What does sustainable tourism mean for islands?

Deliberate diversification of the economy from low-value agriculture to high-value international tourism (sometimes in combination with off-shore banking) has helped many small islands to prosper.

Seven small islands – Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man and Jersey – rank amongst the world's top 20 countries on the basis of per capita income, according to the World Factbook, 2007.

However, in many other islands rapid tourism growth has damaged the fragile ecology and social systems of islands, raising doubts about the sustainability of island tourism:

• Local infrastructure has come under pressure: water shortages and electricity blackouts are common.
• Road works have caused the erosion and destruction of bio-diverse wetlands.
• Construction of large-scale infrastructure projects such as marinas, cruise ship terminals, golf courses and holiday resorts have altered delicate coastlines and defaced mountain-sides.
• Marina development including anchoring, sand mining and sewage discharge has damaged mangroves, polluted lagoons and degraded fragile reefs.

Some of the most successful tourist destinations have also experienced social disruption (Malta, Balearics) and cultural losses (islands of Thailand, Hawaii). Many of these non-sustainable outcomes have been due to:

• the absence of a legacy of environmental protection and/or a heritage of cultural appreciation
• policy focus on short-term economic benefits over long-term social and environmental stability.

However, half a century of tourism has taught policymakers valuable lessons and many islands are now moving towards sustainability.

Source: Island Data www.islandstudies.ca/Island%20DataJerryMcElroy.xls/file_view

Highly developed destinations like the Balearics and Malta are implementing sustainable practices, while newer resorts like the Maldives are initiating environmental assessments. Bermuda and the Seychelles, both with a tradition of environmental conservation, share a distinct, self-conscious, upscale tourism identity, and are committed to long-term planning. The British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Northern Marianas and Iceland have avoided excessive tourism dependence by diversifying into other profitable economic activities. Some of these include off-shore financing, sugar and manufacturing industries and power generation.

In a few warm-water islands, tourism is restricted by limited transport infrastructure which has allowed eco-friendly and other types of low-density, high-yield speciality tourism to flourish. A small airport has prevented the growth of mass tourism in Saint Barthélemy, in the Eastern Caribbean, and has helped it to develop as an up-market destination for French cuisine.

In several isolated cold-water islands like the Shetlands, the Falklands, Antartica and Greenland, tourism is controlled by a short holiday season, expensive access, and by a focus on extreme adventure and exploration which are not universally demanded leisure activities.

Although every destination must shape its own path, a generation of island tourism experience suggests that success can come from:

• proactive and strategic planning over the long-term
• public environmental education and community participation in tourism decision-making
• diversification beyond exclusive dependence on tourism
• broad policy acceptance on limitations to growth.

Achieving these elements, in whole or in part, will ensure islands are moving towards profitable tourism that is socially acceptable to the host population and environmentally sustainable for future generations.

Jerome McElroy and Rachel Dodds

Jerome McElroy
Department of Business Administration and Economics, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
T + 1 219 2844488
F + 1 574 2844566
jmcelroy@saintmarys.edu

Rachel Dodds
Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
T + 416 9795000 (7227)
F +1 416 9795281
r2dodds@ryerson.ca

See also

"Malta's Tourism Policy: Standing Still or Advancing towards Sustainability?" Island Studies Journal, 2(1), pages 47-66, by Rachel Dodds, 2007 (PDF)
www.islandstudies.ca/journal/ISJ-2-1-2007-Dodds-pp47-66.pdf

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