🌳 National parks and protected areas
Land is set aside by law, so building, farming and hunting are controlled. In Ecuador, the Galapagos National Park covers about 97% of the land area of the islands.
Tourism » Managing Tourism Sustainably
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 9.3.4
- What sustainable tourism and ecotourism mean
- Strategies and techniques used to manage tourism at different scales
- The strengths and weaknesses of each, and who benefits
- How to write an evaluation in the exam
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Unlock This CourseWhat is sustainable tourism?
Tourism can bring money and jobs, but it can also damage the places people come to see. Managing tourism means finding a balance. The aim is to keep the benefits while reducing the problems you met in Benefits and Problems of Tourism.
Key terms:
- Sustainable tourism: tourism that meets the needs of visitors and local people today, while protecting the environment and culture so that future generations can enjoy them too.
- Ecotourism: remember, this is small-scale tourism that protects nature and helps local people. It also teaches visitors about nature.
- Strategy: a plan or agreement for managing tourism.
- Technique: a method used to carry out a strategy, such as a permit or a footpath repair.
Ecotourism in rainforests was covered in Managing Rainforests Sustainably. Here we look at all the ways tourism can be managed.
Managing tourism at different scales
Strategies work at different scales. A footpath repair is local. A national park is run by a country. A UNESCO World Heritage listing is international.
🏡 Local
Footpath repairs, park-and-ride schemes, codes of conduct, community-based tourism and ecotourism lodges.
🏛 National
National parks and protected areas, visitor limits and permits, tourist taxes and zoning.
🌎 International
UNESCO World Heritage status, international agreements and certification schemes that work across many countries.
The main strategies and techniques
Protected areas and visitor limits
🎫 Visitor limits and permits
The number of people allowed in is capped. Only a limited number of walkers are allowed on Peru's Inca Trail each day, and they must book a permit in advance. Machu Picchu also has daily visitor limits and timed entry. Visitors to the Galapagos are checked and controlled too.
Money, space and people
💰 Tourist taxes
Visitors pay an extra charge or entry fee. Bhutan charges most international visitors a daily fee, and Bali introduced a levy on foreign visitors in 2024. The money can pay for conservation and local services.
🗺 Zoning
A place is split into areas with different rules. A busy area may be open to many people, while a fragile area is closed or has very strict limits. The Great Barrier Reef uses zoning, as you saw in Coral Reef Example: The Great Barrier Reef.
🚶 Footpath repairs
Paths are repaired, rerouted or covered with boardwalks, so walkers do not trample plants or cause erosion.
🚌 Park-and-ride
Visitors leave cars at the edge of a town or park and take a bus in. This reduces traffic, air pollution and noise.
Local people, visitors and standards
🏡 Community-based tourism
Local people own, run and profit from tourism, for example by offering homestays and guided walks in their villages. Money stays in the community rather than leaking away.
🏕 Ecotourism lodges
Small lodges are built with local materials, use solar power and limit waste and water use. They are often run with local staff.
📝 Codes of conduct
Rules for visitor behaviour, such as not feeding wildlife, taking litter home and staying on paths. They depend on visitors choosing to follow them.
🏆 Certification schemes
Hotels, tours or beaches that meet environmental standards get a label. The Blue Flag award for clean, well-managed beaches is one example. Visitors can choose labelled businesses.
🏛 International agreements
UNESCO lists World Heritage Sites, including Machu Picchu and the Galapagos. Listing brings status and attention, and countries agree to protect these places.
