The Ecotourism In Scotland Tourism Essay

Hospitality and tourism are very closely linked; whenever a tourist comes to Scotland there are lots of restaurant and hotels to welcome them. In fact hospitality is a vital part of a tourist pack on their tour of any place in the world. From the inflight food to the luxuries travel in the cruise liners, from accommodation to eating out or travelling in leisurely cars and whether from hiring a tour guide to exploring the national treasures of the host country everything accounts for hospitality.

Although Hospitality management also covers other areas like hotels and airlines but tourism brings a lot of ethical, social and ecological consequences on the habitats or resident of those areas and demands the participation of the local community to promote in it in a healthy way.

Reason for choosing Scotland in the research is purely on the basis that it’s a country blessed with astounding landscapes and large variety of animal species. It is also famous for its art, history and culture and with these attributes there comes tourism and the impacts that it brings on the environment. With more and more people travelling to Scotland for tourism we should be ensuring that this is done in a way in which we are not avoiding the concerns of their residents and habitats. We should not be forgetting that UK have to meet its target of cutting CO2 emissions by 34 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020 and controlling deforestation would play a large part in achieving this, which is somewhat a product of ecotourism.

It is vital to understand that improper planning or being unaware of the ecotourism concept can have serious repercussions and all the benefits extracted by the government of Scotland from inviting tourist around the world and earning big money would be short lived.

Sustainability is also an issue which comes with ecotourism because of the negative effects on the environment and the community on the whole but it is good to see that many countries like Scotland are now taking an active part to address these issues. “The total tourist trips are predicted to increase to 1.6 billion by 2020. Due to this there has been a major impact on both people and nature” [Guidelines, WWF July 2001]. As this suggests that this matter has not been responded to as it should be and therefore it is essential that more thorough research should be undertaken to counter the effects that the ecotourism is bringing and may further bring in the future so that it can be supported in a positive way.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The purpose of this study is to gather data for solving key problems which are caused by ecotourism and then formulating a strategy or guideline to resolve these issues. Some of the key questions that my research would be addressing to are:

What are the impacts of the ecotourism on the society, culture and environment of Scotland?

What guidelines can be laid out for tourism in Scotland to minimize its negative impact and use in future tourism policies?

To what extent these guidelines are being followed by the Hospitality and tourism industry to ensure safe and healthy tourism?

An empirical case study will be used to answer the research questions as the evidence required to support the answers will be coming from information gathered from human experiences and their observance. There would be a lot of assumptions made to find the answers for these questions and at the same time prior information available will be used to gather further information. All of the research would be done following the standard laws of research and the results would the formulated in to guidelines for implementation in the tourism and hospitality industry.

[http://library.manor.edu/tutorial/empiricalresearch.htm]

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

It seems very important to put some light on this topic which has not been emphasized as much as it should be. Tourist from all around the world are coming to Scotland to taste the beauty it’s been blessed by the Mother Nature but what been completely ignored are the repercussions of uneducated tourism and the environmental footprints it’s leaving behind which can make life difficult for the future generations to come. Just because a tourist has paid for his ticket does not give them the ticket to do what they want without being environmentally responsible in any way. Of course there are great financial benefits from tourist and it accounts for a large part of UK GPD and it promotes our country in various ways but what cannot be set aside are the negatives of tourism and the impact it has on our society, culture and ecology (environment).

“While protected natural areas are increasing in popularity as vacation destinations, little information exists on tourism’s impacts on protected areas”. [Boo 1990].

My research would be aiming at getting key reasons due to which we face ecological problems in Scotland due to tourism and then constructing a document stating how we can minimize the impact of ecotourism, creating cultural awareness and the empowerment of local people. It would further lay out how these reasons could be shaped in the form of new policies and rules by Scottish tourism industry in making tourism in Scotland more safe and responsible and at the same time educating tourist what behavior is expected from them when they visit our ecological treasures. In addition to that I would also be researching about how the hospitality industry is playing its part in promoting ecotourism.

My research would be on Ecotourism to act as a strategy which can be used in countries like Scotland, who want to provide hospitality to tourists but at the same time protect their natural sites and want to observe conservation and create earning opportunities for the residents of the country. All in all my research would analyze and reach a conclusion as to how the negative impact of ecotourism can be minimized which is the world’s largest industry.

 LITERATURE REVIEW:

Ever since the 1980’s it was noticed that an increase in visits to places blessed by Mother Nature which were also developing at time was taking place. The concept of ecotourism really came to scene in the 1990’s when there was an easy access made to naturally rich areas such as the construction of natural parks which constituted many plant and animal species, whose existence seen to be threatened by the presence of constant visitors to these sites. Government was enjoying great financial success due to increased tourism in Scotland and the effects of the ecotourism didn’t came to stage at that time but soon after this concept matured due to various conflicts and the legitimacy of many players calling them as ecotourism product was challenged.

