Sustainability - the only choice
Imagine waking early with an expectation of saying “I’m the highest person on the planet” for a moment… only to find you weren’t the first person there that day. Maybe not even making it in the first 100. Worse still… what if your attempt was thwarted due to log-jams and sheer weight of numbers?
Quite apart from the much more tragic reality that some of the people in this photo didn’t make it off the mountain alive, there is a stark warning here that resonates across the globe - down and down as the air thickens to sea level, and beyond.
Clichés are created around truths. “Travel broadens the mind”. “The world is becoming a smaller place”. Generation by generation we are becoming more and more mobile. Today's traveller seeks to quench that insatiable desire to visit (and most importantly photograph or live stream from) somewhere breath-taking, and crucially, somewhere our circle of followers hasn’t been to first.
The alarming image of the people-traffic at Everest’s iconic peak, is emblematic of our gradual normalising of what used to extreme destinations. Things that used be out of reach are so much more accessible. It wasn't long ago that the concept of Space Tourism was laughable. Who knows how soon even that will be a reality?
For me the greatest excitement when planning a trip is the anticipation of for a short time owning the moment. The idea of putting myself in the picture.
We see brochures and websites with wide open natural vistas and imagine ourselves standing alone enjoying it first-hand. The quiet, the tranquillity, the peace. The reality is becoming further and further from these airbrushed promises. Today’s travel photographer still grapples with the challenges of lighting and composition, but now also has to time the photo to "snap" between the crowds or people, to give the illusion that it was less busy than it really was.
Across the globe, sites that formerly were a joy to behold in tranquil surroundings, shared with but a handful of fellow travellers, are now overrun by crowds of mobile phone-touting zombies “going live” rather than enjoying the moment. I reluctantly accept that people travel in different ways now, as I take my turn to espouse the “when I was a lad…” tales of yesteryear… but the real cause for concern is in the volume of visitors, and the difficulty in managing these numbers sustainably.
There is a real balance here in acknowledging that everyone shares the right to see the world, whilst trying to guard against the perils of over-tourism. The impact of too many tourists is seen more clearly in some places than others. The bigger dilemma is working out who should make the rules. If a particular attraction brings huge amounts of revenue especially to poorer countries, should richer nations be able to dictate policy which might restrict vital national income? This is clearly one strand of the challenge currently facing the Nepalese government. Everest brings big money. And yet, with such a short season for summitting, should they bow to increasing international pressure and limit the number of permits? Something clearly has to be done to avoid repeating the problems of this tragic Himalayan season. Should Australia limit the amount of divers on the Great Barrier Reef? Or are their numbers fine on the basis that they have more regard to the use of cleaner boats?
Surely though, this speculation is academic. The repercussions of not taking sensible precautions, and implementing robust strategies now, are unthinkable. Over-exposure to tourism will cause lasting or permanent damage. Many countries already face a reality where tough decisions need to be made now, to bring certain sites back from the brink of irrecoverable destruction. Maya Bay in Thailand (made famous by the movie “The Beach”) is currently closed by order of the Thai government in an attempt to allow the beach and marine environment to recover. Over 5,000 people a day had been visiting, and almost all of the coral has been destroyed. This beautiful and famous corner of Phi Phi Leh will remain off limits until at least 2021. This was a brave and decisive policy that has prevented so many people from visiting this bucket-list haven, but it has to be the right decision in the long term.
Some parts of the world successfully manage numbers with established programs designed to protect against over-exposure. Tourism in Antarctica is regulated by IAATO and the Antarctic Treaty where signatory nations agree to limiting numbers of guests “on the ice” at any one time. The Galapagos has maximum annual quotas of visitors to the islands. Visits to gorilla families in East Africa are controlled with only a set number of permits issued per season. Many sites such as the Inca Trail leading to Macchu Picchu in Peru close for weeks or months at a time to allow regeneration and recovery. These all form part of planned, deliberate policies to maintain equilibrium long into the future.
It is vital that governments and local authorities work hard and prioritise sustainability. The challenges presented by the increasingly mobile population of the world are dynamic, and often appear overwhelming. However, there can be no hiding place. With more and more transparency in our industry, we constantly have the opportunity to make conscious choices about who we work with. This might be which hotel groups we recommend, which tour operators we favour, or even which destinations to send our customers to. I am fully committed to supporting those travel partners who are working the hardest to ensure this amazing world of ours is still in good shape for my children, and their children after that.