Ecologically Sustainable tourism Ladies and Gentlemen! Today I want to talk about tourism, and most importantly, about its impact on the environment.
Tourism is one of the most important industries in the word. More and more planes fly through the sky, moving a large number of tourists to numerous destinations. And this number increases every year. Travelling is very cheap these days. Almost anybody living in a developed country can reach nearly any place on earth, which has never been possible before. But this possibility can disappear as quickly as it came. For how long can we continue like this? What can we do to make this lifestyle more ecologically sustainable? You have to admit that tourism is a big waste of resources. Think about the millions of people who use tons and tons of fuel to fly to warm parts of the globe in winter and to ski resorts in summer.
Centre
World map depicting Europe Esperanto: Mondmapo bil...
English: Ecotourism in Svalbard. Français : Écot...Think about the environmental damage tourism causes. Think about that ski resort in Switzerland ? what was there before hundreds of hotels were built to support the swarms of tourists that come there every year.
It seems that economic development will make travelling possible for more people in the future. How much can tourism grow? Can the environment take all the pollution caused by this increased mobility? Nobody knows the answers to these questions, but people are getting concerned. Nowadays, people are more aware of the impact their behaviour has on the environment.
Wouldn't the truly ecological choice be just staying close to where you live? Alright, a true environmentalist will not travel at all, but what about the rest of us? It's not likely that tourism will disappear in the near future, even though it's clearly harmful to the nature. People will want to get away from...