Tourism – College Essay Example

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Angkor's temples are hailed as some of the most astonishing architectural wonders crafted by humans. Around a hundred of these stone structures remain preserved, necessitating the implementation of sustainable tourism strategies for their long-term protection. In 1992, Angkor was officially recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Tourism to Cambodia exceeded two million in 2007 and is projected to increase to 3.2 million in 2010, according to estimates from the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism.

In 2006, the tourism sector was a significant contributor to Cambodia's economy, generating $1.5 billion in revenue. As reported by Paris Franz on October 26, 2008, the famed Angkor Wat of Cambodia is under pressure (Accessed March 20). It is important to note that about a third of Cambodian laborers earn less than 56 cents per day in US dollars, making tourism crucial for their survival and the country's overall economic health. Interestingly, approximately half of all tourists visiting Cambodia are attracted by its Angkor temples. Any substantial damage to these temples could negatively affect the nation's long-term economic prospects. The surge in tourist arrivals in Cambodia has inevitably led to adverse effects on Angkor and its temples, which raises questions about their future sustainability as a popular tourist destination.

The rise in tourism has led to negative environmental and cultural consequences, such as inefficient waste management that degrades ecosystems and excessive use of water resources potentially jeopardizing the sustainability of the temples and their status as tourist attractions. Unrecoverable environmental damage to the temples has been caused by the vast number of tourists visiting them. Additionally, tourism and its management have created adverse social and cultural effects; locals are being forced

out of Siem Reap and Angkor due to inflated living costs they cannot meet. According to Tom Fawthorp (2007) in his work "Will Angkor Wat Survive the invasion of mass tourism, Third World Resurgence," (accessed on March 22 2010), these environmental and cultural impacts occurring through temple damages can be attributed to how tourism in Angkor is being conducted.

The damage caused to the monuments and local environment due to the excessive touching of sculptures and wearing of shoes by numerous tourists is becoming a significant erosion issue. Teruo Jinnai, the top UNESCO official in Cambodia, expressed serious alarm about the uncontrolled, accelerated damage this is causing ( Justine Smith (25th Feb 2007) Tourism invasion threatens to ruin Angkor Wat, The Guardian, Accessed March 23). Tickets for the ancient locations can be purchased in one-day ($20), three-day ($40), and seven-day ($60) durations, with operating hours of 5:00am to 6:00pm (Angkor Archaeological Park (n. d) Accessed March 25). The perceptible harm to the temples resulting from a high volume of daily tourists or short-term visits leads to overcrowding of facilities within and surrounding the temples.

One could posit that the root of the deterioration and harm to the temples stems from the Cambodian government's fiscal and governmental interest in preserving and boosting its profits from tourism. By taking into account limits and load capacity, we could significantly decrease these adverse effects, including overuse and subsequent harm to the cultural and societal aspect of Angkor temples.

The definition of carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of people that can use a site without negatively impacting the physical environment or diminishing the quality of visitors' experiences, as stated by Cooper,

C., Flether, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert D., Wanhill, S in their book 'Tourism Principles and Practice Fourth Edition Harlow', Pearson Educated limited P 221 Mathieson and Wall. A pertinent question is if a sustainable tourism strategy that emphasizes on carrying capacity can effectively be implemented to preserve the well-being of Angkor's temples. For Angkor's architectural temples, the carrying capacity notion can be modified to represent an acceptable amount of tourism development based on the capacity of essential resources or infrastructure within Angkor.

Hotel construction in Siem Reap poses a threat to the structural integrity of certain temples. Employing carrying capacity as a planning and benchmarking standard could help regulate tourism development in the area, reflected in bed numbers and density measurements. (Harry Coccossis, Alexandra Mexa (2004) The challenge of tourism carrying capacity assessment. Aldershot, Ashgate publishing’s Limited, P 152) Another tactic to mitigate, not eliminate, the potential harm caused by large volumes of tourists is the implementation of a visitor flow management system.

The goal would be to manipulate the quantity, kind, scheduling, and dispersal of usage in addition to visitor action. The plan would entail managing visitor count, the size of each group, and duration of their stay. Machu Picchu in Peru is an international site that has limited the number of tourists by deploying a visitor management strategy. Conservationists for Machu Picchu voiced concerns that if a certain path (Santa Teresa) didn't implement rigorous rules for visitors, it could potentially lead to destructive effects as a result of an excessive influx of tourists.

