Is Tourism Destroying the World?

Tourists gather at the reflecting ponds to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. (Photograph by Mahesh Krishnamurthy, My Shot)

Travel is transforming the world, and not always for the better. Though it’s an uncomfortable reality (who doesn’t like to travel?), it’s something award-winning journalist Elizabeth Becker devoted five years of her life to investigating. The result is Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism.

Retos y oportunidades en el sector de la hospitalidad

En el reciente informe de Ernst & Young, “Global Hospitality Insights: Top Thoughts for 2013”, se detallan las tendencias clave y los problemas que tendrán que afrontar las empresas del sector de la hospitalidad a nivel mundial en 2013.

Una pequeña muestra de las claves que recoge el informe:

• La gestión y  optimización del capital serán las preocupaciones más importantes de los profesionales del sector de la hospitalidad.

• Mientras que la recuperación de la recesión mundial ha variado según la región, la industria de la hospitalidad registrará un  crecimiento sostenible a corto plazo.

Canadian company working to foster sustainable tourism

Tourism is an industry largely dependent on climate, especially when people are paying to travel to see white sand beaches, nature and wildlife. At the same ‎time though, the tourism sector is contributing to greenhouse gas emissions ‎‎‎(GHG), especially through the transport of tourists.‎ The UN World Tourism Organization forecasts 1.6 billion tourists by 2020 and increases in CO2 emissions as a result. Many small island states and developing countries depend on tourism for their economy and any ‎significant reduction in tourist arrivals will have ‎serious employment impacts and generate ‎further poverty.‎ They are also the most at risk to climate change impacts. Tourism supports more than 258 million jobs globally and generates $200 billion annually in developing countries; no other industry spreads wealth and jobs across poor countries the same way.