Evaluating the strategies
Cambridge asks you to evaluate, so you must weigh strengths and weaknesses and say who benefits.
| Strategy | Strengths | Weaknesses | Who benefits? |
|---|---|---|---|
| National parks and protected areas | Strong legal protection for wildlife and scenery. | Costly to run and police. Local people may lose land or income. | Wildlife, future generations, tourism businesses. |
| Visitor limits and permits | Directly stop overcrowding and erosion. | Some people are turned away. Fewer visitors means less income for local guides and shops. | The environment and visitors who get in. |
| Tourist taxes | Raise money for conservation. Easy to collect. | May put off poorer visitors. Money may not be spent well. | The authorities and conservation projects. |
| Zoning | Protects the most fragile areas while allowing use elsewhere. | Needs careful planning and checking. Busy zones can still be damaged. | The environment and visitors. |
| Footpath repairs | Relatively cheap and quick. Reduce erosion and keep walkers on paths. | Do not reduce visitor numbers, and paths need repairing again and again. | Walkers and the plants and soil of the area. |
| Park-and-ride | Reduces traffic, air pollution and noise in busy places. | Costs more, because it needs car parks and a bus service. Does not reduce visitor numbers. | Local residents and visitors. |
| Community-based tourism and ecotourism lodges | Money stays local. Locals have a reason to protect nature. | Small in scale, so it only helps a few people. It may not make much money. | Local communities. |
| Codes of conduct and certification | Cheap. Can change visitor behaviour. | Voluntary, so visitors and businesses can ignore them. | The environment, if people follow them. |
| International agreements and World Heritage status | Global attention and extra support for protection. | Cannot be enforced everywhere. More fame can bring even more visitors. | The site, the country and global heritage. |
Cost and sustainability: codes of conduct and certification are cheap, while national parks, park-and-ride and enforcing visitor limits cost more. A strategy is most sustainable when it keeps working over time without harming nature, and when local people gain from it. Tourist taxes help here because they pay for the upkeep. Community-based tourism lasts because local people want to protect what earns them money.
No single strategy is enough. Strong management usually combines several, such as a permit system, a tourist tax that pays for footpath repairs and a code of conduct for visitors.
Common mistakes
Do not say sustainable tourism means "no tourists". It means tourism that can carry on without causing lasting harm. Do not list strategies without evaluating them, because each one needs a strength and a weakness. Do not confuse ecotourism, which is a type of tourism, with a code of conduct, which is a rule. Always say who benefits.
Exam-style question
Table 1 shows made-up information about management of Park Z, a mountain national park visited by 400,000 people a year.
| Strategy | Details |
|---|---|
| Daily visitor limit | 2,000 people a day, with permits booked online |
| Park entry fee | A fee that pays for footpath repairs |
| Code of conduct | Visitors are asked to stay on paths and take litter home |
| Community lodges | Run by local families, using solar power |
(a) Define the term sustainable tourism. [2 marks]
(b) Describe how footpath repairs can help manage tourism. [2 marks]
(c) Explain one weakness of using a code of conduct. [2 marks]
(d) Evaluate the strategies used to manage tourism in Park Z. [6 marks]
Model answer
(a) Tourism that meets the needs of visitors and local people today (1), while protecting the environment so that future generations can enjoy it (1).
(b) Paths are mended or covered with boardwalks (1), so walkers do not trample plants or cause erosion (1).
(c) A code of conduct is voluntary (1), so some visitors may ignore it and still drop litter or leave the path (1).
(d) Level 3 (5-6 marks) answer: The visitor limit of 2,000 a day is strong because it directly stops overcrowding and reduces erosion. However, it means some people are turned away and local guides may earn less. The entry fee is useful because it pays for footpath repairs, so visitors help fix the damage they cause, but a high fee may put some people off. The code of conduct is cheap, though it is voluntary and may be ignored. The community lodges are a strength because local families keep the money and have a reason to protect the park, but they are small, so only a few families benefit. Overall, the strategies work best together. The limit and the fee do most to protect the park, while the lodges and code add benefits for local people and visitors. The strategies are quite effective, but they would be stronger if the code of conduct were backed up by fines or rangers.
Exam tip
In an "Evaluate" answer, give a strength and a weakness for at least two strategies, say who benefits, and end with an overall judgement.