Running head: THE FUTURE OF ECOTOURISM

The Future of Ecotourism
Monique Davis
University of Phoenix
Travel and Tourism: Work, Pleasure, and Forever Enriching
HTT/210
Richard Griffin
September 28, 2014

The Future of Ecotourism

The Cayman Islands is an excellent holiday spot for many tourists, nevertheless, due to an increase in tourism the island has required development to keep up with the vacationist's demands. These developments have both a definite and adverse effect on the islands. Tourism is vital for the island inhabitants because it produces continual revenue to the island and provides positions for the locals. There is a downside to tourism that consists of management of resources and not restoring them. It is crucial to the island in restoring resources and conditioning everyone to pull together to maintain a green environment so that tourism does not turn the islands into a wasteland, so tourists stop vacationing there.
The Grand Cayman Island is on one of the three islands of the Cayman Islands and is the largest of the three, hence the title, Grand Cayman Island. The island has approximately 50,000 residents and extends over 76 square miles (Grand Cayman Island Department of Tourism, 2014). There are many activities and attractions on the island that spread throughout the island from the four corners to the heart of the island (Grand Cayman Island Department of Tourism, 2014). There are shopping facilities from the upscale to the locals that sell everything from designer pieces to island novelties to tourists. The islands climate stays relatively temperate throughout the year with temperatures between 70 degrees and 95 degrees just about year round (Grand Cayman Island Department of Tourism, 2014). They have their currency that has comparable denominations to the United States currency. However, a Cayman Island’s dollar exchange rate is equivalent to the United States $.80 (Grand Cayman Island Department of Tourism, 2014). While the Grand Cayman Island appears to be a fabulous spot for a vacation, there are measures that need to be exercised to make sure that the island takes heed of for the future. These actions will guarantee that tourists have the same experience and satisfaction as those who would visit today.
With tourism to any section comes issues that need approached so that the area remains an ideal place for tourists. With the influx of travelers to the shores of the island, pollution is a problem in the form of air, water, solid waste, as well as noise pollution (Grand Cayman, 2010). A Few locals also state that there is visual pollution in the form of resorts that span along their beaches that and take away from the picturesque charm of their island (Grand Cayman, 2010). Visual pollution results when there is a loss of natural landscaping and agricultural lands due to progression of tourist attractions and lodging to cater to the vacationists that are attracted to the location (Grand Cayman, 2010). A large majority of coastline around the world has been lost to visual pollution along with the flora and fauna of the rural areas for the purpose of hotels or shopping centers.
Another area that is influenced by tourist negatively is water shortages (Grand Cayman, 2010). Because of the significant volume of water required for the resorts and hotels as well as watering of golf courses, there are water shortage issues that the locals have to deal with (Grand Cayman, 2010). Because the water is needed to pamper the tourists in the region, the locals are obliged to endure through the water shortages to produce in revenue to the area. Along with the adsorbent amount of water necessary to provide for the tourist of the area, another area that requires attention is the lifestyle of the islands. Numerous visitors come to the island anticipating to get the same type of culture that they are used to in the United States. Because of their expectations they are provided their culture through new restaurants with American fast food chains. By presenting the American food, the Grand Cayman culture is being crowded to the side to create room for the American Culture (Grand Cayman, 2010).
Not only do Americans lean toward their food, they also lean toward their people. The proprietors of the new hotels and luxury resorts being built to accommodate tourists on the island are staffing them with outsiders. With extra people coming to live and support the tourism industry, many of the citizens are being forced to be displaced. Locals are forced to make room for those who are there to support the guests (Grand Cayman, 2010). This displacement is not only in the form of people but the form of land as well. Island inhabitants' homes are being purchased to make room for more tourist expansion. These new infrastructures then bring in more visitors and slowly take over the island, destroying the beauty (Grand Cayman, 2010). Another instance of local displacement occurs when a resort acquires property for beach facilities and then prohibits locals from using the beaches because the beaches are for their guests only (Grand Cayman, 2010). The issues noted above need to be addressed to keep the Cayman Islands a welcomed cultural vacation destination for ages to come.
In order for the Cayman Islands to proceed to flourish and be a preferred tourist spot for the future, there are actions that they must take. By not exercising these steps, the Island will continue to be overwhelmed with pollution and tourists will continue to use up the local resources until they disappear. Once the resources are depleted, without anyone to mediate and work to reestablish the resources, the islands will become over populated with tourists and attractions. The beauty of the island will disappear, and tourist will find original and interesting locations to visit. One of the ecotourism steps that should become executed in the Grand Caymans is to engage more locals to work within the resorts rather than hiring from outside the island (Grand Cayman, 2010). Employing locals will produce not only more wealth into the local economy but also employ the island inhabitants and help with the poverty in the area. Another measure is to work with the hotels and resorts in obtaining local products from the island to help the economy and further provide local products and produce to the tourists (Grand Cayman, 2010). Another essential action would be to examine the area to guarantee that they do not place too many resorts and concessionaires on the shores to deflect from the beauty and the ecosystem of the island. To help counter air pollution on