Tourism, Biodiversityand Information

edited by

F. di Castri and V Balaji

lB Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 2002

Easter Island, National Park ofRapa Nui (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Front cover: Moai of Ahu Nau Nau, on Anakena beach north ofthe island, where the legendaryfirst king Hotu Matu'a ofRapa Nui (Easter Island) is supposed to have landed on his way froma Polynesian Hiva, the ancestral homeland.

Back cover: Moai of Ahu Ko Te Riku, at Tahai, southwest of the island, near the Cook Bay.

Photographs: Francesco di Castri

ISBN 90-5782-107-9

© Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2002

All rights reserved. Nothing from this publication may be reproduced, stored in a computer-ized system or published in any form or in any manner, including electronic, mechanical,teprographic or photographic, without prior written permission from the publishers, BackhuysPublishers, PO. Box 321, 2300 AH Leiden, The Netherlands.

Printed in The Netherlands

CONTENTS

ForewordThierry Desmarest

IX

PrologueM.s. Swaminathan

Xl

PrefaceFrancesco di Castri

XIII

Section 1 Relevance of Tourism and Biodiversity in the InformationSociety

IntroductionFrancesco di Castri and Venkataraman Balaji

3

Chapter 1 The Trilogy ofthe Knowledge-Based, Post-industrial Society:Information, Biodiversity and Tourism 7Francesco di Castri

Chapter 2 Sustainable Tourism Within the Context of the EcosystemApproach 25Alexander Heydendael

Chapter 3 Sustainable Development ofTourism: Principies and Practice 45Gabor Vereczi

Section 11 Geographic Regions: the Coastal Zones 57

Introduction 59Francesco di Castri, Michel Batisse, Paul F. Wilkinson andVenkataraman Balaji

Chapter 4 Mediterranean Tourism: Towards a New Deal 67Pierre Bougeant

Chapter 5 The Spread of a Non-native Marine Species, Caulerpa taxifolia.Impact on the Mediterranean Biodiversity and PossibleEconomic Consequences 75Charles-Francois Boudouresque

Chapter 6 Protecting for Ecological Integrity in a Coastal National Park:Visitor Use in Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island,Canada 89Paul F. Wilkinson

VI Con ten ts

Chapter 7 Integration of Biodiversity in Cultural Heritage in theDevelopment of Ecotourism. A case study from Haida Gwaii(Queen Charlottes Islands), B.C., Canada 105Sylvie Blangy and Jean-Louis Martin

Chapter 8 El Camino del Gaucho: Tourism Evolution, Biodiversity andLandscape Management from the Argentinean to theSouth-Brazilian Coastal Zones 117Rubén Pesci

Chapter 9 Sustainable Management of Conservation and Tourism:the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve in Southern India 127Venkataraman Balaji and Vaithilingam SelvamWith an appendix by Sumet Tantivejkul

Section III Geographic Regions: the Islands 137

Introduction 139Francesco di Castri, Jerome McElroy, Pauline Sheldon andVenkataraman Balaji

Chapter 10 The Impact ofTourism in Small Islands: a Global Comparison 151Jerome L. McElroy

Chapter 11 Sustainable Tourism in Small Islands: the Case of Malta 169Lino Briguglio and Marie Briguglio

Chapter 12 Bikinis and Biodiversity: Tourism and Conservation on CousinIsland, Seychelles 185Nirmal Jivan Shah

Chapter 13 Tasmania: Balancing Commercial and Ecological Interests inTourism Development 197Michael V Conlin

Chapter 14 Islands and Coral Reefs, Population and Culture, Economy andTourism: World View and a Case Study of French Polynesia 213Bernard Salvat and Claire Pailhe

Chapter 15 How Tourism Reduces Geodiversity and How it Could BeDifferent: the Cases of the Galápagos Archipelago and Easterlsland 233Christophe Grenier

Contents vii

Chapter 16 Diversification, Connectivity and Local Empowerment forTourism Sustainability in South Pacific Islands - a Networkfrom French Polynesia to Easter Island 257Francesco di CastriWith an appendix by Edgard Hereveri

Section IV New Trends in Biodiversity Conservation 285

Introduction 287Francesco di Castri, Peter Bridgewater; Jacques Blondel andVenkataraman Balaji

Chapter 17 Biosphere Reserves, the Ecosystem Approach and SustainableTourism - Finding New Paradigms in a Globalizing World 293Peter B. Bridgewater

Chapter 18 Birding in the Sky: Only Fun, a Chance for Ecodevelopment,or Both? 307Jacques Blondel

Chapter 19 Tourism and Geodiversity: the Case of Geoparks 319Margarete Patzak

Chapter20 Boreal Biodiversity and Tourism: Toward New Spinn-offs 329Claude Villeneuve, Sylvie Bouchard and Annnabelle Laliberté,

Section V Sustainability and Economics 341

Introduction 343Francesco di Castri, Eugenio Figueroa, Jerome McElroy andVenkataraman Balaji

Chapter21 Information Technologies and 'Grassroots Tourism': ProtectingNative Cultures and Biodiversity in a Global World 349Eugenio Figueroa B. and Roberto Alvarez E.

Chapter22 Island Tourism and Unstable Development - New Perspectives 381Pier Giovanni d 'Aya la

Chapter23 Tourism and Biodiversity: Critical Challenges andManagement Tools for Good Global Governance 391Peter Dogsé

Chapter24 Impact on Tourism of a Major Biodiversity Catastrophe:an Example of the Interrelationship of the CommunicationSociety with Environmental Economics 409Michel Girin

VIll Contents

Section VI Information, Communication and Education for TourismDevelopment 421

Introduction 423Francesco di Castri, Pauline Sheldon, Michael Conlin,Priscilla Boniface and Venkataraman Balaji

Chapter 25 Information Technology, Tourism and Biodiversity -in Society and in Relationship 431Priscilla Boniface

Chapter 26 Information Technology Contributions to Biodiversity inTourism: the Case of Hawaii 449Pauline J Sheldon

Chapter 27 New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the Information Society:the Canary Islands Experience 457Cipriano Marín

Section VII Epilogue 479

Introduction 481Francesco di Castri

Chapter 28 Tourism Revisited after 11 September 2001 483Francesco di Castri

List of Contributors 489

Index 493

CHAPTER27

New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the InformationSociety: The Canary Islands Experience

Cipriano Marín

The Present and the Future: Islands and the New Millennium

Discussions on the challenges that islands must face and their future options havebecome unusually intense in recent years. The subject of islands began to appear inthe international community in 1982, when the United Nations Law of the SeaConvention was put in place. But it was 10 years later, in 1992, that the Agenda 21(adopted at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Surnmit),unequivocally stated that islands rep-resent an essential part in the worldwide strategy of sustainable development, apoint emphasized also in Chapter 22 by d' Ayala in this book. The Chapter 17 ofAgenda 21 points out that "islands constitute a special case, both for the environ-ment and for development and they present very specific problems in the planningof sustainable development. They tend to be ecologically fragile and vulnerable".On the other hand, their small individual size, limited resources, geographical dis-persion and isolation from markets place them at an economic disadvantage, pre-venting them from achieving economies of scale. "Their geographic isolation hasresulted in their habitation of a comparatively large nuniber of unique species offlora and fauna, giving them a very high share of global biodiversity. They also haverich and diverse cultures with special adaptations to island environments andknowledge of the sound management of island resources."

