A dark side to tourism in island paradise

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Pacific Islands

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With winter upon us, there is nothing more tempting than a visit to one of our idyllic island neighbours, to laze upon palm- sheltered beaches and snorkel in warm, translucent waters.

Cheap flights and the need to escape the cold have fuelled an ever increasing number of Kiwis flocking to the Pacific each year. Last year, more than 230,000 people visited the region.

Though the influx of tourists has brought many benefits to the region, the darker side of tourism has begun to rear its head.

Big hotel chains pay minimum wages to locals; bottled-water-toting-tourists wreak environmental havoc and make little effort to connect with local culture and etiquette.

According to World Bank figures, about 55 per cent of tourism income in the developing world is removed through foreign hotels, airlines and tour groups, as well as "Western" food and drink imported into the country.

This has led to a rise in alternative travel, including eco-tourism, pro-poor tourism and community-based tourism, and led to the signing of the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations in 2002.

The concept of responsible tourism incorporates environmentally, socially and economically sound tourism practices.

Wellington's Dev-Zone, a non-governmental resource centre, was quick to follow suit, launching the Responsible Tourism Code for the Pacific in 2004.

The code was relaunched in 2008 to include feedback from several Pacific-based non-governmental organisations, or NGOs.

It was created in consultation with the tourism and travel industry, as well as several NGOs, and outlines ways that travellers to the Pacific can make a difference.

This includes learning a few words of the local language, avoiding golf in tropical destinations as it can use as much water as 60,000 rural villagers, supporting local initiatives, buying local food and water, and offsetting flights most airlines now have some sort of carbon offset programme.

Dev-Zone information officer Elena Wrelton says the main element of the code is respect. "It's about thinking and acting in a respectful way, and having an understanding that people who live around you are affected by your actions."

The Responsible Tourism Code for the Pacific is based around individual empowerment, and encourages personal responsibility. As Ms Wrelton puts it: "That way people can make individual choices which will have a positive impact no matter who they are travelling with and where they are travelling."

The code is being promoted through travel and tourism agencies, including Intrepid Travel, Harvey World Travel, Jason's Travel Media, Go Holiday and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.

- © Fairfax NZ News