In a circumstance analogous to Angkor's temples, where it seems the Cambodian officials have no genuine plans to curtail the influx of

tourists, the authorities in Peru also wanted to steer clear of augmenting crowd management due to concerns of losing tourism income. Nonetheless, under the weight of the demands from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its National Institute of Culture (INC), the Peruvian government succumbed to enforce a daily cap of 2,500 visitors. Peruvian times (March 30 2010) Machu Picchu. Accessed April 6 2010). The implementation of such a sustainable method is aimed at ensuring the longevity of the site; a measure that became necessary as the volume of visitors and tourists had vastly exceeded Machu Picchu's carrying facility. If the officials in Cambodia could apply an equivalent tactic to manage visitor numbers, negative cultural impacts could be lessened or softened, thus contributing to securing a sustainable future for the ancient Angkor temples.

The success of implementing a visitor management plan heavily leans on available funding and is fundamentally influenced by the authority's readiness to manage tourist volume, which might restrict its execution scale and hence safeguard Angkor's future as a tourist hotspot. A strategic approach to promoting sustainable tourism could involve raising entry fees to discourage mass tourism. This approach has been successfully employed at heritage sites like the Taj Mahal and Queen Nefertari's tomb in Egypt.

By inflating the admission prices, it could potentially dampen the influx of tourists which, in turn, may alleviate the detrimental cultural and environmental effects on the temples. The additional income from this strategy could be allocated to temple conservation tasks. (Arthur Pederson (2002) Overseeing Global Tourism at Heritage Locations (online). World Heritage Centre Accessed April 1) However, there is a challenge associated with this; while

tourism has an adaptable carrying capacity, it can effectively serve as a sustainable measure. Still, its effectiveness in completely mitigating or lessening the harmful consequences on the temples is somewhat ambiguous.

Successful implementation of a carrying capacity system in Siem Reap and Angkor could be hampered by the challenges of gauging and evaluating multi-faceted, intricate issues, along with political resistance to constrictions on developmental progress. Such political resistance is evident in Angkor, as authorities prefer increased tourism for economic reasons. This suggests that carrying capacity application may not be a simple procedure, and it might not necessarily mitigate the adverse effects on the temples or guarantee their longevity.

Additional challenges consist of various societal perspectives on the best strategy, as well as obstacles in policy synchronization and consolidation. Also, it's uncertain if imposing steep costs would lessen harm to the temples. Ultimately, despite high entry fees possibly deterring some visitors, most global travelers wouldn't shy away from paying them. One significant point in question is whether the adverse effects stem from the massive influx of tourists or their behavior.

The exponential surge in tourists visiting has necessitated the expansion of Siem Rap airport to house long-range jets. This, however, has resulted in some adverse cultural effects on Angkor and its temples. Alongside the airport growth, there has been an unchecked proliferation in hotel construction. This uncontrolled development has led to hotels extracting water from the ground for their usage. The removal of water from subterranean rock and sand strata poses a grave risk to Angkor Wat. (Rob Sharp (14 March 2008) Heritage site in Peril.

(Accessed April 3). The presence of swimming pools in the hotels is causing

stress to Angkor’s water table, exacerbating an already constrained water resource. Along with this, the unfettered growth of hotel construction is resulting in adverse cultural impacts on the temples and is projected to lead to severe environmental consequences due to high tourism inflow. Moreover, it's reported that inexpensive hotels and guesthouses are discharging sewage into the Siem Reap River, thereby detrimentally affecting the river's ecological systems.

It may be possible to significantly reduce or control the adverse effects on the Angkor temples and the environmental damage to rivers through a strategic approach that meticulously manages water supply and promotes initiatives to hinder pollution in the Siem Reap area. The exponential growth of hotel establishments is directly proportional to the increased need for water and other vital resources. However, it’s not just the scarcity of water that poses a problem, but also the waste management system responsible for mitigating pollution issues. This is according to Lucia de Stefano's June 2004 publication, "Freshwater and tourism in the Mediterranean", accessed on April 4.

Enforcing waste water recycling rules might help guesthouses prevent contaminating the river with unnecessary run off. Basic water conservation methods such as watering gardens during cooler periods when evaporation is minimized, or installing efficient low flow/dual flush toilets and waterless urinals among other measures could, to a degree, alleviate the harmful impact of pollution and overuse of water. (The International Holistic Tourism Education Centre (n. d) Accessed April 5). Sustainable tourism routines generally yield effective results only when national authorities establish the prerequisites for attainable sustainable tourism.

Considering this, the Cambodian government might make a move by implementing water conservation systems in recently built hotels and guesthouses, following

water usage and sewerage fees based on water consumption or as previously proposed, limit tourist numbers. These types of tactics could potentially lessen pollution impact and harm to the temples' stability. However, the main obstacle with such strategies centered on water usage control is their heavy dependence on governmental authority and rules. Such rules would likely necessitate significant monitoring which implies high financial investments.