The Barbados Conference (1992), in its preamble, also provided a common attitude,namely, recognition of the force of insularity in the international community: "wesee that, although, when considered individually, islands and small island statescover a small surface area, collectively they exercise jurisdiction over a sixth of theEarth's surface area". And this is without counting the influence ofthe thousands ofother islands that are administratively dependent on the mainland states. A pecu-liarity that is clearly illustrated in the case ofVanuatu, an archipelago of 80 islands,is that it has a land area that is 50 times less than its exclusive economic area(600,000 km-), with a population of 150,000 inhabitants.

The appearance of a new mentality and the building of the island conscience at thedawn of the twenty- first century have a common link. Island societies are increas-

Tourism, Biodiversity and Information, pp. 457-478Edited by F di Castri and V.Balaji© 2002 Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands

458 Cipriano Marin

ingly aware that the wealth and diversity of the natural heritage of islands is seri-ously endangered and that strategies to safeguard this heritage should be designedon specific budgets. This is nothing new. The colonization of island territories onthe basis of hyper-specialized production superimposed on the land is commonpractice and has been so for over 300 years. This is the case with sugarcane, whoseintroduction created the White Gold Route from Cape Verde to the West Indies, ortea as a single crop, or the introduction of bananas on a massive scale in Madeira,the Canary Islands, the West Indies or Madagascar. In many cases, this specializa-tion has radically altered fragile island ecosystems.

Now, however, a new single crop has exploded onto the scene with unusual forcebefore the eyes of island peoples - tourism. This is an ambivalent phenomenonwhich provides the resources that island economies need, but which has a capacityfor land occupation and competition that could have totally unpredictable effects. Ifwe analyze the international arrivals data supplied by the World TourismOrganization (WTO), islands, as a whole, can be considered the world's secondleading tourist destination, behind the bloc formed by historie cities (also see in thisbook, Chapter 3 by Vereczi and Chapter 22 by d' Ayala).

But, getting a close-up view of the reality of the island situation, especially intourist matters, is a task that is obscured by an accumulation of curious historicalperceptions. The extreme diversity of islands has turned them ÍTItounknown terri-tory, as a whole, surrounded by myths and some stereotypes that explain the touristexpectations created in recent decades for island destinations.

In the eyes of many mainlanders, islands remain impregnated with an age-old mixof fantasy and ignorance, like the islands of the Odyssey, those small worlds thatUlysses found before reaching Ithaca. As imaginary territories, islands have beenthe sites of great utopias like the Atlantis evoked by Plato in two of his Dialogues,or the most insular of utopias represented in Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis. Atthe other end of the scale, from the utopia, is the desert island, described byAlphonse Daudet in his Shipwreck, or by Jules Verne in his The Mysterious Island,islands of fear or punishment, as Unamuno reminds us when he refers toFuerteventura, or infamous islands or prison islands, like Gorée. The nineteenthcentury brought the discovery of islands as the perfect dream of naturalists, a sane-tuary for what we now undérstand as biodiversity. They are the islands of Linnaeusand Rousseau, islands that inspired Darwin 's evolution of the species.

That is why, nowadays, island expectations are forged with a tremendous arnount ofreal capital based on diversity and that indefinable cultural, scenic and social mixthat defines unique identities for thousands of islands. These are key elements in theanalysis of the emerging role of islands in the international tourist market.

In the times we live in, however, there is confrontation between islands in new corn-petition scenarios of the tourist industry. For the present mature island destinations,aspects related to environmental and cultural quality are not optional added values;they now constitute essential specifications of the product that will decide its level

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on lslands in the Information Society 459

of survival in the market. The Ecomost project, carried out in 1994 for the islandsofRhodes and Majorca, gave us a foretaste ofthe basic problems that island touristdestinations are now facing, when it stated that any destination that is irreversiblydamaged in its basic environmental aspects, wiJl pay the price of all products thatbecome uncompetitive (ECOMOST, 1994). 'Ecotourist quality' is emerging as anobjective to pursue in destinations such as the islands.

But, apart from these market-driven reactions and an increasingly knowledgeabledemand, it is essential to recognize that the context oftourist activity is now chang-ing at a dizzying speed. Tourism has fundamentaJly changed its dimension, as amass phenomenon and even as a social right. Such a change also includes the formsof tourism, with the systematic appearance of new products, destinations and waysof understanding the art of traveling.

It is evident that in the last few years the tourist demand has experienced profoundehanges in the eonsumers' behavior. During the last 10 years, the tourist industryhas undergone fundamental changes in its managerial culture, responding to thedemand for qualitative changes. Mass tourism, characterized by the production andselling of inflexible and standardized mas s products, is giving way to new businessapproaches characterized by product flexibility and segmentation. In this context,segmentation of the present tourist demand wiJl be in conflict with many islandtourist destinations that have maintained their classical tourism packages.

The tourist business in islands has also changed to the same extent. Tourism wasinitially managed by the owners of the accommodation in the destination; then touroperators appeared foJlowed by carriers; and, more recently, there has been a broadprocess of merger between the latter and the major accommodation chains. But, ananalysis of the new century would again reveal another major change. If we lookearefuJly at what we have so far understood as conventional tourism, we see this isa mere fraction of the great leisure industry. Apart from the obvious evidence likethe Disney phenomenon, the international reorganization ofthe industry in the con-text ofthe global market clearly points to this trend. In fact, tourism forecasting nowhas to be done in the framework of the Information Society. In the age of telemat-ies and within a very few years, it will be very difficult to recognize the conven-tional forms and products that have characterized the tourist business so faro

These changes must be observed with special attention by islands, in order to antic-ipate what sometimes appear to be irreversible events. An approach is required thatis based on the fact that the penetration oftourism in new island economies consti-tutes an increasingly determining factor in their future strategy. For reference infor-mation, one only has to emphasize that this sector represents a growing proportionof the Gross National Product of an increasingly larger number of island regions,with varying degrees of intensity - Okinawa (20%), Hawaii (56%), NorthernMariana Islands (67%) (Kakazu, 1999), the Canary Islands (60%). The trendtowards specialization becomes more evident if we analyze data such as the pro-portion of employment in the tertiary sector: Réunion (77%) (Rochoux, 1999), theCanary Islands (80%).1

460 Cipriano Marin

To get an idea of the importance of island tourism, the usual island tourist densitiescan be compared. The den sities easily go beyond 50 rooms per square kilometer,higher in many cases than densities in many populated areas of the mainland. Thisis true of St. Marteen, Bermuda, Malta and Canary Islands. But in terms of touristflows, the results are a lot more striking - Greek islands receive more internationaltourism than Brazil, the Balearic Islands host as many tourists as does Portugal andthe Canary Islands receive twice the number of international tourists hosted bySouth Africa (6 million ayear) the great emerging destination ofthe African conti-nent (see also Chapter 22 by d' Ayala in this book). If the tourists/local populationindicators are used, we also find many unusual situations, like the Cayman Islands,Aruba, British Virgin Islands and the most spectacular case, the Balearic Islands,where there are 418 tourists per 1,000 inhabitants.

