Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
• diversion of streams and water sources from local use to resort use, with resulting decline
in water availability for domestic and other productive uses and farming, particularly taro
cultivation
Sources:
after Minerbi (1992); see also Milne (1990) and Weiler and Hall (1992)
water extraction. Coastal reefs, lagoons, anchialine ponds, wastewater
marshes, mangroves, have been destroyed by resort construction and by
excessive visitations and activities with the consequent loss of marine life
and destruction of ecosystems. Beach walking, snorkeling, recreational
fishing, boat tours and anchoring have damaged coral reefs and grasses
and have disturbed near shore aquatic life…. Tourism has presented itself
as a clean and not polluting industry but its claims have not come true,
(Minerbi 1992:69)
Such expressions of concern clearly give rise to questions regarding how sustainable
tourism can really be and the need to provide limits on the expansion of tourism and
corresponding human impact. Indeed, observation of the potential combined pressures of
the social and environmental impacts of tourism has long led researchers to speculate as
to whether there exists a carrying capacity for tourist destinations (e.g. J.M.Hall 1974;
McCool 1978; Getz 1983; Mason 2003; Coccossis 2004) (see Chapters 7 and 8). Yet
regardless of the empirical validity of the notion of carrying capacity (Wall 1983b;
Coccossis 2004), attention must clearly be paid by planners to the ability of an area to
absorb tourism in relation to the possibilities of environmental and social degradation
(see Chapter 9).
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this chapter has been to give a brief account of some of the potential
economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism and recreation. This provides a
framework for the discussion of specific forms of tourism and recreation in Chapters 5-8.
Tourism and recreation needs to be well managed in order to reduce possible adverse
impacts (Murphy 1982; Mason 2003; Reid 2003; Murphy and Murphy 2004). In turn,
good management is likely to be related to the level of understanding of tourism and
recreation phenomena. There is clearly a need to go beyond the image of tourism and
recreation, and develop rigorous integrated economic, environmental, social and political
analyses.
Geographers have contributed much to the understanding of the impacts of tourism
and recreation, particularly with respect to the impacts on the physical environment and
the spatial fixity of such effects. What the geographer has contributed is a better
understanding of the wider consequences of individual impacts and their cumulative
effect on the natural environment. However, there has been considerable exchange of
approaches and methodologies through the various social sciences, which means that the
demarcation line between geographical and other approaches has become increasingly
fuzzy. This is clearly the case when using multidisciplinary techniques such as EA which
has been enhanced by the use of GIS to improve the precision and location of the spatial
