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By Stephen Chapman

 

 

Jonathan Tourtellot, Director of Sustainable Tourism at National Geographic defines three styles of tourism:

 

Touring - Generally a responsible form of tourism that brings benefits to local business and has a low environmental impact. Largely dependent on the human and physical geography of a place. Minimal negative impacts on the area.

 

examples - Hiking holidays, Homestays.

 

R and R tourism - Rest and recreation. Dependent only on the physical geography of a place and not concerned with heritage or cultural aspects. Destructive to the natural physical beauty of an area.

 

examples - Ski resorts, large scale coastal developments.

 

Entertainment style - This form of tourism doesn't depend on the character of a place at all. Industrial strength: high volume, high impact. Governments make desicions based on this type of tourism.

 

examples - Theme parks, Casinos, outlet shopping malls.

 

When tourism development is badly managed, badly planned, or even completely neglected, market forces can quickly turn a once unspoilt area of natural beauty, rich in cultural heritage into an 'entertainment style' tourism destination. This drift from 'touring' tourism to

'entertainment style' tourism is a lifecycle that is often exacerbated when governments are all too keen to increase visitor numbers to a country or an area, encouraging rapid growth in the tourism sector.

 

When a destination loses its original appeal through too much traffic, crowding and over-commercialisation it is termed by academics as 'the Butler resort lifecycle'.

 

The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, D.C., in January 1888 for "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge." It is now one of the world's largest non-profit educational and scientific organizations. The Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD) seeks to help individual places use the geotourism approach to improve stewardship and attract the most beneficial, least disruptive forms of tourism. Through the use of a Geotourism Charter and Strategy they aim to identify, sustain, develop and market the geotourism assets that make each place unique. Eventually producing a co-branded National Geographic map highlighting the natural, historic, and cultural assets that are individual to a particular destination.

 

 

Stephen Chapman

Founder, Make Travel Fair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't be the root to the problem, be the route to the solution

 

 

 

Geotourism is defined by National Geographic as:

 

tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

 

It is described as a synergistic approach to tourism, where all elements that relate to the geographical character of a place are combined together to create a tourist experience far richer than the sum of its constituent parts.

 

 

 

National Geographic CSD »

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
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