In this context, the experience of the seven Canary Islands represents an excellentexpression of the paradigm of tourism in islands. Many different forms of touristdevelopment and different design policies live together in a very limited space ofland (Fig. 27.1).

The Perversions of Planning

A traditional temptation when regulating the tourist industry and its environmentaleffects consists of resorting to regional planning instruments as the only frameworkfor consensus. While recognizing that island regional planning is now a necessityand an instrument that can prevent major disorders in the rational use of resources,it must be noted that this cannot be the sole framework for discussion among thedifferent actors that make up an activity as complex as the tourist industry.

Constraining the debate on tourist development in the islands to a matter of townplanning or resource planning, presupposes that an initial analysis has been estab-lished, which will be con cerned only with some aspects related to the tourist indus-

o

La Palma

\) T~

W Gornera O V GranoqEIHlerro

Figure 27.1 The Canary Islands.

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the Information Society 461

try, such as infrastructure and accommodation. This neglects many other factorsthat enable us to define the product or the different products that make up the finalimage of the island destination. Such a simplistic view feeds off the tremendoussocial and economic tensions that are created in new destinations. The financial,administrative and jurisdictional scale and complexity of these processes has meantthat most island destinations have been mere observers of operations that werebeyond their control. And this is exactly what has happened in the Canary Islands.

In the 1970s, the Canary Islands started building areas suitable for mass tourism,with the firm support of the public sector focused basically on creating transportinfrastructure and appropriate conditions. Around 1986, the islands had nearly 200planning initiatives that covered an area of 55,000 ha, reaching a potential capacityof nearly 4 million accommodation units. This kind of planning madness was typi-cal of an age that has left a profound mark on attempts to organize tourism. At thattime, the process took a downturn and the figures for potential capacity started todecline substantially, although they were still way above the real possibilities ofland and resources, as well as social and economic stability.

The amount of land currently developed for tourist purposes is around 12,000 haand accommodation in the Canary Islands is around 350,000 rooms. In conditionssuch as these, planning has become a perverse instrument, in that it leads to anexcessive growth oftotal accommodation units that is beyond all control and whichis only subject to 'market forces' (Table 27.1).

In these conditions, competition for space emerges as a key factor in tourism plan-ning, which made the Canary Islands' Protected Areas Act and the Island ZoningPlans Act necessary in 1992. This legislation led to the creation of the CanaryIslands' Network of Protected Areas, made up of 145 Areas and accounting for40.4% of the total surface area of the Islands altogether.

Year

rabie 27.1. Canary lslands: growth in tourist accommodation, 1986-1996.

Rooms

Source: White Paper on Canary Island Tourism. 1998

19861987198819891990199119921993199419951996

Tourists

4,169,0505,068,2425,416,6525,352,2055,459,4736,136,9906,327,1127,551,0659,256,8179,693,0869,804,540

201,493251,067308,177343,559364,269375,995337,482337,975330,614324,124328,254

462 Cipriano Marin

Table 27.2 Hotel and self-catering rooms in the Canary lslands, as on 31 December 1999a

Island Hotel rooms Self-catering rooms Total numberNumber % umber % of rooms

Lanzarote 12,077 10.27 32,763 14.06 44,840Fuerteventura 9,515 8.09 24,867 10.67 34,382Gran Canaria 35,018 29.78 108,067 46.38 143,085Tenerife 57,006 48.49 56,999 24.46 114,005La Gomera 1,554 1.32 3,940 1.69 5,494La Palma 1,983 1.69 5,817 2.50 7,800El Hierro 417 0.35 551 0.24 968Total forCanary Islands 117,570 100 233,004 100 350,574

a. Figures do not inelude establishments awaiting planning permission (around 40 000 rooms)Souree: Gobierno de Canarias, 2000a. Canaria

In terms of results, the main positive effect is obtained in the Protected Areas Act,which managed to save a large proportion of expectant land from indiscriminatetourist development. The Regional Zoning Plans are the tools used in the rest of theregion. With the exception of the case of Lanzarote, which managed to adopt itsPlan in 1994, the tensions generated by the growth of tourism were obvious in allthe other Plans, provoking endless processes of adaptation and disproportionateadministrative red-tape, which in some cases lasted more than a decade. Thebureaucratization of regional planning instruments and processes is clearly due tothe expectations generated for tourist developments, which have once again reachednew highs in recent years (Table 27.2).

To get a real idea of the enormous accommodation infrastructure boom, one onlyhas to consider the fact that, in the next few years, the Islands will account for near-ly three quarters of all tourist investment on the Spanish coastline.? Current esti-mates are 283,000 million pesetas (US$2,400 million) for building new hotels onthe Canary Island coast, of which Pta 108,000 million (38%) are for Tenerife, Pta56,000 million for Gran Canaria (19%), Pta 40,000 million for Fuerteventura (10%)and Pta 11,000 million for Lanzarote (4%). The next Spanish regions in the rank-ing are a long way behind the total numbers for the Canary Islands as a whole, suchas the coast ofGranada (Pta 20;000 million) or Alicante (Pta 14,000 million).

A more detailed analysis ofthe situation, in the light ofthese magnitudes, suggeststhat we are not really talking about tourism, but rather of property operations char-acterized by the need to make 'safe' investments, attracted by the image of a con-tinuously growing sector and enhanced by factors that are external to the industry,like the special tax regulations in the Islands and the need to convert capital hiddenin pesetas before the Euro comes into force as the single currency. So, new accom-modation infrastructure is the driving force of this induced growth in tourism,which clearly suggests that there is an absence of criteria applicable to tourist strat-egy and that there is no clear model or tourist product that is more suitably adaptedto the situation. In fact, most of these new operations contradict the spirit of theCanary Island Tourism Act, which openly opts for adopting environmental criteria,

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the /nformation Society 463

increasing the quality of the supply and rationalizing growth in accordance to thespecificities of the Islands.

Authorizing excessive new tourist accornmodations cannot be justified by marketrequirements either. In the area of planning, the figures used are for peak occupa-tion, which is between 90% and 95%, when we should really use the average fig-ures, which are only just over 70% for all accornmodation categories (Cabildo deTenerife, 1999).

