Consumptive Tourism and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Consumptive Tourism and Sustainability - Essay Example This essay discusses that ecotourism is considered to be non-consumptive use of the environment. However, many researchers and people within the industry consider some forms of consumptive tourism to also be ecologically sound, and to aid in the protection of the environment. Wildlife tourism is becoming increasingly popular as society becomes more highly urbanised and less natural habitat is available, particularly for those from the western world. Tourists exhibit a growing desire to directly interact with the natural environment, particularly environment that is relatively untouched by humans. Wildlife is a relatively recent term, and has only been included in dictionaries since 1961. The exact use of the term depends on the context, and it is often used with strong emphasis on game animals. However, a more general definition considers wildlife to included non-domesticated vertebrates, and can also include some invertebrates and plants if they are considered to be important. Human s have shown an increasing interest in being near, and interacting with the natural environment, particularly wildlife. This has cumulated in a high interest in wildlife tourism. Wildlife tourism exists in both consumptive and non-consumptive forms. For example, non-consumptive wildlife tourism includes activities such as animal watching, habitat and nature-based tours. Consumptive forms of ecotourism include activities such as sport and trophy hunting, and actively remove animals from the environment. However, despite that fact that this form of tourism is often viewed as being detrimental to the environment, supporters argue that this is actually more beneficial for the environment than non-consumptive forms of tourism (Novelli et al., 2006). Moral standpoint One of the strong arguments against consumptive tourism is that animals should never be killed for personal pleasure or satisfaction. People in developed society tend to reject consumptive tourism as a potential means of sust ainability as the result of moral objections. The perception is that there should be no forms of wildlife use that involve killing. Because of this perception, animal rights organisations place strong pressure on the governments of developing countries to prevent all forms of tourism that involve killing (Novelli et al., 2006). Economic viability Consumptive tourism requires a large area of the environment to be successful. Wildlife viewing and other forms of non-consumptive tourism requires only a small geographical area to be effective, and consequently the return per unit of land is much higher than that of consumptive touris