Two lectures were presented at the Bristol GA ‘Spring Conference’ that provided useful facts with sources related to tourism to use as our case studies in our summer AS exams. Dr. Jenny Hill from the University of West of England (UWE) was first; she gave us a great insight into the work she has been involved with in a remote settlement in the Peruvian Amazon.
Dr. Jenny Hill provides first-hand experience of ecotourism projects
It is incredible to think that the native Peruvians could not comprehend how remarkable and amazing their surrounding environment was; they used to kill to local wildlife, such as pumas and scarlet macaws, but with the outside help from Rainforest Expeditions they have learned that this is not economically and environmentally sustainable and so have turned to eco-tourism, which uses the wildlife as their main source of tourism income.
Highlights include the scarlet macaws
Dr. Stroma Cole (UWE) then proceeded to engage us for the second lecture, this was a tough job because we had already been sitting there for a good 50 minutes without a break. She gave an eye-opening talk on the darker side of eco/sustainable tourism, but finished off on a more positive note and regaled us with tales of her own exploits in Flores, Indonesia. Dr. Cole gave us a deep insight into the roles of the village members and what they prioritised. For example, it was extraordinary to see that men would rather have electricity and a TV connection for the weekly football match than have items that most would agree to be more essential life commodities, such as clean water piping and healthcare. She showed a useful Venn diagram relating to eco-tourism and sustainable tourism, which enlightened us further on the subject.
Range of material addressed in the talks
Dr Jenny Hill (L) and Dr. Stroma Cole (R) offer different perspectives on sustainable tourism and ‘ethical’ gap years. see http://tourismconcern.org.uk/
by Guy Toye
Dean Close School, Cheltenham
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