These exaggerated expectations of growth, which exceed the phenomenon of masstourism that occurred in the Islands in the 1970s in absolute terms, have radicalizedthe social debate on future prospects. Many different initiatives and responses haveemerged in response to a phenomenon of this magnitude, including the Lanzaroteinitiative, whereby a moratorium was adopted on the growth ofthe accornmodationsector, following the example of the process started in the Balearic Islands. But,even taking into consideration the incalculable demonstrative value ofthis measure,aimed at establishing a cooling-off period, we are really perplexed to see how theenormous pressure to develop far exceeds the capacity ofthe institutional measures.One ofthe first consequences ofthe moratorium was to speed up the administrativeprocess for consolidated projects in order not to miss the legal deadlines for themeasure, bringing forward the launching of 11,000 new rooms into the market. Thiswas certainly not the desired outcome, as even the island's strategic plan, called"Lanzarote in the Biosphere", had wamed that it was time to curb the processbecause rapid growth in tourist numbers and the development of new resorts on thecoast had led to a 5% increase in developed land in little more than a decade andregional land density has increased more than 60%. And this was despite the factthat the Island Regional Zoning Plan had declassified more than 200,000 touristrooms on the Island in 1991 (Cabildo de Lanzarote. 1998).

Another typical reaction in all this confusion is to attack the concept of masstourism, offering the alternative of new forms and products based on the concept ofecotourism or rural tourism. These trends, which of course, are very valid in manyemerging island destinations, are a supplementary risk in the established destina-tions. With the exception of the case of El Hierro (an island which, right from thebeginning, opted for a low-density tourist model based on refurbishing their build-ing heritage), giving one's blessing to these new options in a region that receives 11mili ion tourists ayear amounts to adding yet another penetration factor in these sen-sitive areas, with unpredictable consequences. The problem lies in the fact that, witha model ofthis kind, a scattered tourist occupation ofrural areas and ofthe few vir-gin landscapes will lead to a demand for infrastructure that have so far been con-sidered unnecessary.

But, apart from the new danger arising from a generalization of rural accommoda-tion, we find that new tourist products are appearing, based on the attraction of thenew stereotyped ecological or natural tourism. There is considerable risk involvedin an uncontrolled promotion of such products in islands with fragile and limitedresources. But, what could be of even more concem is that this is an induced sup-

464 Cipriano Marin

ply of products with no scientific base, an intuitive response to a foreseeable dete-rioration of conventional tourist products.

These opinions are supported by a study carried out for Lanzarote in 1997(FUTURES, 1997) sponsored by the island 's association of hoteliers in cooperationwith the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, in which INSULA(International Scientific Council for lsland Development) also participated. One ofthe objectives set out was to establish appropriate methodologies to study, withgreater precision, the expectations raised by the destination of Lanzarote as a dif-ferentiated tourist product and to identify the main gaps existing between expecta-tions and perception. Environmental aspects were analyzed with special attention,as surveys carried out until that moment had not differentiated this aspect. Figure27.2 gives a summary of the results concerning the expectations of tourists.

Apart from the classical aspects of the Canary lslands product, such as the prepon-derance of the climate and accommodation factors, attention should be paid to thehigh expectations attributed to the landscape and the environmental quality of thedestination. But this latter aspect should be defined more precisely, because if wetake a closer look, we wi11see that the expectations of the exotic nature of the des-tination, nature activities and cultural aspects are low. Ifwe go deeper into this per-spective, we find that the largest environmental gaps were those concerning accorn-modation environments, complexes and resorts.

Results such as these, applicable with certain nuances to the rest of the CanaryIslands, show the distance that separates tourist planning and marketing carried outby Lanzarote, from the real expectations of tourists. Opting for enhancing qualitywith an environment-related product led to enormous investments being made in

D UK I<ZIGermany • Spain

100

90

80

70 "

60

" C .& & & x C 0 >- "j;' g> El 0 i!' j '"e, o '" g ~ '" f5 ~ a>g ~ 5 "" ¡ C " ¡¡; 8: !j 2 !J's: '" "C :2 ~ IX~ 'fl ~ )5 ~'P 2 )J o "¡¡¡ si? ~ o E' ~ 'O s.5 '" w E u rJJ 'O CJ!! " <r E o !! " C É .E' " e

~ 8 C s 8u. -c ::f '" ..g g s'" 3. 1 ¡¡;

~ § E' :¡ ~ "2 :;-¡¡;

'" 0 uz " ¡f i o a -s: sg {f ~ " 2 C¡¡; ~ '" we z i? rJJ

l sw u.

Figure 27.2. Expertations of tourists, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, 1997.

Chapler 27 - New Tourism Challenges on lslands in the lnformation Society 465

the Canary Islands, in tracks, lookout spots and public facilities in natural spacesand areas of great scenic value. But what is really needed - and urgently - is anenhanced environmental integration of tourist centers, where factors such as esthet-ics and integration of complexes, noise, waste, transport and urban development arethe priority requirements. In fact, this is the philosophy laid down in several excel-lence plans that have been initiated in the main tourist cities and possibly explainsthe success of the Local Agenda 21 in Calviá (Calviá Agenda Local 21, 1977), atourist district on the island of Majorca, in the Balearic Islands.

AII this leads us to believe that planning and tools such as marketing, which havean enormous influence in the design of the tourism products, should be based onscientific criteria and methodologies that are more in line with the reality of eachisland. Experience shows us daily that the enormous diversity of island situationsmakes extreme caution necessary when dealing with the more perverse aspects aris-ing from planning, or the temptation to homogenize based on the importance ofmodels. Island products are clearly highly diverse and this is precisely what givesthem their strength as a whole. For example, the Canary Islands should not, insiston selling an image of an exotic and idyllic destination, but should rather find theelements that really differentiate it from other products. A survey carried out by theSeychelles Tourist Marketing Administration for European travelers supports thisidea when it established that the top ten exotic and idyllic destinations wereMauritius, Hawaii, Maldives, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bali, Sri Lanka,Seychelles and Tahiti (STMA, 2000).

The keywords in new strategies to improve destinations like the Canary Islands arenot their exotic nature, ecotourism or nature-related products. Instead, advancesmust be made in terms of refurbishment, regeneration, quality enhancement anddiversification, a new framework that must cease to use the failure of the currentsystem of conventional planning as its foundation.

Infrastructure: an Undefined Variable in the Balanced TourismDevelopment of Islands

In the planning framework, increasing importance is given to infrastructure-relateddecisions, their conception and designo Tourist destination managers are gradualIyrealizing that a strict land policy, which protects the environment and built heritage,is of little use if the size of tourist resorts, inland and maritime transport systems,access and water and energy infrastructures, go beyond the potential of the territo-ry and degrade the tourist product. The design factor must be taken into considera-tion while taking major infrastructure decisions. One frequently finds solutions thatare esthetically and conceptually inappropriate for the local reality. These solutionsare mostly imported and camouflaged and destroy island harmony and irretrievablymortgage their future.

The continuing neglect of the predominant role that infrastructure plays in thedesigning of a tourism model becomes evident in the strange relations that many

466 Cipriano Marin

peripheral islands have with their mainland states. If, for instance, we analyze thedestination of the European Union's Structural Funds for islands, we see that theinvestments, under the pretext of improving the tourist sector, are usually allocatedto imposing infrastructure projects (roads, air transport, electricity grids, etc.),whose adaptation to the island situation is doubtful, which are difficult to maintainand which involve extraordinary regional impact.

