Red River Gorge

Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest has started to suffer damage to it's natural environment and resources due to abuse and negligance of those who visit the gorge. In order to find a solution to stop the destruction, the USDA Forest Service decided in 2004 to begin a plan using the Limits of Acceptable Change. Utilizing the LAC method, the Forest Service wants the public who visit the gorge to be the main developers of the plan to save Red River Gorge.

A series of workshops were set up to introduce the public to the LAC method and then start formulating the plan that needed to be in place. Much data was gathered including reasons why people visit the gorge and the main concerns people have about things needing to be changed in order to better protect the gorge and its natural environment. The gorge area has many caves and petroglyphs, and due to abuse, some of these have already been ruined permanently. Some of the things people wanted to see changed or improved in the process of setting the Limits of Acceptable Change include better education of preservation and individual responsibility, improving and managing trails to keep people from wandering, and assigning responsibility to those who do cause damage or misuse.

Hong Kong's Committment to Asian Tourism

Browsing through Jodie's Geography I found a blog titled Social and Economic Impacts of Tourism and Recreation in Southeast and East Asia. In early 2003, tourism and recreation in Asia was hit hard by the outbreak of SARS. At the time, Asia-Pacific was the fastest growing region in the world in international tourist arrivals, partly because of the vast and diverse tourism product available in the region. In July 2003 Hong Kong, a leader in Asian tourism destinations, made a Declaration on the Revitalization of the Asian Tourism Industry. This declaration was a committment by Hong Kong to do several things for the Asian tourism industry:

1. Reassure travellers from all over the world of their safety in Asia and the
Pacific, and invite them to resume their holidays and business trips to
the region,
2. Enhance and strengthen international coordination and monitoring
systems through effective liaison and networking between Governments
and appropriate international organizations to promote effective crisis
management plans, adopting best practices and sharing of information
thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sector,
3. Promote inter-governmental cooperation in addressing the issues of
travel advisories and facilitation of travel,
4. Work towards greater public-private sector cooperation and
coordination at all levels of tourism planning and management,
particularly in the design and implementation of tourism recovery plans,
5. Recognize the need to prepare tourism professionals in various aspects
of crisis management and recovery plans,
6. Foster greater inter-governmental cooperation to promote the growth of
intra-regional tourism to serve as a key driver for Asian tourism,
economic and social development, and
7. Work towards the creation of a strong alliance between Governments,
the private sector, international agencies, local communities and the
media with the view to disseminating accurate and timely information on
security and safety conditions at tourist destinations.

'Auss'ome Eco-Tourism

Eco-Tourism Australia was born in 1991 as a non-profit organization, "To be leaders in assisting ecotourism and other committed tourism operations to become environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially and culturally responsible." The organization is made up of ecotourism accommodations, tour and attraction operators, tourism planners, protected area managers, academics and students, tourism, environmental, interpretation and training consultants, local and regional tourism associations and travelers.

Their focus is about growing and promoting eco-tourism and other involved tourism operations to become more sustainable. Some of the steps they have in place to work towards their mission are to develop and incorporate standards for sustainability, marketing the ideas of sustainability to increase awareness, improve finanacial viability for companies that use sustainable practices, and increasing professionalism of those in the industry.

They have two programs in place, one for certifying the product, and another for certifying guides. The Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program provides assurance to businesses and travelers alike that an accredited product is backed by a committment to practice ecological sustainability, natural area management and the provision of quality ecotourism experiences. This program is now being used as the International Eco-Tourism Standard. The second program, The EcoGuide Certification Program, is an industry driven certification program for nature and ecotour guides that is designed to enhance Guides competencies, and assess a Guide's skills, knowledge, personal attributes and actions.

Gambling on Asia

Here in the US casinos are popping up all over the place. It used to be Vegas and Atlantic City, but now there casinos everywhere...most of these are either "Indian Casinos" or "Riverboat Casinos." Native Americans have decided to build profitable casinos on their land and cities near water have built "Riverboats" that rarely leave the dock. Within the last couple years Asia has decided to join the casino and gambling phenomenon...why have local people travel to the US when they can stay closer to home and have the same experience.

In April 2005 Singapore decided to add Vegas style casinos, with the hopes of creating jobs, increasing tourism, and ultimately increasing tourism revenues to the area. If they are successful the economic impacts will be great, with an expected $18 billion in tourist spending, triple what it is without the casinos. The casinos in Singapore are expected to open in 2009, and as well to increased tourist spending, 100,000 jobs are expected to be created. On the downside, some people are afraid of the potential social problems that the casinos will cause, such as gambling addictions in local residents. One proposal is to charge locals a daily membership fee in order to deter them from frequent visits, and monitor them to watch for signs of addiction. Singapore hopes the casinos will energize their economy through tourism by making them a more exciting Asian destination.