The Freedom of Travel - The Need to Adapt

Almost all of us is involved within the phenomen of tourism - at least once a year.
This comprises not only fun and sun. Frank Brehm, student of tourist sciences, shows in this article how complex and momentous tourism is and on what factors its further developments depend.

FRANK BREHM, AACHEN

Tourism in Europe

Tourism is one of the biggest industries within the EU, employing more than seven million people and accounting for over five per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and foreign trade. More than 180 million EU citizens take holidays away from home every year. Holidays are no longer a luxury but have become a way of life. Today the freedom to travel is regarded as an indisputable right. By the year 2000 tourism is likely to have become the biggest employer in the world.

During the 1980's package tourism increased dramatically within the EU countries. Accomodation capacity, for example, increased by an average of 18% and by over 25% in Greece and Portugal, resulting from the growing demand. Increased incomes, cheap flights and, above all, the increasing leisure time enhanced this desire to travel.

There are various reasons for travelling such as recreation, business, sport, education, health, or visiting friends, so the "typical tourist" as such does not exist. Every action resulting from the stay of persons at a place where they do not normally live or work is entitled "touristical".

Selling Images

Holidays should relieve us temporarily from the hard job of organising our lives in a hectic world, but a great deal of leisure consumption is about myths and fantasies. The creation of unreal images, which can be sold just like material products is essential for many tourists seeking to escape the blandness of their home and work routines. The tourism industries offer rest for the stressed, adventure for the bored, and "unspoilt" destinations for those who dream of dropping out.

Tourism and the opportunity to travel were initially hailed as a great social breakthrough. In reality tourism very often means the occupation of free space, the destruction of natural eco-systems, and the re-establishment of everyday life at the chosen destination. Activity that is connected with the search for personal well-being may cause damage to the environment and the local population.

Features of Mass Tourism

Mass tourism is definitely the most significant form of tourism and imposes the gravest consequences on the natural and cultural environment of the destination. It is characterized by large-scale investments and aims at the biggest possible target group. The tourism industries do not leave any space for individual planning. But it seems to be that kind of convenience which is particularly attractive.

Only a few producers dominate particular markets: Disney in the world of theme parks, Center Parcs in the world of multi-functional holidays not far from home and travel companies such as TUI and Thomson in the world of package holidays in Europe. These producers take the lead in developing new tourism attractions, whether it be by opening up new mass destinations such as the Dominican Republic, Thailand and Turkey, or by designing new theme parks such as Euro-Disney.

By and large, mass tourism products are very similar: the Mediterranean beach holiday offers much the same mix of architecture, facilities, food, and entertainment whether it is located in Greece, Italy, Spain or Turkey. This main characteristic relates to the process of co-modification or the culture of consumption.

Impact of Tourism

Many - if not most - tourism and leisure pursuits have been transformed into "experiences" that can be marketed, sold and bought just as any other commodities, leading to a loss of the unique cultural and natural character every destination has to offer.

It is the tourism industries who more and more establish luxurious resorts in developing countries with the benefits being transferred back to Europe, the USA or Japan. Wealthy tourists are served by local residents. Any other contact between visitors and the local population is often undesirable. This kind of tourism does not contribute to a better understanding, but rather embodies a kind of "post-colonialism".

Yet the negative impact of mass tourism on natural and social environment has begun to destroy those aspects which once attracted people in the first place. Javier Gomez Navarro, tourism minister of Spain, warns against a further concentration of mass tourism within his country.

Good examples of the negative ecological impact which mass tourism can have can be found in the Mediterranean region. Large coastal areas have suffered from uncontrolled tourist development during the last decades, resulting in the destruction of natural eco-systems, air and water pollution, the shortage of water, problems of waste disposal, or the transformation of small villages into centres of urbanisation.

Non-Destructive Tourism

New, positive kinds of holiday which address the problems of mass tourism are to develop, concentrating upon revalueing and caring for cultural, social, and natural features of the destination. The prefered term for this kind of tou-rism development is "sustainable tourism".

Great emphasis is put on developing a responsible tourism policy, which has implications for maintaining the balance between economic benefit and socio-ecological responsibility.

Not the destination has to adapt

to the tourist development

but tourism has to adapt

to the cultural, natural

and socio-economic peculiarities

of the destination.

The basis of the new policy is to move away from the short-term gains of tourism, as presently constructed, towards the realisation of a long-term compatability between tourism and the environment.

The local population should be able to participate in the development of new tourism strategies and must not suffer from new infrastructure projects. Sustainable tourism should neither be orientated towards the demands of the tourists and the tourist industries but towards the existing local supplies at the destination.

Future Trends

Probable future trends in tourism are strongly related to changes in society. Today leisure and tourism are more than just elements in social well-being, since they also indicate the individual's position in society. Leisure activities more and more define everybody's personal lifestyle and are strongly motivated by creativity, health, new experiences, human relations, and personal growth.

Thus travelling offers the opportunity for everybody to fulfil oneself, whether people are looking for sporting challenges like biking, climbing or rafting, or want to collect experience of life within foreign cultures. Tourist markets are becoming more fragmented according to everybody's personal lifestyle and the distinction of the visitors' desires. Further more the tourist industries will have to react on a growing "Do It Yourself"-mentality in holiday planning.

Another important aspect is the growing ecological conscienceness of society. The need for environmental protection is generally accepted. Thus today's visitors are discerning. They are more aware of environmental issues and are likely to avoid places that are known to be insensitively developed, congested or that have environmental problems.

When tourism is SUSTAINABLE,

the natural and cultural resources

and the environmental, social

and economic well-being of an area

are maintained forever.

This consumer-based process is related to the increasing demand to experience and enjoy nature during holiday and is stimulating the development of "environmentally friendly" forms of tourism.

New Markets

In the end, we must not forget that there will be a still strong and viable market for mass tourism, both from existant participants in this form of leisure and, more importantly, from newer consumers. These will come from those countries where, at present, holiday-taking is only weakly established, for example in Eastern Europe. For these people package tourism will be the easiest and probably cheapest access to international tourist destinations.

By contrast, there is likely to be a continuous growth of these more critical consumers whose leisure interests and personal lifestyle fall within the realms of sustainable tourism. However you will decide to spend your next holiday, have a nice trip!

Frank Brehm, aged 25, is studying Tourism in Aachen and is our responsible editor for this periscope section.

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