Ecotourism seen as best bet against climate change

The tourism sector is seeking sustainable ways of doing business in the face of growing concerns over environmental degradation.

Climate change is one of the major challenges the sector is facing and has to contend with in order to survive.

This has spurred industry players into looking at innovative ways as means to effectively respond to these concerns and priorities that have been the subjects of debate across the globe.

“We cannot continue how we use to, we need to adopt new measures for our businesses to meet the challenges we are facing,” said Ms Edith Alusa-Bosire, the chief executive of Ecotourism Kenya.

Speaking during a three day conference hosted by the organization in Nairobi she noted that the sector has a lot to lose from pollution because it relies on the surrounding environment for its sustainability.

The conference themed ‘Tourism Business in a Changing Climate’ has brought together players in the sector from the region to discuss the problems climate change is bringing to tourism management and what implications these are likely to have.

Destruction of the environment has had a major impact on the sector.

In Kenya, the destruction of the Mau forest water tower is posing a major threat to the Maasai Mara, one of the country’s major attraction.

“We need to clearly identify the effects of climate change on tourism. Get insights into the current status and what the future opportunities are,” said Adam Jillo, the acting chair of Kenya Tourism Federation.

As part of the diversification plan, the country has been positioning itself as a major eco-tourism destination in a bid to attract tourists.

Eco-tourism has for a long time been viewed as a high end niche product, but Ms Alusa-Bosire said that the country offers affordable ecofriendly facilities ranging from high end facilities to community based camping sites.

Ecotourism Kenya, which was founded in 1996, runs an eco-rating scheme that recognizes efforts by investors in sustainable tourism.

This year plans are underway to broaden the scheme to cover tour operators as previously it concentrated on facilities like hotels, lodges and camps among others.

The scheme is voluntary and enables these facilities to market themselves as authentically ecofriendly.

The scheme began in 2002 and has three progressive levels of certification – bronze, silver and gold.

Ecotourism Kenya is a participating organisation in the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC), a coalition of over 20 organisations working together to foster increased understanding of sustainable tourism practices.

The new criteria is based on best practices around the world and will be the minimum standard that any tourism business should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources.