Eco-Certificates as a tool to achieve sustainable tourism in developing countries

Many developing countries depend to a certain degree on their tourism industry for their economic development. The development and survival of the tourism industry in turn, depends for a large part on the environment and the culture at the destination, because these ‘assets’ of a destination draw tourists. However, tourism often has negative effects on precisely these assets of tourism destinations. Sustainable tourism1 is described as a means to keep the necessary economic benefits of tourism, without the ultimately possibly destructive harms to the environmental and cultural assets of the destination (in this research we also call something ‘sustainable’ if it brings the goal of achieving sustainability in the end closer, e.g. using solar cells). Eco-certificates2 could possibly contribute to sustainable tourism. However, the applicability of eco-certificates in general to achieve sustainable tourism is under debate, and possible contributions of different eco-certificates may vary. Their effectiveness can depend on several factors ranging from their scope and focus to the type of country in which they are applied; opinions vary on whether developing countries could use eco-certificates achieve sustainability, because of their specific situations and problems. Our main research question for this study is therefore: “To what extent and how can eco-certificates contribute to sustainable tourism in developing countries?” To answer this question we did a literature analysis about the various impacts and problems associated with tourism, eco-certificates, and the specific benefits and problems associated with the use of eco-certificates in developing countries. In addition to this, we also used a case study to help answer the main research question. This case study was based on research we did on the island of Curaçao, which is part of the Netherlands Antilles (N.A.), a developing country in the southern Caribbean. This research explored the possibilities to use environmental standards and criteria (for water consumption, energy consumption, waste and wastewater) from eco-certificates, to set environmental standards to achieve sustainable tourism in the N. A., and the possible role of the government of the N. A. in this. The main part of the field research on Curaçao (which had a qualitative nature) consisted of interviews on the island. Respondents at ten hotels were asked questions about the hotels’ (plans for an) eco-certificate. The opinions of respondents on environmental issues and the possible role of the government were also asked, as well as questions about the hotels’ present environmentally friendly concerning the subjects: energy, water, waste, and wastewater. In addition to these interviews several other stakeholders in tourism were interviewed. From the literature analysis and the case study we concluded that some of the main problems concerning tourism in developing countries are social/cultural and environmental degradation, free riding behaviour and overuse of resources, leakages of tourism earnings, a lack of linkages with the rest of the economy leading to low multiplier effects, foreign employment, and possibly above all: a lack of (environmental) awareness. To find out which eco-certificates could be suitable to contribute to sustainable tourism we analyzed several different eco-certificates. Based on their characteristics (e.g. the type and content of standards, performance criteria, and evaluation) we concluded that Green Seal and ISO 14001 are less suitable than Green Globe 21, Green Key and the European Ecolabel. We also concluded that eco-certificates can have a role to play, although membership of eco-certificates should increase for them to have a significant impact, and issues like e.g. the lack of consumer awareness and consumer demand, combined with the local people’s lack of awareness and several problems that are inherent to developing countries, are currently standing in the way of an increase in members. The educational function of eco-certificates including their possibilities for increasing environmental awareness; the incentive they give tourism businesses to keep improving their performance; and the possibilities for increased communication between tourism businesses, are some of the main possible contributions of eco-certificates to sustainable tourism. All in all, we can deduce from this study that sustainable tourism can not be achieved by using eco-certificates without the backup of legal environmental standards (and their enforcement), or government intervention. Without the actual implementation and adoption of eco-certificates by a larger share of tourism businesses, their potential to achieve sustainable tourism currently mainly exists on paper and not in reality. On the other hand, if eco-certificates can contribute even a little to a more sustainable tourism sector in developing destinations like Curaçao, where environmental awareness and thinking about sustainable development is only in its infancy, this is arguably an important achievement in itself. 1 “A form of tourism (development) that balances the economic, ecological and social-cultural needs of the people in the destination countries, without jeopardizing the needs of future generations” (The Dutch Guide to Sustainable Tourism, 2003). 2 “voluntary instruments to improve the environmental, social and economic performance of tourism companies” (UNEP, 2006)