Some of the key definitions of ecotourism are:

“Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” [TIES, 1990]

“Tourism is sustainable when its development and operation include participation of local population, protection of the total environment, fair economic return for the industry and its host community, as well as a mutual respect for and gratification of all involved parties” [Jafari, 1996, p.959].

These literatures have served the backbone for many further definitions of ecotourism which has proved to be a great contribution to the field of hospitality and tourism.

There are many organizations and governmental bodies who are taking an active part in sustainable ecotourism. Some of them and the steps they have taken to protect natural and cultural heritage of Scotland such as Green Tourism Business Scheme, Forestry commission Scotland, RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage. WWF is also playing its role to raise the quality of life, conservation of natural and cultural resources and to reduce the side effects of tourism.

[Guidelines for community based ecotourism development; WWF July 2001]

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The empirical research method is used as it allows the researcher to gather complex data usually from human sources, gives the opportunity to learn from the data collected, then confirm the information that has been analyzed and then try to transform that information in to learning document. It has four simple steps as stated by the diagram below.

Cycle Diagram

In this qualitative case study the research will be conducted with the aid of Interviews, surveys, questionnaire and gathering and analyzing public reports issued by governmental and international environmental bodies.

Some of the big names for my research are The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Wild Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB Scotland, The National Trust for Scotland , Forestry Commission Scotland, WWF and TIES.

I would be comparing information available from these organization and bodies and asking them various questions about key developments in the tourism industry and how have they responded to these developments.

I would be interviewing volunteer tourist at various tourist spots in Scotland and ask tourists as to which places they travel mostly, what they thing have changed since they first visited Scotland and how much money do they spend on their tour in Scotland.

I would also be handing over questionnaire to the tourist in hotels and expect to get their feedback on various aspects of tourism to Scotland and what ecological impacts they think it has on Scotland. Participants would be answering these questions on a scale of ‘1- strongly disagree’, to ‘5 – strongly agree’.

The research study will be conducted using purposeful sampling design which is described as “a strategy in which particular settings, persons, or events are selected deliberately in order to provide important information that cannot be gotten from other choices” [Maxwell, 1996, p. 70].

A letter of introduction will be distributed to the potential candidates via intra-company e-mail. For those that respond favorably, a consent form will also be distributed mentioning that their participation is voluntary and inform them of any risk involved in their participation.

I would be using a Survey Analysis Tool which will allow me to analyze the data that I have gathered in an automated way. The survey responses will be entered to a database and then analyzed using the SPSS 10.0 for Windows – a computer software data analysis tool. SPSS contains the capability of presenting data on a spreadsheet with the option of modifying and viewing data as to one’s convenience. Data can be viewed in various formats like statistics, in tabulated format or variance charts. It also has the option of editing a variable of removing one randomly.

RESEARCH ETHICAL ISSUES:

There are always issues about ethics during research which should not be neglected. During my research I would have to ensure that the participation by the participants is Voluntary i.e. people are not forced to take part in the research. If this is achieved then the next step would be to ensure that we are taking their informed consent, meaning they are aware of the risk and procedures involved in the research. Researchers should not be putting participants in a situation where they may be at risk of harm as a result of their participation. Almost in every research there is a principle of confidentiality being exercised where there personal details won’t be given to anyone who is not part of the study or research but sometimes the participant demand a stronger guarantee than that in which case the participant won’t even give their details to the primary person conducting the research.

Another key ethical issue would be that people fail to answer precisely the questions they have been asked and thus giving inaccurate information. It is my responsibility as a researcher that if someone doesn’t understand a particular question, or it doesn’t seem to apply to your field of research, it is up to you to me to ask them what it means.

Care must be taken that the information gathered is accurate to the best it can be because analysis of incorrect information would obviously lead to incorrect decision just making void the purpose of the research. We should be ensuring that the methods used for analyses and gathering of data should not be biased or impartial. We should be complying with the laws and standards of research ensuring safety and security of our colleagues.

RESEARCH PROJECT PLAN:

Although the timescale will be limited I will try to gather as much information as I could to analyse and come to a conclusion on the topic.

One can never be 100% satisfied with the performance with topics such as ecotourism as it’s a very sensitive topic and relates to a lot of people. Time management is critical element for the timely completion of this project, so I will be dividing my task in to five phases and then I will try to do full justice with each of them.

Phases

April

May

June

Literature Review

xxxx

Conducting Interviews

xxxx

Data Gathering and Analysis

Xxxx

Formulating outcomes and Implementation.

Xxxx

Xxxx

Final Copy

Xxxx