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ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM – ISSUES, OPTIONS

AND TOOLS

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 ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM –
ISSUES, OPTIONS AND TOOLS

A K BHATTACHARYA*, RAVI SHARMA** and SUCHITRA BANERJI***

Introduction

Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world and the world's largest civilian industry
(Lindberg and Hawkins, 1993). According to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC, 2002), India could generate 25 million additional jobs in the Tourism Sector by 2010.
This is due to the reason that an increasing number of tourists now prefer to visit attractive
natural environments or protected areas set aside for conservation. Undisturbed ecosystems,
their plant and animal communities are critical in maintaining the clean air, clean water and
healthy environments that are key tourism attractions in many destinations (Buckley, 1999).

Located at the top of the environmental and industrial chain, tourism is extremely sensitive to
environmental conditions and to the impacts others have on the system. In fact, the state of
tourism itself may be a key indicator of system stability. Tourism, a multifaceted economic
activity, interacts with the environment in the framework of a two-way process. On the one hand,
environmental resources provide one of the basic "ingredients", a critical production factor, for
the production of the tourist product: the natural and/or manmade setting for the tourist to enjoy,
live in, and relax. On the other hand, tourism produces a variety of unwanted by-products, which
are disposed, intentionally and unintentionally, to and modify the environment; the case of
negative environmental externalities (Briassoulis, 1992). Moreover, economic activities besides
tourism use up and modify environmental resources quality available for tourism purposes.
Because of this linkage, the tourism sector needs increasingly to become a knowledge
participant in the planning as the use of the environment and its impacts (Batta, 2000; Manning,
1992).

Impacts on biodiversity are particularly severe for large new tourism developments in relatively
undisturbed areas, such as those in and around conservation reserves and other Protected
Areas. These developments involve clearing vegetation, major disturbance to fauna through loss
of habitat, noise, barriers etc. (Buckley, 2001), and a marine and freshwater pollution from
discharges, which include nutrients, metals, pathogens, and toxic chemical compounds such as
solvents (Warnken and Buckley, 2000). Even without accommodation and large scale facilities,
nature and adventure tours which are designed and managed for minimum impacts may have
considerable impacts on biodiversity and other components of the natural environment. It is
evident that not only has tourism grown rapidly worldwide, but also many of those concerned
about the negative impacts of the destinations assume that mass forms of tourism are
responsible for these problems (Cooper and Ozdil, 1992).

Tourism and Environmental impacts

It is undeniable that tourism has enormous potentials for the environment conservation of
environment. However, it must also be borne in mind that the balance between tourism and the
environment is very fragile one. Many developing countries, anxious to reap the full benefits of
tourism have, without undertaking a proper analysis of the potential impacts transformed their
virgin areas into tourists’ centers to cater for the tastes and desires of mass tourism. Such rapid
development may lead to a complete transformation of an area, producing irreversible impacts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Associate Professor (Indian Forest Service), Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
** Research Scholar, FRI Deemed University, Dehradun
*** Professor in Zoology, MLB College, Bhopal
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to the natural environment.

Among the three impacts of tourism namely, the economic, socio-cultural and environmental,
the economic impact has undoubtedly played a dominant role in tourism literature and policy
making till 1960s. With the focus on the economic benefits obtained by the areas due to the
development of tourism, the adverse non-economic, socio-cultural and environmental-impacts
are totally ignored. Environmental costs continued to be neglected because of the prevalent
belief of the nature being inexhaustible and renewable. This led to an indiscriminate and
unplanned growth of tourism infrastructure in many countries and soon the negative effects in
the form of social and environmental degradation started emerging. Specialists tours such as
photographic safaris and wildlife watching, which can affect animals through noise, visual and
scent disturbances, and by affecting predation and breeding behaviour. Similarly, wildflower
tours can affect plant biodiversity if participants collect plants or fruit, introduce weeds or
pathogens, or start fires (Buckley, 2002).

In some destinations, tourism can produce a local economic boom leading to uncontrolled high-
impact private development, high resource consumption, waste generation beyond the capacity
of local waste treatment disposal systems, if any, and land clearance and harvesting with major
impacts on biodiversity. In addition, infrastructure built for tourism may be used for illegal
collection of endangered plant and animal species (Buckley, 2002). Small-scale operations may
eventually turn into much larger and more destructive operations (Hunter and Green, 1995).

