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035
UNIT 2
TOURISM, HOSPITALITY AND THE
ENVIRONMENT – IMPACTS AND SOLUTIONS
Unit Outline
This unit brings the environment agenda closer to home and examines the impacts
of tourism and hospitality on the environment. It has 4 sections.
Section 1
The impacts of tourism and hospitality on the environment
If readers are to appreciate the importance of environment management and
sustainable development, they must learn about the impacts of tourism on the
environment. This section discusses the impacts of tourism on air, land and water.
Section 2
An introduction to the social and cultural impacts of tourism
The social and cultural impacts of tourism fall outside the scope of this pack. The
discussion is therefore limited to introducing key impacts that are causing concern
in many destinations.
Section 3
Tourism and the environment – The other side of the argument
Despite its environment impacts, tourism can boast of significant contributions
to the protection and conservation of the environment. These contributions are
outlined in this section.
Section 4
The need for environmentally-sound tourism
Environmentally-sound or sustainable tourism is defined and discussed, including
a framework for achieving environmentally-sound tourism together with short
case studies.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
• Recognise that tourism can have significant environment impacts;
• Understand the importance of developing and managing tourism in an
environmentally-sound manner;
• Have an overall impression of the actions needed for environmentallysound
tourism;
• Begin to appreciate the benefits of managing tourism and hospitality
with minimum environment impact.