Ethics of International Tourism: Health, Safety & Ecotourism

Introduction: Ethical Concerns in International Tourism

Extensive international travel, even amidst the growing incidence of terrorism, accidents, and disease, gives rise to various types of ethical concerns that are not normally taken into consideration by the present-day tourism industry. The ethical concerns associated with travel involve health, safety, and accessibility, and also include the identification of individual and institutional duties, informed consent, contingency preparation, disaster response mechanisms, fairness, and unbiased treatment. Government agencies, professional associations, and other institutions have all strived to devise successful plans to address health, safety, and accessibility challenges arising from rapidly expanding international travel. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization provide valuable resources regarding public safety information; however, political considerations frequently challenge their accuracy and credibility.

Health and safety guidelines, vulnerability evaluations, and other ethical approaches assist institutions and administrators in addressing future challenges. However, the primary role of administrators at all levels has been to become more conscious of the concerns prevalent within the tourism industry. Public authorities, both in the United States and abroad, are confronted with an ethical concern they seldom acknowledge: the unchecked growth of international tourism. During 1998, approximately 600 million people traveled internationally, a figure expected to rise to 1.6 billion by the end of 2020. Such extensive growth entails immense pressure on governmental staff to address a wide range of health, security, and accessibility concerns.

Domestic and international tourism in most countries constitutes a significant portion of their economies, with pro-growth efforts expected to be safeguarded by both the public and private sectors. By 1985, the United States had approximately 43 federal agencies associated with tourism. Extensive efforts are made by every state, major cities, and numerous communities to promote economic growth through tourism. Moreover, tourism is one of the few public-sector areas that has reduced its workforce. Public authorities are concerned with encouraging, managing, budgeting, assessing, and administering tourist attractions, as well as managing licensing, taxing, and zoning processes by which tourism is improved and maintained. The growth of tourism — and particularly its economic impacts in terms of tax receipts — led public authorities to evaluate the industry in terms of its costs. They found the tourism sector to be deficient in political will and recommended that contingency planning efforts were necessary to prevent major problems.

Health, Safety, and Accessibility Challenges

It is sometimes considered worthwhile to yield to local demand even when a long-term threat to the public interest exists, and cost-benefit analysis tends to favor present advantage over future threat. The economic and political significance of the tourism sector sometimes prioritizes certain economic interests and favors tourists at the expense of citizens. To illustrate: tourist resorts lacking sufficient sewage facilities may, in the short run, protect tourists from dysentery by providing bottled water. However, in the long run, local communities and villages are left with polluted wells, unsafe beaches, and a declining local fishing industry. When the public sector attempts to implement stringent standards in planning, its inspectors may be tempted to downplay threats while overemphasizing the benefits of economic development. Even when major health dangers prevail — such as the medical waste crisis on New Jersey beaches — and even when disease and political instability appear threatening, sufficient steps are not taken to dissuade tourist inflow.

Tourism is commonly promoted as beneficial for health and as a stress reliever, and due consideration is not normally given to ethical concerns in the process. In some cases, even prostitution is advertised through suggestive slogans. Children in some destinations appear insufficiently protected from pedophiles, some of whom travel in groups specifically to exploit children. These ethical problems pose serious concern in many nations; however, studies reveal that low civil-service salaries encourage bribery and make regulation of such activities difficult. The allocation of police and judicial services is another dimension of the ethical problem. Affluent travelers are often afforded more protection than local non-tourists. Some cities extend special police patrols to tourist zones, and states appear to prescribe harsher punishments for crimes committed against tourists. This is a clear violation of the principle of equity in the judicial system.

In some cases, the particular vulnerability of tourists — who may be unfamiliar with the destination's language, signage, currency, traffic patterns, or customs — is emphasized. Enforcement officials often resort to discriminatory treatment in favor of tourists in order to protect the tourism industry and shield tourists from being targeted as transients. This approach is consistent with the principles of John Rawls on justice, which indicate equal treatment except in cases where the most vulnerable stand to benefit from unequal arrangements.

Another ethical concern relates to both domestic and international dimensions. National, state, and local officials rarely warn inbound tourists about health, safety, and accessibility concerns. The relationship between tourist and non-tourist health and safety constitutes an additional ethical concern. It is considered unethical to reduce global health requirements in order to facilitate tourism at a time of heightened vulnerability to infectious diseases. Even barring entry to visitors who test HIV-positive is considered a violation of WHO guidelines, which call for the minimum possible scrutiny of incoming tourists.

Accidents are another major cause of injury and fatality among tourists. The canyoning deaths of 19 adventurers in the Alps in July 1999, and the countless fatalities associated with the commercialization of Mount Everest treks, have raised ethical concerns and calls for more stringent control over popular but dangerous activities. Insufficient signage is another important factor in tourist accidents. The World Tourism Organization has urged member nations to improve international signage; however, the use of picture-based international signage — which communicates without relying on a specific language — is far more common in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand than in the United States. As a result, foreign visitors experience more accidents in the United States than in many developing countries.

