rather than show the actual living conditions in the destinations.

With reference to this kind of tourist demand built on clichés and prejudices, tourism companies justify their intrusion into the private sphere of local communities. »Visits« to local homes reaching as far as the back corners of the houses or »participation« in ceremonies often take place without the previous consent of those being visited. Even the »primitive« life in poverty, often a result of structural adjustment programmes and debt policies, is marketed as a tourist attraction. Instead of encounters between equals, racist perceptions are created or at least confirmed.

 

Challenges:

In order to achieve sustainable tourism development and the fair and equitable sharing of profits from tourism, all those affected must be fully involved in all decisions on tourism. This includes processes to establish the criteria for decision making itself.
Participation can only be guaranteed if decision-making processes are fully transparent. Logistic, technical, and financial support and means of communication should be made available to make the participation of all those affected possible. This applies especially to disadvantaged population groups. In order to ensure the comprehensive, prior-informed and active equal participation of all stakeholders in tourism, the flow of information, education and communication must be improved. The relevant authorities
and the tourism industry in particular are requested to support this process
at international and local levels.
All those political spheres responsible for tourism — including employment, traffic and energy and water supply — should feel obligated to participatory planning and decision-making in tourism. This applies to all questions relevant to tourism.
Following the demands of indigenous representatives with regard to »ecotourism« at the 8th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, those responsible for tourism in government and industry as well as NGOs are requested to initiate a debate involving all stakeholders, especially disadvantaged groups, on standards of participation.

Participation in tourism also means access to tourist facilities such as hotels and to travel offers for all. No discrimination of local people!
In order to counteract the degradation and commercialisation of culture and the local people's private sphere, those affected must be able to have a say with regard to their representation in travel offers. They must have the possibility of self-presentation and of corrective counter-presentation. Local communities must be able to decide on whether, where and how they wish to be presented.
The media is expected to report on tourism in an independent, truthful and enlightened manner. This applies to radio, television and journals such as travel magazines. The media should offer those affected by tourism a forum and comprehensively inform travellers about the impacts of tourism. In line with their important role in civil society, the media should take on the challenge of creatively using their resources to help change the trends in tourism towards a globally sustainable development.

Consumer behaviour in travel and leisure must be just towards people and the environment!

Fair Trade — also in tourism!

 

Are offers by the local people recommended or is the accomodation as transnational tourism companies, who offer not only tour operation but also transportation, accommodation and food and who have access to international reservation systems and take advantage of their domination of the market in the form of new »all-inclusive« offers as well as in price negotiations with local suppliers?

Are there any particularities about the accomodation as like e.g. Holiday offers which are oriented to sustainable regional development, encouragement of the contact with people with a different cultural background or prohibition of access to the beaches for the local population, repression of street vendors and guides of the informal sector ba security forces?

 

20 percent on the world's population, the inhabitants of the industrialised
countries, consume 80 percent of the world's resources.

Fall of prices: The »bargain prices« leave hotels without the financial scope to take the necessary measures for an environmentally sustainable sewage and waste management.

According to representative surveys more and more travellers would accept a price increase in exchange for guaranteed environmentally and socially acceptable offers.

Privatisations, majority shareholding for foreign companies, generous incentives for foreign investors and further concessions to private tourism companies such as unrestricted imports or the employment of foreign personnel drastically reduce the possibilities for the host countries to profit from tourism.

Especially transnational tourism companies have access to international computer reservation systems which are unavailable to local suppliers — they thus have a virtual monopoly of access to the customers.

 

Fair Trade:

Trade between travellers and hosts must strengthen the position of disadvantaged communities in the tourist destinations in all respects — economically, socially, ecologically and culturally. Unlike other tourism concepts which are more or less restricted to environmentally and socially acceptable forms of tourism in the destinations, Fair Trade is aimed at all the players in the complex chain of production — from guests to hosts (including tour operators and travel agents in the tourist sending and receiving countries, transportation companies from international to local levels, tourist guides, souvenir producers and vendors etc.). Fair Trade also challenges governments and intergovernmental organisations who set the frameworks for international economic and trade policy, since this is where more justice, transparency and participation are most urgently needed. The structural disadvantages for the countries of the South must be eradicated so that tourism development can be fair and can contribute to sustainability.