the island, purveyors can provide bikes for transportation. Using ecotourism with a destination, requires many changes; nonetheless, it takes everyone concerned about a consolidated goal to accomplish this. Everyone involved includes those who have a meaningful stake in the outcome of a vacation destination. There are multiple stakeholders involved with the Cayman Islands. They include the locals that live within the islands, the tourists that visit the destination, the local business proprietors, and the Cayman Island Government (Cayman Island Government, 2014). There are also additional stakeholders that are necessary for the Cayman Islands. This list includes the following; Cayman Island Tourism Association (CITA), Association for the Advancement of Cruise Tourism (ACT), Sister Islands Tourism Association (SITA), and Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) (Cayman Island Government, 2014). These stakeholders are relevant to the Cayman Islands because they are the people who are accountable for implementing the rules for ecotourism. They also work to execute the standards throughout the island. It is critical for the stakeholders to work hand in hand with the ecotourism organizations in their area to establish systems to maintain the Cayman Islands as green as possible for future generations.
Two of the accredited ecotourism organizations that would work well with the Cayman Islands stakeholders would be The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and Green Globe 21. TIES primary purpose is to promote people to travel to natural locations where they use conservation measure to improve the location and the lives of those that live there (Biederman et al., 2008). TIES would be an exceptional fit for the Cayman Islands because they work with the communities on the islands to conserve the environment during the process of tourism. Green Globe 21 would also be a good fit for the Grand Cayman Islands. Their mission is to work with the organizations that are on the island and combine environmental and social standards. They will work together to ensure they are sharing the best practices for a green and eco-friendly surroundings (Biederman et al., 2008). With the resources provided by these organizations, the Grand Cayman Islands can proceed to serve the tourist industry and keep their islands like a green and ecofriendly environment. With the help of these organizations, there will be opportunities for the island; still, there will also be challenges to overcome.
Using the ecotourism organizations is an excellent opportunity for the Grand Cayman Islands. By working to employ more of the locals in the industry and to teach them how to conserve the resources of the island, they are acquiring a better economy for the locals. This training will help the locals be more engaging and able to educate the tourist about how to take care of their island. They can also profit from using more local produce and supplies and will not only improve the islands economy but give the traveler an appreciation of what is accessible on the island. They also can show an interest in exploring the flora and fauna available on the island. Although these opportunities will help the island, there are still challenges that they will encounter.
One of those challenges is energy conservation. Because of the perpetual tourist influx of the island and the energy required to run attractions and shops, it is crucial to realize the need of substitute energy sources (Robinson et al., 2007). At present, the island is locked into the escalating costs of energy from external sources and should prices become excessively costly, or there is a shortage then having the substitute sources would be necessary to the island. These additional methods of energy are in the form of hydrogen, solar, wind, ocean, and thermal conversion (Robinson et al., 2007). Additional energy is required to achieve alternative forms of energy to give the Cayman Islands a reputation as an eco-tourism destination and be empowered to develop energy independence (Robinson et al., 2007).
Another challenge that the Cayman Islands is dealing with is water consumption. There is a large volume of water consumed on the Island due to the lifestyle of the masses, mostly tourists, on the Cayman Islands. Because of this excessive amount of water demanded the only way to keep up with the need is to desalinate seawater (Cayman Water Company, 2014). The traditional group water aquifers that are applied to extract ground water on the island have become empty and cannot meet the demand of water use (Cayman Water Company, 2014). In the past, rainwater was capable of maintaining the Cayman Islands, but with tourism taking over the island, there is an increased demand for water that cannot be met by natural methods. The Island is forced to use reverse osmosis method of separating the salt from the seawater to support the water consumption. If nothing is done to conserve the water used, then there will be a significant deficit in the future (Cayman Water Company, 2014). The island must establish a water conservation program in order to recycle and reuse water utilized as a solution to continuing to get all their water from the sea.
While there are challenges that need resolving and opportunities to have, the overall picture of the Cayman Islands is an exciting and pleasant destination. Even though, it is a grand destination, the island still requires a little help to make it a more eco-friendly and green place that tourists will be coming to visit in the future. The Cayman Islands is diligently striving to make their vacation destination, not only a site to visit, but a spot to absorb the culture too. The island has much in their ecosystem to share with the world as long as the world appreciates it and leaves it like they found it, if not better.

References
Cayman Water Company (2014). Cayman Water. Retrieved from http://www.caymanwater.com/ index.html
Cayman Island Government (2014). Cayman Island Government. Retrieved from http://www. gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1142,1481287&_dad=portal&_schema=
Grand Cayman (2010). Retrieved from http:/resource.down/oad.wjec.co.uk/vtc/2010-11/1-and-t/grandcayman/index05.htm
Grand Cayman Island Department of Tourism (2014). Grand Cayman Islands. Retrieved from http://www.caymanislands.ky/aboutcayman/grandcayman .aspx.PORTAL
Robinson, R., Knapp, J., Harvey, D., Tinney, J. L., Ebanks, T., & Bush, E. et al. (2007). Cayman Islands Energy. Retrieved from http://www.caymaninstitute.org.ky/pdf/caymanenergy security.pdf