ISSN 1108-8931

INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM MONTHLY

Year 5-Issue 53, Oct 2003

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The Expert

The Expert showcases contributions by our Expert Members who offer a free basic consultancy to businesses on their topic of expertise:

In this issue:

• The Value of Independent Appraisals of Ecotourism scenarios

• Brief Observations on African Lodge trends

The Value of Independent Appraisals of Ecotourism scenarios
Article by Hilary Kuhn, Ecotourism Consultant, BA (Hons), M.Admin (Tourism), (Expert, Australia), http://ecoclub.com/experts/kuhn.html

When an Ecotourism scenario is visualised for a site, many operators rely upon subjective judgements of the sustainability of their vision. Yet a lack of understanding of the ecosystems in which the visualised scenario will be constructed and of the target markets may constrain the delivery of environmental and social benefits expected of Ecotourism.

In order to remedy this, independent appraisal needs to be conducted to ascertain the feasibility of the visualised Ecotourism scenario and conditions of development for consideration. This would require integration of existing data, independent appraisal, primary research and detailed planning on a timeline as illustrated below.

Such independent appraisal would need to include analyses of:

• existing data on natural and cultural resources to describe Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) to the environment, assessment of carrying capacity and a recreational opportunity spectrum (ROS) in order to establish ecologically sustainable parameters for the site planning and project design.

• existing and projected markets to this destination by independent market demand assessment that would include primary and secondary research (surveys) based upon the visualised scenario.

• capital development costs and independent financial assessments of the visualised scenario for development (based on the independent market demand assessment ) that would include sensitivity analyses and financial models.

• regional economic impact of the visualised scenario in terms of employment

• opportunities, purchasing policies and description of multiplier from visitor expenditure, income and provision of goods and services.

• community and government engagement through workshops, surveys and meetings with interested parties and relevant groups and research on legal frameworks and government policy.

The site planning, architecture and infrastructure (including any utilities) of the visualised scenario will be assessed in terms of application of LAC, carrying capacity assessment, ROS, market demand assessment, capital development budgets and financial analyses. After an interactive process of review and reappraisal, conditions for the feasibility of the visualised Ecotourism scenario (with possible modifications) would thus be described. (Refer example of a site plan after appraisal as below).
The benefits of such appraisal include protection of the environmental values for Ecotourist attraction, a detailed understanding of the target market(s) for promotions and marketing, greater investor confidence in the visualised scenario, and enhanced community and government support with regional impact analyses. For the Ecotourism operator committed to sustainable operations and management, the information gathered for such an appraisal will become invaluable.

References:
International Hotel Environment Initative: refer web site: http://www.ihei.org
Office of National Tourism. (1997). Twinshare Accommodation: Tools for Environmentally Sensitive Accommodation and Case Studies in Australia. Commonwealth Government. Refer web site: http://twinshare.crctourism.com.au
Sweeting, J., Bruner, A., & Rosenfeld, A. (2000). The Green Host Effect: an integrated approach to Sustainable Tourism and Resort Development.
Conservation International. http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/publications/books_papers/policy_papers/index.xml
Tourism Queensland. (2002). Environmental Tourism Publications and Research. Tourism Queensland, Brisbane. http://www.tq.com.au

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Brief Observations on African Lodge Trends :
by Dr. Godfrey Anyumba*, (Expert, South Africa) http://ecoclub.com/experts/anyumba.html

Lodges and Tourism are still mostly developed in East, Central and Southern Africa. Except for Southern Africa, most of Africa depends on non-African tourists Most African governments harbour favourable policies for constructing Lodges wich are perceived as a consumer friendly marketing brand. Few Lodges however fully satisfy the ecotourism criteria of protecting the ecology, and community benefits.
As a rule, African lodge designs are a professional undertaking and there is no room for spontaneous rustic designs. Externally the lodges are based on African architectural, art forms and cultural themes. Internally they are sanitised to Western levels of comforts and luxury and tend to be physically and psychologically secure. They usually offer an abundance of recreational and interpretive facilities, with `Bush' Conferencing being an important income generator.

In terms of Operation and ownership, family operators are still important but are now a minority, Lodges are increasingly dominated by large Investment Corporations Invariably, lodges are marketed and networked by these companies and their own website. On the optimistic side, there is evidence of increasing partnerships with local communities. Overall, most lodges still `import' essential needs and `export' their wastes.

*Godfrey has left the Durban Institute of Technology and will take a position with the University of Pretoria (UvP), in January 2004. As he likes to be active, and now has time to spare, he particularly welcomes consultancy enquiries by ecotourism businesses in the course of the next three months.
Contact him at http://ecoclub.com/experts/anyumba.html

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