This document summarizes some of the challenges and dilemmas in achieving sustainable tourism. It notes that tourism is a fragmented industry across many sectors that makes cooperation difficult. While the goals of sustainable tourism seem clear, balancing economic, social and environmental concerns is complex. There are also dilemmas around balancing present and future needs, and ensuring benefits are distributed equitably. Achieving true sustainability requires changing how the industry thinks about tourism and its impacts over the long run.

1. Some Devils, A Few Details and a Couple of Dilemmas in the Search for Sustainable Tourism Stephen F. McCool Professor Emeritus Department of Society and Conservation College of Forestry and Conservation The University of Montana Presentation to Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management University of Florida 18 April 2011 Modified for Internet 18 Oct 2011

2. International Tourism—Rapidly Growing Actual and Forecasted International Arrivals Source: World Tourism Organization

3. Global Forces Influencing Sustainable Tourism Public Values Governance Decision Making Technology Economic Restructuring Population Dynamics Climate Change Increased Contentiousness Greater Volatility Higher Stakes

4. Sustainability—Some Basic Assumptions Human Impacts Care about the Future From: Pearce, 1994

5. Some Devils Tourism business fragmented Some Devils

6. Predictable, Linear, Understandable, Stable Dynamic, Impossible, Complex, Ever-Changing

7. Balancing the Economic, Social and Environmental?

8. Or a Question of Integrating Them?

9. Tourism industry is fragmented, Vertically, Horizontally, Functionally

10. But achieving this ideal requires Cooperation, Coordination, Collaboration How we do this impacts our success

11. Namche Bazaar: An Example of Sustainable Tourism? Caters to trekkers Small scale development Many teahouses How much is enough?

12. A Few Details A Few Details

13. A Few Details Underlying Principle Defining Sustainable Tourism?

14. A Few Details Much more difficult than expected Not Just Difficult, but More Difficult

16. A Few Details Measuring Success Inputs? Outputs? What is the Purpose? From Visit Florida Website

17. A Few Details Building capacities

18. Building professional competency increases potential …. But does it guarantee enhanced performance?

19. A Couple of Dilemmas Intra-generational vs. Inter-generational Equity Economic growth and opportunity vs. maintenance of culture Scale and problem displacement A Couple of Dilemmas

20. A Couple of Dilemmas Intra-generational vs. Inter-generational Equity

21. A Couple of Dilemmas Economic growth and opportunity vs. maintenance of culture

22. A Couple of Dilemmas Scale and Problem Displacement

23. Illusion of Sustainability Capacity to Deal with Displaced Problems

24. Kruger National Park: From Game Reserve to Sustainable Tourism?

25. Reinventing Sustainable Tourism Requires a Change in Our Thinking

26. What has an iceberg got to do with sustainable tourism?

27. Adapted from Senge (2008)

28. Sustainable Tourism Messy problem, clumsy solution Confusing ends with means Thinking about futures Selecting desirable ones Building consensus

29. Sustainable Tourism—What do we Mean? Framing the question What should tourism sustain? Who benefits from sustainable tourism? Role of science?

31. Quality of life?

32. Heritage?

33. Economic opportunity?

35. Conclusions In danger of becoming a Guiding Fiction Framing of sustainable tourism How to make tourism sustainable? How to reduce impacts? What should tourism sustain? Diving deeper Tourism is a complex adaptive system

36. Thank You Steve.McCool@CFC.UMT.EDU