Eco-tourism is great for eco-tourists

I think that any form of travelling will do harm to the environment as long as we really on fossil fuels to get around. And taking the plane is simply the worst facet of it, since planes are the most polluting mode of transportation there is. However, travelling can also do a lot of good to the environment as it raises awareness in people that their actions have an impact on the world and that biodiversity is a beautiful thing that requires the protection. , Experiencing different cultures up close and seeing the way ecosystems and wildlife interact in a natural environment as is offered in eco-tourist vacation packages can spur ideas of individual responsibility, environmental awareness and the overall value of biodiversity in people that may not have had these thoughts before and it may deepen environmental concern in people who were already affected by the issues of pollution and cultural degradation.

Still, I think the majority of the people who would consider going to package deal holydays as shown in the documentary are not going to be attracted by the idea of eco-tourism. Eco-tourism attracts people who already have some level of environmental consciousness and are willing to lessen their impact on the environment.

To cite an example, I was on Zanzibar last fall for a study abroad program and my program director was the head of an eco-tourist island off the coast of Unguja called Chumbe Island. It's a small but beautiful uninhabited forest reserve surrounded by a marine protected coral reef area. It's a very expensive eco-tourism spot where guest stay in what I would define as 5 star bungalows, which function on solar energy, have compost toilets, collect freshwater from rainfall and rely on nature to ensure that no pollutants end up in the surrounding ocean (waste water from showers are filtered by plants highly specialized in capturing nitrate and phosphate from the water). The bungalows are absolutely gorgeous, the ocean very clean and the coral reefs plentiful. Still, when I talked to my program director about Chumbe she said that it is not unusual for tourists to leave after only 1 or 2 days of being on the island because they couldn't stand the idea of sleeping in a bungalow, couldn't stand being on an uninhabited island with no stores around and didn't like that they had no choice but to eat local food. That, I think is a really sad fact. These people paid large sums of money to do eco-tourism, and even in a 5 star eco-tourism environment they couldn't stand the idea of walking outside their comfort zone.

So to go back to the original idea of environmental impact linked to tourism. I think that environmental harm associated with flying should be included in the costs of a trip but that that should be part of a
global internalization of externalities. It is not for the individual only to pay the cost of environmental degradation but for industries and individuals to share it. Travelling is very important for personal
growth so raising the price of travelling will do harm as less people will have access to it on the short run but it will encourage industries to find less polluting alternatives on the long run.