 

Challenges:

Every decision made by travellers from the preparation to the choosing and purchase of a travel product, including its price, to the consumption and behaviour during the holiday as well as in everyday life sets the course for sustainable development — or just the opposite. This must be made clear to the consumers. It is their responsibility to make consistent decisions and to actively demand appropriate tourism and leisure products from decision-makers in industry and government.

One prerequisite for sustainable consumption and lifestyles is also to daily review one's own needs for rest, relaxation and entertainment and to thus gain a new quality of everyday life from restful leisure activities for one's own well-being.
Instead of the previous non-sustainable activities, tour operators and suppliers in the leisure industry are requested to bring new attractive products onto the market which fulfil the requirements of globally sustainable development, and to advertise them appropriately. Fair trade in tourism initiatives must be considered more carefully. The complete range of products must be differentiated in order to clearly show the environmental
damages and social costs and enable consumers to compare and make informed decisions. The credibility of such declarations must be secured through transparency, regular reporting and independent monitoring. Consumers must be informed comprehensively.
Governments and authorities especially in tourist sending countries are requested to create appropriate political frameworks which take account of tourism and leisure as a cross-cutting political issue in order to make a comprehensive sustainable development possible. In countries where a large number of citizens go on holidays abroad, the political responsibility for
sustainable development in tourism cannot end at national borders. Instead, political measures must also consider out-going tourism. Environmentally and socially appropriate forms of tourism and leisure activities must be specifically supported through incentives as well as regulations in various political fields (transportation, regional planning, environment, economics, education, foreign affairs, development politics etc.). This includes:
The promotion of a broad spectrum of attractive products in leisure and recreation close to home which are easily accessible with ecomobile modes of transportation.
Clear conditions regarding the sustainability of tourism development for all promotional measures. The creation and support of new initiatives for more sustainable travel and leisure activities.
Targeted promotion of Local Agenda 21 processes including both tourism within the community and outbound tourism.
Information and education for travellers and consumers financially supported not only by development agencies, but also out of budgets for environment, travel security, health care and research. Education on tourism
for youths in and outside of school must be expanded and improved.
Training programmes in tourism must be in line with and actively work towards the goal of sustainable development. This means including comprehensive courses on sustainable development in tourism at all levels
of vocational training.

 

Most important challenges:

Substantial debt relief for developing countries and reforms of debt recovery and credit policies in order to make funds available for poverty alleviation and to ensure that indebted countries are no longer forced to promote unsustainable forms of tourism under the pressure of having to earn foreign exchange.
Multilateral donors such as the World Bank and its subsidiaries as well as the European Union are urgently requested to revise their promotion practices in tourism and to clearly orientate them to the principles of sustainable development.

No further obligations to liberalise trade in tourism under the GATS and the World Trade Organization (WTO-OMC) until the consequences of the liberalisations already in place have been comprehensively evaluated. Tourism companies are urgently requested to incorporate sustainability thinking into their business objectives and to consistently implement respective measures. There must be more commitment to environmentally and socially responsible operations, specifically considering all social aspects in connection with tourism development. Independent schemes to monitor
these commitments are essential in order to ensure credibility.

All distorting, often hidden subsidies in tourism, especially incentives for foreign investors which are often extremely disadvantageous for local suppliers, must be abolished. In all areas relevant to tourism, costs must be
transparent and must be borne according to the polluter pays principle.
Initiatives aimed at Fair Trade in tourism, especially those which help small-scale enterprises to compete in terms of product quality and which improve their access to consumer markets, should be actively promoted.