The conviction that the development of infrastructure is a constant in the islanddevelopment equation is proving to be a fallacy that entails serious problems. Theseerrors of simplification have already been demonstrated in the experiences derivedfrom the Remote Island Development Act (RIDA) in Japan (Kakazu, 2000) and theCanary Islands are currently undergoing a similar process. Airport infrastructureand road transport planning are two good examples.

In the heat of the island debate about the urgent need to limit the growth of touristconstructions and land-use plans are afoot, in Tenerife, to extend the new airportsto triple their current capacity. The new airport master plan fixes passenger move-ments at around 25 million, which destroys any attempt at regulation. The peculiarview ofthe islander (who is used to shortages) combined with a deregulated supplyof external aie!,forms an explosive cocktail for the extremely fragile and vulnerableareas.

An extreme example of this can be seen in the island of La Gomera, where an air-port was built to handle the tourist traffic, but which is not operational due to lackof demand - because sea links were improved extremely quickly. The local author-ities have even proposed public subsidies for airlines. The environmental, econom-ic and social impact ofthe project was vehemently expressed in the process of draft-ing the Ecoplan (Mendaro and Marín, 1992), a futile task at a time when the localauthorities thought that they could not waste Community aid shortly after joiningthe European Union. These are very common mistakes to be found in all islands, allover the world. These risks are as common as those involved in internal transportmodels.

Inland transport is probably one of the major environmental risk factors for islandtourist destinations. Import of inadaptable mobility systems and oversizing of infra-structures induced by tourist acti~íty always has devastating effects in such fragileand limited territories. According to the Yearbook of the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic, the Balearic islands head the national ranking with arate of 916vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by the two Canary Islands provinces ofLasPalmas (650) and Tenerife (688) (Traffic Directorate-General, 2000). But when weanalyze the density of vehicles, we find that the Canary Islands also go to extremefigures, reaching 205.4 vehicles/km-, which is twice the Spanish average (128) andfour times the European average (Gobierno de Canarias, 2000a) of 51.5vehicles/krn-.

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the Information Society 467

Road density follows the same trend. The Canary Islands' road network consists of4,362 km ofroads, with an average ofO.58 km/km-, a very high ratio ifwe consid-er that 42% of the territory is protected and therefore road density in these afeas isobviously lower. evertheless, we must clarify that this is a cornmon feature oftourist islands, where road densities are always extremely high, as on Martinique(1.4 krn/krn-) and Madeira (1. 7 km/km").

Effects induced by tourist activity are particularly clear in the case of Lanzarote.Within the 'Lanzarote in the Biosphere' plan, it is possible to notice the 'over-motorization' ofthe island and the lack of island mobility planning criteria:• there are 800 vehic\es per 1,000 inhabitants, going beyond the average of most

European countries;• global traffic reaches 685 million vehicles/km per year, a disproportionate num-

ber for a territory so vulnerable to mobility-induced impacts;• tourists cover an average of 49 km daily, doubling the available figures relative

to other Mediterranean tourist destinations;• the number of cars increased by 65% between 1988 and 1996;• public transport can only manage 26% of the commuter traffic (Cabildo de

Lanzarote, 1998).

Estimates show that tourist-rented cars alone account for 40% of the total motorvehicle traffic on the island, although they are just 20% of the total number of cars.

Initially, island tourist areas adopt incompatible modes oftransport, due to their fastgrowth. lncreased incomes and lack of planning bring about a disproportionateincrease in the number of private vehicles and this rapidly transfers to the touristsector. It is quite odd to see this happening in territories that have been traditional-Iy imaginative in favoring intermodality, combining, for instance, maritime and ter-restrial transport. Transport modal distributions are also particularly significant,because ofthe low proportion of collective transport (residents 19%, tourists, 49%).

In spite of these circumstances, 227 km of new roads are being planned and built,financed in agreement with the Spanish Government and with a high percentage offunding from the European Community funds, which in theory are intended to helpthe less-favored islands and must finance initiatives with a high content of environ-mental infrastructure.

Nevertheless, we must take into account that, on tourist islands, many other factorscontribute to transport characterization, apart from the ones mentioned above.Route design and use oftraditional access systems (which can also be an importanttourist resource) decisively contribute to safeguarding the basic landscape assets ineach destination.

We can take the example of Minorca, where there is an equally high road density(0.53 km/km-, 21 % higher than the Balearic Islands' average) mainly due to thewide dispersion of the 39 main tourist settlements, with a total of 360 km of fin-ished roads.I In spite of this high density, the road network is excellently integrat-

468 Cipriano Marin

ed. The tourist development strategy was particularly concerned about the route andaccess system and the original two-century-old routes have been left practicallyunchanged. Within the framework of this plan, a poli conducted among touristspointed out that tourists have different mobility criteria and that they more posi-tively value low speeds and the environmental elements of the landscape.

Conscious of the need to provide long-term answers to the island mobility prob-lems, INSULA launched a project called TATE-Islands (Tourism and TransportEquilibrium in Island Regions), centered on the small Italian islands and Madeira,Crete, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands in Spain." These territories have beenexplicitly selected as they are areas of application for large-scale demonstrationprojects on renewable energies and alternative transports within the White Paper fora Community Strategy and Action Plan, subtitled "Energy for the Future:Renewable Sources of Energy". The objectives outlined within this project are:

define the possible sustainable mobility scenarios for tourist islands (SMT);support innovation in the field of alternative collective vehicles (zero- and low-emission vehicles - both electric and hybrid);

• establish the means to support no-traffic solutions (pedestrian and bicycles); and• develop large-scale demonstration projects.

Priority areas of action are centered on the accessibility of sensitive and protectedareas, historie centers and large tourist resorts.

It must be admitted that the relative abundance of resources assigned to conven-tional infrastructure is in sharp contrast with the general delay in implementinginformation technologies (IT). We do know, however, that islands have no optionbut to playa leading role in this new revolution. For example, one only has toemphasize the fact that in the process carried out by the Small and Remote Islandsof Japan, information technologies have become a basic factor in the new touriststrategy, with collateral influences in the diversification and promotion of culturaland even agro-industrial, products (health foods, medicinal plants, tropical fruits,flowers, etc.) (Fig. 27.3).

lt is a fact that introducing islands into the Information Society is one ofthe majorchallenges of the next few yea(s. During the sessions of the 3rd World TourismOrganization (WTO) General Assembly, held in Santiago de Chile in September1999, qualitative changes characterized by a massive use ofIT to be introduced inthe near future have been emphasized. At present, for instance, 24% of consumersin USA search the Internet in order to chose destinations (Buhalis, 2000). ewinformation technologies make it possible to break down the barriers of general andspecialized information that, in the past, have accentuated the isolation of islands.New information technologies are now affordable for small cornmunities and iso-lated users. And this is a great advantage for islands, because the new economy ofthe global market will be based more on the supply and exchange of non-material,knowledge-related goods. In the near future, a large part ofmarketing and trade willbe done electronically, allowing easy access to the global market for island com-munities through telematic networks.