Individual tourism is governed by consumer law and government policies; however, public educational institutions face additional ethical concerns related to international student services and study-abroad programs. Such issues have only recently begun to be addressed. International educational travel warrants particular attention given that students aged 18 to 22 are at a stage of life characterized by heightened risk-taking behavior. They may be traveling to countries with unfamiliar laws and customs. Significant variations in laws governing sexual behavior, drug use, and alcohol exist worldwide, and students must be more rigorously prepared for these differences. Considering the financial, educational, and cultural benefits that international students bring, universities in most countries are increasingly engaged in recruiting such students and structuring college-credit travel through exchanges, study tours, international internships, and community service projects abroad — typically with established procedures and appropriate supervision.

Tourism's Impact on Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems

The first ethical concern in this context is quality control. The absence of a unified set of standards for the many existing programs, or of requirements for faculty leading tours, is increasingly apparent. There is no mechanism to judge the growing volume of student travelers against the adequacy of preparations made for them. There is also an absence of any screening mechanism — beyond academic criteria — to evaluate the mental health or emotional maturity of participants. Some students experience severe depression when placed in entirely new surroundings, regardless of language or cultural barriers. A conflict also exists between privacy rights and an institution's need to be aware of students' mental and physical conditions. Students must be oriented to understand the health and safety risks of excessive drinking abroad, accidents in unfamiliar settings, penalties for illicit drug use, restrictions affecting women, and the political situation of their destination. Institutions bear a moral responsibility to inform students and faculty of imminent health and security risks.

Tourism and recreation have both beneficial and detrimental impacts on ocean ecosystems. The beneficial impacts include conservation of natural resources — particularly when communities recognize the economic benefits of tourism — as well as growing government and public recognition of the importance of quality environments, the establishment of managed and protected areas, and heightened environmental awareness fostered through meaningful interaction with nature. The adverse impacts on ocean ecosystems include disturbances to upland, nearshore, and ocean environments; habitat degradation from construction of facilities; runoff from land-clearing activities; increased riverine and nearshore turbidity; accidental or intentional releases of oils, fuels, and other effluents; irresponsible disposal of trash and debris; and beach erosion caused by resort development that restricts sand flow along the coast.

The increasing volume of tourists at a given site — often exceeding its carrying capacity — creates growing demand for new parks, facilities, and shoreline access. It also requires additional educational programs to teach an increasing number of tourists how to minimize their impact on the marine environment. Public water-safety and training programs must keep pace with growing water-related activities. Conflicts between various user groups and wildlife are also increasing. The ethical considerations in this regard require greater management and enforcement activities to meet enhanced demands. When a destination exceeds its carrying capacity, the tourism and recreation experience degrades, requiring management of unacceptable levels of resource deterioration, traffic congestion, parking and public transportation problems, deteriorating facilities, noise, trash and debris, safety concerns, and user conflicts.

Such damage to recreational resources is often the result of irresponsible behavior by recreational users themselves. This raises ethical considerations including limiting use of sensitive sites, educating the public on how to avoid damaging marine resources, and deploying highly visible enforcement. The growing conflict between humans and marine species has attracted significant ethical attention. Wildlife such as sea lions, whales, and shorebirds are powerful draws for tourism, but growing fascination with these animals can be harmful both to the species and, in some instances, to tourists, and requires management guided by ethical principles.

To illustrate: a breeding colony of elephant seals established in coves south of Piedras Blancas in northern San Luis Obispo County, California, grew its population tremendously. The colony attracted an unprecedented number of visitors, generating several hazards — increased traffic, illegal parking, and trespassing as tourists crossed barbed wire and private property to reach the animals. There also exist conflicts between recreational users and safety concerns arising from the diverse scope of ocean and coastal activities. Many forms of recreation, if not properly managed, generate conflicts between users — for example, between noisy, high-speed activities and quiet or relatively safe ones. The 1995 California Boating Accident Report revealed that personal watercraft accounted for more than 36 percent of all reported accidents and more than 46 percent of all reported injuries, despite representing only 13 percent of all registered vessels in California. The commercial practice of shark chumming — throwing fish or animal parts into the ocean to attract Great White Sharks near Año Nuevo Island within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary — has been cited as one of the most ethically problematic practices in tourist attraction, drawing significant opposition from scuba divers, surfers, and commercial fishing operators.

Conclusion: Toward Responsible and Sustainable Tourism

For the sustenance of tourism, it is essential that there be a positive change in the attitude and activities of both tourists and developers in the field of tourism. Since the long-term impacts of tourism extend to all members of society — not just tourists and their hosts — the significance of responsible tourism is particularly important for sustaining the environment of host communities and ensuring better prospects for future tourism.