The existing knowledge

The study of the Environment Impacts of Tourism is currently in a growing stage and more
research is expected to appear. The first effort towards environmental Impacts Assessment was
directed basically to Impacts of Leisure activities and especially outdoor recreation. The first
studies concerning the environmental impacts of tourism appeared after the mid seventies
(Tangi, 1977, Bavd-Bovy and Lawson, 1977) followed by more research activity in the 1980s.
Useful Reviews on the subject have been made by Pearce (1985), Farrel and McLellan (1987),
Farrel and Runyan (1991).

The biological and ecological impacts of tourism have been studied in the case of specific
environments - Islands, Coastal Zones, alpine areas, National Parks etc (Lindsay, 1986;
Nijkamp et al, 1991). Nijkamp (1977) and Onyeanusi (1986) developed the impact structure
matrix combining environmental elements and the range of possible impacts of these elements
from the development of tourism to a certain level (carrying capacity levels). To fill out the
structure matrix a set of different tools are used (Social surveys, behavioral inquiries, multiple
measurement techniques, ecological indicators etc.).

The study of the environmental impacts of tourism thus started basically after 1970s. The
analysis of the environmental impacts of tourism has been predominantly qualitative and mostly
descriptive. The type and intensity of the environmental impacts of tourism depends on the
interaction between the type of tourism development, the socio-economic and other
characteristics of tourists and the natural, socio-economic and institutional characteristics of the
host area. The environment is being increasingly recognized as a key factor in tourism. In the
last decade of the twentieth century, it was noted that tourism depends ultimately upon the
environment, as it is a major tourism attraction itself, or is the content in which tourism activity
takes place (Holden, 2000).

The relationship between tourism and the environment is taking place on various levels. In
addition to direct tourism impacts on the environment through e.g., pollution, noise and
disturbance, indirect, irreversible and long term consequences between tourism and
environmental quality is characterized by dynamic feedback mechanisms (OECD, 1980 & 1994).
2
It has been suggested that controlling the volume of tourism might alleviate the situation
(Wheeler, 1990), especially since the tourism is typically found in locations with fragile
environments, such as mountains and coasts which are peripheral to the world economy (May,
1991). Ecotourism not only depends on mass tourism enterprises and infrastructure (air, travel,
other forms of transports, tour operators, hotels, etc.), but also involves the danger to eventually
promote mass tourism itself. Unfortunately, the experience of alternative tourism in general
shows that adventurous travelers have just served to open up destinations “of the beaten track ”
to large-scale tourism projects, accelerating the pace of social and environmental degradation of
these areas. As a result of increasing globalization and liberalization, the competition within the
international tourism industry and among tourist-receiving countries has become so fierce that
there is hardly any margin left for social and ecological concerns. Many studies throughout the
world have now documented the ecological impact of indigenous population on the environment
(Bhattacharya, 2003a & 2003b; Fitzgibbon et al, 1995).

Emerging research Issues

In order to analyze the impacts of Tourism on the Environment as a necessary prerequisite for
tourism planning and policy decisions, following major issues need to be addressed

• Identification and analyses of various impacts of Tourism on environment in the target area.
• Assessment of the contribution of tourism in the observed or expected environmental
modification in the destination area.
• Estimation of the demand for resources and the amounts of residuals disposed to the
regional environment.
• Analyses of the environmental impacts of tourism on the local communities.

Research Output

The expected research output will include

• Better understanding of environmental impacts of Tourism in general and in the study area
in particular.
• Scientifically validated report on the impacts of tourism in the study area
o Direct Environmental Impact.
o Indirect Environmental Impacts through the changes in physical, demographic
and other characteristics.
• Identification of tourism activities that are compatible / incompatible with the area and
suggesting mitigation measures.
• Guidelines and strategies for formulating effective policies, plan and programmes about
sustainable tourism.

3
Models for tourism impact research

Material Balance Model for Tourism

(Source: Briassoulis, H. 1992)

The material Balance Model for Tourism (Kneese et al, 1972; Victor, 1972) is depicted as
follows: -

ENVIRONMENT

Resources Residuals

ECONOMY

On the basis of the above framework, 4-major classes of environmental impacts of tourism can
be distinguished.

(a) Consumption - related impacts on resources.

(b) Production - related impacts on resources.
(c) Production - related residual impacts.
(d) Consumption - related residual impacts.

The resource impacts concern depletion and Competition for resources between tourism and
other economic activities while the residual impacts refer to pollution and environmental
degradation of resources.

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The Integrated Impact Analysis Model
(Redrawn from Briassoulis, 1992: Environmental impact of tourism- A framework for analysis
and evaluation.)