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the Informa/ion Society 469

TRADE-ORIENTEDSFTZ, DFS, Entrepot, Stockpoint

.- ~~ L_-_-_-_,T-ra-d-in-g-Ce-n-te-r,~t.ff-s-ho-re--ba_n_ki_ng__ ~~

CULTURE, WELL-BEING, SPORT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYHistorical heritage, Well-being, Healing TOURISM.-. Call centers, CG, Telework

Sport (Mass and Eco) Multimedia cyber parkMusic and dance Distance education, Medical care

/ -:ZERO-EMISSION

Refuse-derived fuelGlass bottles, Bagasse

Water, Paper

AGRO-INDUSTRYHealth foods, Medicinal plantsTropical fruit, Flowers, Ostrich

Urethan resins, Cookies

Figure 27.3 Okinawa: a diversified development model (Source: Kakazu, 2000).

In the case ofthe Canary Islands, there is already one example in an advanced stageof development. The Tenerife Cabildo (Island Government) was aware of the needto respond to new trends andto simultaneously create scenarios in which touristactivity can act as a vector in enhancing the value of rural products and in crea telandscapes. Therefore, in 1998, the Government designed the Tenerife Rural Plan -Quality etwork. The Plan identifies 40 rural enclaves that can be visited, whilebeing connected to the world outside via powerful telematic networks that evensupport e-commerce. The idea is 1) to recover the landscape and the uniqueness ofthe rural environrnent as a tourist asset, but without degrading the space and 2) tobuild network-linked visitor centers that include such diverse aspects as a wine cen-ter, a potato center, a honey center, a biodiversity center, water galleries, wheatmilis, music, handicrafts, tobacco, fishing, fish-farming, etc.

But, in the context of the lnformation Society, the strategy of enhancing qua lity anddiversifying tourism in islands is not an isolated occurrence. With this new vis ion,island tourist destinations can help each other become stronger; their extreme diver-sity becomes an outstanding instrument in the global market. There are importantinfrastructure barriers, however, that must be overcome to convert this potential intoa tangible reality. That is why INSULA, under the slogan "Share to Compete", ispromoting the MEDIS (Models for European Digital lslands) Project co-financedby the European Commission.> The basic objectives of this initiative are to coverthe strategy outlined earlier. They focus on:

providing an advanced picture ofthe state-of-the-art in telecommunications andtelematic infrastructure and services in European islands;facilitating the provision of community services and the use oftelematics in dif-ferent sectors and activities such as tourism, health, transport and business andparticipation of local authorities and public bodies in matters related to com-mercial and tourist systems and business;

470 Cipriano Marín

comparing the results with the figures provided at the national Ievel by theEuropean Survey of the Information Society; andprofiling alternative network telecom infrastructure and services in theEuropean islands with potential for use in Information Society applications.

Tourism and Protected Areas: Biodiversity and Virtuality

Despite its small size, the Canary Island archipelago houses a natural heritage ofextraordinary value. Its outstanding ecosystems and flora and fauna, includingunique species, has generated a strong spirit of regional conservation among theCanary Island and international comrnunities.

In fact, the Canary Islands have one of the greatest biodiversities of the Earth 'stemperate regions in relation to the small surface area they cover. It is also consid-ered a first-class biodiversity center, due to the large number of endemic speciesfound there. By way of reference, of the 11,600 land species known in the archi-pelago (without counting protistas and monerons), approximately 3,700 are ende m-ic to the Islands. Altogether, the catalogs include 433 endangered taxa of Canarylslands flora (381 vegetable species and 52 fungi and Iichens) and 566 species offauna (430 invertebrates and 136 vertebrates), for which conservation measures willbe taken, based on the degree of the threat (Gobierno de Canarias, 2000b).

Recognition of these values is reflected in the enormous effort that has beenmade in the area of conservation and management of natural resources. A frame-work has been created of different instruments of protection, such as the Canarylsland etwork of Protected atural Spaces, the ' atura 2000' etwork andB iosphere Reserves.v

Though all these measures have the same objective, there are small differencesbetween them in both the strategies they use and their scope of action. The CanaryIsland etwork of Protected Areas is aimed at developing an integral managementmodel, with emphasis on public use and tourism. It attempts to make the conserva-tion of Canary lsland biodiversity compatible with the protection of cultural andesthetic values and with supplying society with environmental material goods andservices. The main priority of the Natura 2000 Network, however, is to preserveEuropean biodiversity, that, is, the habitats and species of community interest.Although it also intends to guarantee the conservation of these values through sus-tainable development, it acts in a more selective fashion on the habitats and speciesofthe Canary Islands. Fundamentally, it focuses on the endangered habitats, whichare included in Annex J of the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC, of theCouncil of the 21 May, concerning the conservation of natural habitats and of wildflora and fauna) and the species that require habitat conservation, included in AnnexII of the Directive.

The Biosphere Reserves represent a different case. The declaration of the island ofLanzarote, along with the island of Minorca in the Balearic Islands, was proposedin 1995, in order to help create a model of harmonious development of regionaltourism, which is why the reserve encompasses the whole island, including tourist

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the /nformation Society 471

resorts and the people. On the other hand, in El Hierro, the first island to bedeclared a Reserve in the new millennium, the objective was to consolidate an inte-gral model in which the emphasis is on rural production with high value addition,where tourism is incorporated in the economy as a complementary factor.Technological innovation and conservation stand side by side in El Hierro in aremarkable manner. This is the first island in Europe where a project is being devel-oped aimed at covering all the island 's energy consumption needs with energy fromrenewable sources; or take the El Hierro 100% digital plan, which includes a net-work of nature conservation centers, or the ambitious El Hierro Zero WasteProgram (Cabildo de El Hierro, 2001).

The work carried out by the Canary Island Government's Department of theEnvironment revealed several factors directly derived from tourism that pose a seri-ous threat to the Canary Island environment. In such delicate island areas, intro-duced species affect the natural dynamics of ecosystems, producing serious conse-quences, such as the extinction of populations or species and soil degradation.Another example of environmental impact comes from man-made hybridizationinvolving Canary Island flora solely for ornamental purposes.

But, apart from these more obvious factors, it is the public and tourist use of islandspaces that throws up the real challenge for managing an area which receives 11mili ion tourists ayear. The Teide National Park, in the island ofTenerife, is a clearexample: it received over 2.2 million visitors in 1998 (Mendaro, 1999), a formida-ble management challenge. This is totally different from the problems faced byother islands and emerging destinations, where ecotouri m products are generatedfor much smaller numbers of tourists. In this case ofTeide, there are two possibili-ties - implement strict deterrent policies governing access (now necessary in manyplaces), or find new formulae capable of combining conservation with the mainte-nance of an acceptable tourist experience.

