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Sharon Ngomani
Green tourism, sometimes referred to as sustainable, responsible or alternative tourism, is a sound emerging concept. It is not a divorced or distinct type of tourism but rather, all types of tourism can strive to be green or sustainable. The concept of sustainable tourism embraces the facets of economic development, social equity and environmental stewardship with the intention of supporting present needs without forbidding the future generations to do likewise.

In Zimbabwe, the tourism sector is greatly dependent on the thriving viability of natural capital base. As such, stakeholders in this industry essentially need to adopt green measures in their businesses to secure the future of the industry.

Dr Steven Jerie, a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Midlands State University explained environmental problems associated with tourism: “The nature of the industry is such that there is a lot of energy and water usage as well as interactions with cultural assets and biodiversity. Also, in its activities huge amounts of both solid and liquid waste are produced; there is soil contamination, visual and aesthetic pollution, noise, smoke, and upsetting smells,” he said.

Energy usage emanates from mainly accommodation and travel. A lot of fuel is used by tourists in their travel and host communities in their daily business conduct. This entails high emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide which reduce air quality and contribute immensely to climate change.

On accommodation, energy usage is predominantly from heating or cooling, lighting, cooking, cleaning and laundry. The more the luxurious the facility, the more energy is likely to be used.

If these emissions are not managed, United Nations Environmental Programme and United Nations World Tourism Organisation have projected a 5 percent Tourism contribution to green house gases in 30-50 years.

This could result in further increase of surface temperature contributing to the troublesome phenomenon of global warming. And this in turn results in fatal outcomes to ecosystems as any slight disturbances in conditions such as temperature could lead to extinction of species.

Water consumption is chiefly through maintenance and watering of golf courses, irrigated gardens and lawns, swimming pools, spas, wellness facilities and domestic usage. This can have detrimental effects such as loss of biodiversity when the water table is continuously lowered through abstraction with the aim of supporting the above water intensive activities. Eventually this leads to the degeneration of environments.

Tourism also leads to interactions with cultural societies and bio-diversity. There is high risk of destruction of vulnerable cultures when diverse tourists visit and dilute their authenticity. Bio-diversity can be threatened by poaching, invasive species and degradation brought about by tourism inspired development.

To evade such potentially tragic and traumatising scenarios, all stakeholders need to join the green band wagon. This entails tourist and host choices being highly influenced by sustainability considerations.

Players such as hoteliers need to embrace social corporate responsibility which will lead to the development of local communities. Inter-linkages should be established with these players recruiting and training unskilled and semi-skilled members of the societies. They could also promote their community economy through purchasing food, transport and services directly from the locals.

A Campfire programme under the Tsholotsho Rural District Council which is operating two safari operatives for hunting and photography has embraced the concept well. An officer in the programme, Simelisizwe Sibanda detailed how they use money they collect from these endeavours. “The funds we get from the safari operatives go towards local community development and conservation awareness campaigns. We are still growing the concept and putting much effort to it with the aim of making the establishments as sustainable as possible,” he said.

There is an urgent call for operations and players to effectively adopt principles of sustainable tourism such as ensuring consistent monitoring of their activities, minimising resource use, ensuring compliance to standards, raising awareness and involving all primary stakeholders in the progression of their activities.

Dr Jerie gave insight on what entities in the tourism industry need to do to achieve sustainable tourism: “There is great need for operators to embrace the 4Rs principles of recycling, reusing, reducing and rethinking how operators go about their business in the tourism industry. Investment should be made towards sustainable waste management and cleaner production techniques.”

He further stressed on the need for environmental awareness and regulatory measures to strengthen the idea of green tourism in all the facets of tourism. However, most players in Zimbabwe’s tourism sector are yet to fully adopt green measures in their activities. A senior lecturer at Chinhoyi University of Technology’s School of Hospitality and Tourism explained why the rate of green tourism is slow.

“The reason why players seem not too keen to adopt green measures is because there is substantial cost involved with the transition process. There are lot of refurbishments and new mechanisms to be put in place when going the green route.

“These range from waste mechanisms, energy and water systems. This is difficult for already existing establishments but for those planning to establish themselves should have green concepts incorporated in the plan.”

Earlier this year, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) entered into a partnership with Green Tourism Programme (UK) to offer green tourism rating aimed at reducing tourism costs. This was motivated by the intention to craft guidelines for the sector to progress, reduce costs, improve technology and reduce wastage of time. Ultimately this will result in tourism becoming cheaper and efficient in the country.

Benefits such as more profits as running costs are cut, appealing images which could further attract a new breed of environmentally conscious tourists as well good relations with the local environment could be reaped from implementation.

Policies on the growth and development of the tourism sector should be towards more effective conservation of sensitive ecosystems and vulnerable cultures. It is time that Zimbabwe’s tourism sector fully drowns in green tourism.