ENVIRONMENTAL MODULE

Regional
Resource
Inventory
and Resource Residuals
Carrying Impact Impact
Capacity Model Model

INTERFACING
MODULE
Resources Residuals
Utilization Generation
Model Model

Inter industry mode Other

Economic
Sectors

Production
Tourism Sector Induced development Consumption
Production Production
Consumption Consumption

ECONOMIC MODULE

REGIONAL Demographic/Social
PROFILE Land use/transportation/ physical/ EXOGENOUS
MODULE facilities INFORMATION

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Impact categorization

Environmental impacts can be categorized further on the basis of following criteria:

(a) Directedness of Impact

• Direct - impacts that directly emanating from tourism activities linked to tourism
activities such as accommodation travel, sightseeing etc.
• Indirect - impacts that are caused by activities linked to tourism such as retail
trade, entertainment, etc.
• Induced - impacts due to non-tourist related activities, which are induced by tourism
development of a region and would not otherwise occur.

(b) Spatial scale and extent: local, region, national as well as point and non-point.
(c) Temporal scale: short -, medium - and long - term impacts.

Methodology

The methodology adopted to achieve the specific goal is consisted of both Experimental
(Laboratory work, field) as well as Non-Experimental (field studies, surveys, questionnaires). An
Integrated Model for Tourism Impact Analysis is adopted to attain the specific goal. An
Integrated Economic / Environmental model is suitable for the analysis of the Environmental
Impacts of Tourism and Ecotourism. This Integrated model is best for ex post impact
Assessment (for regions already developed touristically) and also for ex ante (for regions
considering some from of new or additional tourism development).

Three approaches can be adopted in the study

1. Systematic information collection and analysis approach.
2. Participatory approach.
3. Consultative approach.

Framework of the methodology

1. Gathering Information of the study Area.

2. Field and visitor survey for the purpose of determining Production and consumption
characteristic of tourism and associated Sectors: -
2.1. Production characteristic (Infrastructure and Superstructure) :-
o Transport Network (Travel, Roads and Transportation).
o Water supply and sewage and waste disposal.
o Utilities like electricity, telephones etc.
o Man-made attractions - monuments, buildings, facilities etc.
o Specialized facilities (like trekking, picnicking etc.).
o Accommodation (Hotels, campings etc.) (No. of beds).
o Shops etc. (foods, souvenirs etc.)
2.2 For consumption characteristic: -
o Number of tourists visiting annually.
o Types of tourists.
o Reason for visitation.
o Frequency of visits.
o Willingness to pay (WTP).
o Duration of stay/length of tourists' period (Tourist night).
o Average consumption of water, energy etc. per tourist per day.
o Awareness about Ecotourism and environmental issues.
o Environmental Attractions.
o Average consumption expenditure by type of good and service.
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3. Data collection for Regional Profile: -
- Demographic
- Social
- Physical structure of the Region.
4. Determination of Categories of Environmental resources.
5. Identification of the scope of Impacts:
A. Identification of impacts.
B. Categorization of Impacts
- Negative and Positive impacts.
- Primary and Secondary Impacts.
- Short term and Long term impacts.
- Individual and Cumulative impacts.
- Socio-Cultural and Economic impact (Interfacing with ecological impacts)
C. Study of following Impacts: -

S. Elements Parameters Indicators Measures

No

1. Flora Distribution, Floral Quadrate study (IVI)

diversity composition
Human threats. (Noise Average No. of days in Measuring decibel levels
Human pollution due to tourists which pollution at key locations.
and vehicles) standards are exceeded
per year
Human encroachments Human population in the Nos. of peoples within
surrounding areas adjacent to the tourism
area in study area
2 Agriculture Land use pattern Determining the change
in land use pattern by
comparing with
secondary data collection
3. Land Characteristics (soil) Solid Waste and Visual Visual spectrum method
effect
Changes in land use Determining changes in
Land use Pattern pattern. land use pattern by
comparing with
secondary data
pertaining to the change
in land under use and
under tourism activities
Erosion. Field determination for
measurement of erosion
potential
% of land abandonment Secondary data
in last decade collection pertaining to
land and change in land
pattern
4. Roads / Clearing of vegetation Site evaluation and
transport Road erosion and road interviewing forest
degradation due to department Staff, drivers,
vehicular traffic guides and tourists.