A magnificent example of integrating tourist infrastructures in sensitive areas is theLanzarote etwork of Tourist Centers. In the 1970s, a network of visitors' centerswas designed on the island, carefully integrating them with the environment andimplanting them with formal patterns ofthe local culture. As Cesar Manrique, artis-tic genius and author of these works, said: "1 am like the hand that expresses thegeology and the feeling ofthe island". It is amazing that some ofthese works, whichare now emblematic of the island, were done on a former landfill site located in avolcanic pipe and in an old, disused quarry. The strangest fact is that these centersnow receive an enormous flow of visitors, over a million a year, in some cases. Buttheir clever design has allowed people to be concentrated in each space, avoidingthe dispersion of visitors, while continuring to provide a high-quality tourist expe-rience. In this case, Lanzarote has been imaginativein recovering apparently degrad-ed spaces through tourism, rather than succumb to the systematic and compulsivetemptation to colonize and occupy virgin areas.

Tenerife provides another example of new-generation projects aimed at resolvingthe paradigm of public and tourist use of natural spaces. A visitors' center present-

472 Cipriano Marin

Iy being designed in Punta de Teno applies the criteria used in Lanzarote in combi-nation with telematics and the latest technologies in sustainable construction andtransport. The center aims to concentrate the tourist activity of a small area thatreceives half a mi11ion tourists a year by land and a more extensive marine areawhere whale watching attracts 2.3 mi11iontourists ayear, making it the most heav-ily used enclave in the world. In this context, a 'Window on the Sea' center has beencreated in the depths of the Punta de Teno volcano. The 'silent' architecture has noexternal elements, all transport is electric and powerful telematic means give three-dimensional access in real time to the entire marine and terrestrial environment. TheWindow on the Sea, in turn, will be connected with eight other windows, on otherislands of the world, also in real time. It is therefore, an example of integratinginformation technology into new resources to favor a balanced design of tourism invery fragile surroundings.

On El Hierro, too, one finds ingenious solutions of harmony between tourism andtraditional activities. On this island, declared a Biosphere Reserve, there is a marinefish reserve (Mar de las Calmas) promoted by the guild of fishermen. To guaranteeadequate use of the space, the fishermen themselves have become the tourist man-agers of the area, creating an amazing model of tourism and artisanal fishing. Thismodel has also been successfully developed in the Medas Islands on the east coastofSpain.

The island ofTenerife has also developed a global model, as the shoreline and themarine environment of the island are usually neglected by protection and concilia-tion measures designed for terrestrial environments. In 1996, the Tenerife Cabildo(lsland Government) launched a program ca11ed'Tenerife and the Sea' (Luengo andMarín, 1998b), aimed at establishing a broad consensus among a11the players oper-ating on the shoreline: the tourist sector, fishing, traditional activities, sports, trans-port, etc. The development of the program was based on demonstration projects toestablish references for public and private initiatives. In the area of tourism, theseinclude such projects as soft accesses to the sea, protecting the seabed, a network ofvisitable sites, fisheries reserves, recovering traditional bathing systems and demol-ishing swimming pools built on the shoreline, effluent control, recovery ofhistoricheritage buildings and the development of an advanced information system withvarious telematic resources.

In any case, in spite of these important corrective initiatives, many indicators warnof risk situations that call for imaginative sustainability policies. If we examine theevolution of the cultivated area per inhabitant indicator, we can see an excessivelyrapid growth that goes far beyond the population's growth rhythm. On traditionallyagricultural islands such as Tenerife, present-day ratios are going beyond the limitof 200 m2 per inhabitant, which can lead to a devastating effect from an ecologicaland tourist point of view, as both soil and landscape are being lost. The scenario iseven worse if we consider that many lovely sites are within the category of culturallandscapes, as, for instance, the famous cultivated terraces of La Gomera.

472 Cipriano Marin

Iy being designed in Punta de Teno applies the criteria used in Lanzarote in combi-nation with telematics and the latest technologies in sustainable construction andtransport. The center aims to concentrate the tourist activity of a small area thatreceives half a million tourists a year by land and a more extensive marine areawhere whale watching attracts 2.3 million tourists ayear, making it the most heav-ily used enclave in the world. In this context, a 'Window on the Sea' center has beencreated in the depths of the Punta de Teno volcano. The 'silent' architecture has noexternal elements, all transport is electric and powerful telematic means give three-dimensional access in real time to the entire marine and terrestrial environment. TheWindow on the Sea, in turn, will be connected with eight other windows, on otherislands of the world, also in real time. It is therefore, an example of integratinginformation technology into new resources to favor a balanced design of tourism invery fragile surroundings.

On El Hierro, too, one finds ingenious solutions of harmony between tourism andtraditional activities. On this island, declared a Biosphere Reserve, there is a marinefish reserve (Mar de las Calmas) promoted by the guild offishermen. To guaranteeadequate use of the space, the fishermen themselves have become the tourist man-agers ofthe area, creating an amazing model oftourism and artisanal fishing. Thismodel has also been successfuIly developed in the Medas Islands on the east eoastof Spain.

The island of Tenerife has also developed a global model, as the shoreline and themarine environment of the island are usually neglected by protection and concilia-tion measures designed for terrestrial environments. In 1996, the Tenerife Cabildo(Island Government) launched a program called 'Tenerife and the Sea' (Luengo andMarín, 1998b), aimed at establishing a broad consensus among al! the players oper-ating on the shoreline: the tourist sector, fishing, traditional activities, sports, trans-port, etc. The development of the program was based on demonstration projects toestablish references for public and private initiatives. In the area of tourism, theseinclude such projects as soft accesses to the sea, protecting the seabed, a network ofvisitable sites, fisheries reserves, recovering traditional bathing systems and demol-ishing swimming pools bui It on the shoreline, effiuent control, recovery of historieheritage buildings and the development of an advanced information system withvarious telematic resources.

In any case, in spite of these important corrective initiatives, many indicators warnof risk situations that call for imaginative sustainability policies. If we examine theevolution of the cultivated area per inhabitant indicator, we can see an excessivelyrapid growth that goes far beyond the population's growth rhythm. On traditionallyagricultural islands such as Tenerife, present-day ratios are going beyond the limitof 200 m2 per inhabitant, which can lead to a devastating effect from an ecologicaland tourist point of view, as both soil and landscape are being lost. The scenario iseven worse if we consider that many lovely sites are within the category of culturallandscapes, as, for instance, the famous cultivated terraces of La Gomera.

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the lnformation Society 473

To possess a spatial view of tourist development evolution towards various scenar-ios ofthe future that consider these risks, several projects are being developed, likethe Céfiros project (La Gomera island) on sustainable tourism indicators, based ona geographical information system that follows the European Spatial DevelopmentPerspective method.