A plan centered on water usage and administration might not adequately address the harmful cultural and environmental effects, such as pollution or possible damage to Angkor temples. The tourism boom in areas like Angkor and Siem Reap is often viewed as a positive force for the local society and culture due to increased job opportunities. However, while food and land prices have soared, living conditions remain unchanged. There is limited evidence to suggest that revenue from tourism has been channeled into preserving temples or enhancing local community living standards. It's widely recognized that wealth inequality persists, with the wealthy profiting more from the rise of tourism than their less fortunate counterparts (Vannarith Cheeang (n.d) Tourism developments in Cambodia: Opportunities for Japanese companies Accessed April 5). Arguably, the most severe social and cultural impact of tourism in the Siem Reap/Angkor region is its hindrance on economic growth among locals.

The local inhabitants are grappling with increased costs and as a result, the problem of poverty remains unresolved. The sustainability of Angkor and its associated temples as a tourist spot largely depends on these locals, as they are inherently connected with the heritage that encompasses the temples. The detrimental societal effects on the local population stem from the fact that tourism income is primarily retained

in urban areas such as Siem Reap, thus leaving rural areas seldom benefiting from the influx of tourist money.

The primary reason behind this situation is rooted in the economic and political ambitions of hotel owners, tour operators, and authorities who aim to increase their wealth and quality of life, while the majority continue to live in poverty-stricken conditions. A viable tactic which could effectively minimize the harmful cultural, social, and environmental impact of tourism on the temples and Angkor region is the advancement of "ecotourism". The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) describes Ecotourism as: "responsible travel to natural regions that helps conserve the environment and enhances the wellbeing of the local population". Referenced from The International Ecotourism Society (n.d), Accessed April 9).

The Cambodian government is vigorously encouraging eco-friendly tourism by introducing measures such as eco-lodges, eco-tours, and ecologically conscious travel. The objective is to create a worldwide network comprising individuals, organizations, and the tourism industry aimed at educating both tourists and professionals within the sector. Their goal is also to encourage these parties to integrate principles of ecotourism into their operations and strategies (The International Ecotourism Society, n.d., accessed April 9). This presents a chance to educate tourists about the fragile condition of the Angkor temples and potential repercussions they might further contribute. With assistance from global tourism bodies and development of infrastructure in Siem Reap locality, there are possibilities for devising and executing actions that could reduce any adverse outcomes.

Ecotourism has recently gained prominence and one such instance is the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation (SVC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization initiated in 2003. It is positioned as the "nexus for conservation efforts in north-western

Cambodia." SVC is dedicated to realizing the goals of ecotourism: enduring environmental, social-cultural and economic sustainability. Collaborating with pertinent government organizations and local communities, their aim is “to enable families in secluded villages to earn their livelihood through ecotourism” (Tourism of Cambodia (n.) Accessed April 9). The challenge lies in the scarcity of organizations promoting ecotourism in Cambodia, particularly in regions like Angkor and Siem Reap. Consequently, it's arguable that if there were more initiatives like SVC, the deleterious effects could be drastically diminished. This would ensure the preservation of the Angkor temples in the long run and subsequently secure Angkor's status as a tourist spot.

The prosperity of ecotourism hinges on a significant level of cooperation among various autonomous entities, with the crucial matter being if these relevant entities collaborate and oversee their operations towards the continuous enforcement and maintenance of ecotourism. An exemplary international location that has effectively adopted sustainable tourism, particularly in the form of ecotourism, is Laos located in South-East Asia. A couple of successful ecotourism initiatives to highlight include the EU Ecotourism Program in Vieng Phoukha, with a primary emphasis on combating poverty and generating employment through training locals and village folks as guides.

The long-term preservation of this destination relies on addressing the root causes of its adverse effects. This primarily involves either limiting the number of tourists or dramatically altering how tourism is handled in Angkor and its temples. Implementing ecotourism can significantly contribute to accomplishing this, by educating about and promoting a sustainable approach that respects the environmental, social, and cultural impact of tourism on the temples, safeguarding the ecosystem, and improving the quality of life for the Cambodian

population.

Undeniably, Cambodian officials deem the growth of tourism as pivotal to their economic progress. But, the monetary advantages from tourism may only be beneficial in the short run if they disregard the long-term existence of Angkor temples, their primary attraction. Therefore, it's essential for these officials to collaborate with global tourism organizations to devise sustainable strategies focusing on handling carrying capacities and visitor management. This approach will help diminish and mitigate the adverse effects of tourism, thus ensuring Angkor's long-term viability as a tourist spot.