7
 Dust and smoke creation
due traffic on unsealed
roads
Loss of access to key Questionnaire schedule
sites
Buildings/ Changes in land use Determining land use
constructions pattern due to pattern by comparing
construction. with secondary data
collection of change in
land use during last
decade
Visual effects Site evaluation and
Rate of growth of tourism collecting the data
in area leading to more regarding the change in
facilities being tourist numbers and
constructed. tourism development
during the past few
years.
Villages Socio-cultural and -Nos. of retail By questionnaire survey
economic impacts: establishments/No of and field survey to collect
a) Change in cultural establishments serving the information regarding
pattern. local needs(as opposed the social, cultural and
b) Problems due to to tourists) economic activities.
tourists. -% of local
c) Employment establishments open
generation year around .
(alternative -% Of locals involved.
livelihoods). -% of jobs supported by
d) Income generation tourism.
e) Objection from the
local people against
the facility
Social issue created by a) Alien culture By questionnaire
the tourism: b) Nuisance created to schedule.
the local people.
c) Eve-teasing of local
women.
d) Socio-inequalities
created within the
community.
e) Problems from local
people to tourists.
Visitors a) Pollution in tourism By questionnaire
experience area. schedule.
b) Dust and smoke
generated by
vehicles.
c) Information imparted
about nature through
interpretation
facilities(if any)
d) Willingness of the
tourist for another
visit.
8
5. Economic a) Increased By field survey and
employment or questionnaire.
increased
dependence of local
people on tourism for
their livelihood.
b) Increased cost of
living in and around
the tourism area
c) Increased earning
from tourism

6. Synthesis of data, interpretation and Impact Analysis with the Integrated Model and
Assessment.

6.1. Assessing for preparing economic module

• Description of Economic structure and tourism's position.
• Direct, indirect and induced impacts of changes in production and consumption
characteristic of Tourism.
• Find Tourism induced development effects.

6.2.Assessing for preparing regional profile module:

• Changes in Regional environment according to tourism requirements.
• Tourists effects on Regional profile are assessed such as population growth caused by
tourism-related employment, Land-use etc.

6.3. Assessing for preparing interface module: -

• Assess the demand of tourist and related physical changes.
• Types and amounts of residual generated.

6.4. Assessing for preparing environmental module:

• Impacts on the Quality and Quantity of regional resources.
• Linking various modules:
• Impact Analysis to assess the contribution of tourism on the environment -
• Environmental Impact directly during the production and consumption of the
tourist product.
• Environmental Impact indirectly, through the changes in economic, demographic,
physical and other characteristics of the region.

7. Use of simple statistical tools for Analysis of Impacts.

8. Impact evaluation of tourism to address main issues -

Relative importance of tourism direct, indirect and induced impacts on environmental
resources.
Distinguishing the impacts as beneficial or negative on the environment.

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Objective wise parameters for impact assessment

S Objective Parameters
No
1. To identify and analyze the a. Field survey (Questionnaire schedules), Secondary data
various impacts of tourism on b. collection regarding tourist annual flow, demographic
Environment in the study area. pattern , change in land use pattern during last years etc.
Identifying parameters and indicators of
c. Environmental elements (physical, ecological, built etc.).
d. Measuring the parameters by using techniques
/tools/instruments etc.
Assess the impacts on environment due to tourism.
2. Assess the contribution of a. Analyzing different environmental parameters and its
tourism in the observed or impacts due to tourism.
expected environmental b. Synthesis of data and interpretation by linking different
modification in the study area. modules and impact analysis with integrated model and
assessment.
c. Use of simple statistical tool for analyzing the impacts.
d. Enlist the different environmental impact identified due to
tourism.
3. To estimate demand for a. By questionnaire /schedule collect data, which will
resources and the amount of specify the tourists demand and facilities provided,
residuals disposed to the pressure indicator.
regional environment. b. Secondary data collection of the standards fixed by the
agencies.
c. Compiling the data of indicators of environmental
elements.
d. Comparing the calculated residuals disposed with the
standards and its related environmental consequences
and health hazards.
4. To analyse the effects of a. Collection of primary data through focus and household
environmental impacts of through structured questionnaires and secondary data
tourism on the local collection like tourists flow ,land under use etc.
communities. b. Identifying different environmental parameters and
measuring the effects of the parameters.
c. Logically analyzing and evaluation and linking different
determinants.
d. Statistical analysis of the effects of the impacts.

10
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SUMMARY

The paper deals with the various issues related to the potential impacts of tourism on the
environment. The knowledge gaps in the area have been identified and research work
carried out have been discussed. Different types of the possible environmental impacts
and existing models for the assessment of environmental impacts of the tourism
activities have been analysed and the research issues have been captured. The
methodology and tools for the assessment of environmental impacts of tourism have
been suggested.

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