The 'Energy-Water-Tourism' Trinomial and Other Limits ofInsularity

In the last few years, the energy-water-tourism trinomial has constituted a greatchallenge for tourist islands. Compounded with population growth, it places islandsin an extremely vulnerable position. Energy and water, because of their territorial,environmental and economic implications, have always represented a central ele-ment of the insular dilemrna.

The problem of freshwater supply affects small islands more than the large ones, asthey face a large part of the water-related problems. According to the estimatesdeveloped within UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme, these diffi-culties are particularIy felt by islands smaller than 1,000 km2 and narrower than 20km (Brigand, 1991). Local rainfall values are also very different from one island toanother. In the Mediterranean area, for instance, the most frequent values arebetween 400 and 600 mrn. But the most difficult part is that the largest variationscan appear in successive years, or on two different sides ofthe island or even at dif-ferent altitudes. .,

To overcome these difficulties, the small islands have developed a very complexwater cultivation system to take maximum advantage of their scarce resources:tanks, rainwater reservoirs and other water catchments. Other options are available,such as water transportation in tank ships employed from a long time to bring waterto small Italian and Greek islands, or submarine water conduits to supply waterfrom the continent to the islands of Elba, Tabarca or to some Dalmatian islands.Recent tourist developments, like those of Djerba, have mobil ized water resourcesfrom the mainland to meet the requirements.

Malta, for example, has an area of 246 km2 and a population density higher than1,200 people/km- outside the tourist area. The island is, in reality, a great calcare-ous slab, fissured and therefore with little capacity to retain water. On Lanzarote,an Atlantic island with an area of 900 km-, water supply for its more than 45,000tourist accomrnodations and 90,000 inhabitants comes almost exclusively fromdesalination. These are extreme cases, but they clearIy show the current trend of alarge part of the Mediterranean and European islands and provide good examplesof the potential future risks and dependences.

evertheless, water deficit due to growing tourism on islands, generates new risks.New demands in island economies evidently introduce a factor of competition withthe traditional agricultural activities. Diversion of vital water supplies from fragile

474 Cipriano Marín

ecosystems and high-value wetlands are not without serious consequences and asare the risks derived from water extractions in the coast.

The Canary Islands are not an exception. Water shortage due to canalizing and chan-neling is a point that deserves special attention. lntense exploitation of this naturalresource, accelerated by tourism, has turned it into a factor of environmental destruc-tion and alteration, seriously affecting wildlife. It is not difficult to see the effects onwild flora. Willow woods were once growing at the botlom of most valleys, whichwere marked by extensive succulent vegetation. Today, they are confined only to afew places and their distribution is discontinuous from the medium-altitude to thehigher areas. After water canalization, the places where the original willows oncethrived, are invaded by brambles and reed beds. Fauna has also been harmed by watershortage. Several invertebrates directly depend on water, especially those living invalley beds. Water shortage can harm several hundred species, many of which areendemic to the Canary Islands'. Birds, too, suffer from the effects of drought andmany of bird species evoke a great deal of interest because they are endemic to theislands or to the Macaronesian Region. Such Canary Island situations have been fre-quently seen elsewhere, with similar consequences. Islands such as Corfu, Minorca,Elba or Rhodes, also have tourist densities higher than 100 roorns/km-.

Seasonal variations further compound the problems created by tourist demando InMajorca, water consumption is estimated at 90,000 cubic meters per day in winter,going up to 130,000 cubic meters per day in the tourist season. But the influence oftourism is not only limited to the higher number of consumers: it also affects thetype of consumption. Normal islanders' standards (100-125 Iiters per capita perday) double with the arrival of tourism and often exceed 250 liters per capita perday (Island Solar Summit, 1999). Further, we must take into account the fact thattourism demands an endless water supply; even with adequate storage, the mainwater supply is heavily drained because of leisure facilities such as swimmingpools, golf courses and greens.

These topics were a basic concern of the 22nd United Nations General Assembly(1999), within the special session exclusively dedicated to islands, whose objectivewas to re-examine the Barbados Action Plan. A majority of the world's islandsdeclared that aspects related.to tourism, water and energy management would c1ear-Iy determine future sustainable development in the islands. The report ofthe GlobalConference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States,revised during the special session, establishes two urgent objectives:

encourage the development and acquisition of appropriate technology and train-ing for cost-effective desalination and rainwater collection to provide sufficient-Iy high-quality potable freshwater, including opportunities for technology inter-change among small island developing states.improve access to environmentally sound and energy-efficient technologies forthe production and delivery of freshwater.

These aspects, related to water management, demand high priority and perfectly fitinto the new view of islands' energy perspective. The 'Island Solar Surnmit' took

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the Information Society 475

place on the island of Tenerife and was jointly organized by ITER (Institute ofTechnology and Renewable Energies), INSULA, the Tenerife Island Government,UNESCO and the World Solar Programo It addressed, for the first time, the energy-water issue on islands jointly and its relationship with tourist activity. For the islandpeople, it became clear that there was a need to find a reasonable solution to twoconcurrent problems - water and energy - and that they need to be addressed simul-taneously.

From the energy point of view, islands are characterized by:isolation and dependence;limited range of energy resources;specialization of economies;limited markets;highly sensitive environments; andinefficient use of energy resources.

Such characteristics place a serious risk on the islands' initiatives for tourism. Inenergy terms, risks for the economies and the environment are too high when arti-ficial water is considered. The influence of tourism on the energy consumption insmall- and medium-sized islands is surely high. In Lanzarote, for instance, it waspossible to achieve a differentiated characterization of energy consumption: 7.7kWh/day per local inhabitant and 11.5 kWhlday per tourist. The case of St. Luciaisland is truly enlightening in this regard: hotels account for 35% of the island'stotal energy consumption and 80% of this consumption is accounted for by air con-ditioning (Island Solar Surnrnit, 1999). '>

However, the peculiarities of islands can help in resolving such difficult problems.Some of their advantages are:

abundant renewable energy sources;modularity and adaptability to the island scale ofthe solutions and technologiesbased on renewable energies;island economies do not have any energy-intensive sectors;if we consider islands as a whole, their combined potential for water-renewableenergy sources (RES) is possibly the largest in the world.

Within this context, because ofthe island or insular features mentioned above, thereis a need to closely link renewable energy systems and water production throughdesalination. This is all the more necessary in the light of many islands givingincreasing priority to tourism.

There are many economic and technological reasons supporting this idea. Typicaldata per cubic meter of freshwater are 8-15 kWh for cornrnercial distillation (heat-consuming processes) and 4-7 kWh for cornrnercial membrane systems (e1ectrici-ty-consuming processes). These figures indicate the large amount of additionalenergy needed by certain islands in order to obtain an adequate water supply. Butwind energy, too, is a highly competitive form of producing energy, even in islandswith a low average wind speeds. The application of wind turbines to power medi-

Cipriano Marin476

um-sized desalination plants is ideal and several pilot plants are being developed, aswell as hybrid systems using photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind generators to pro-duce fresh water.

It is a much simpler matter to store water than electricity or heat. Desalinated waterstorage is an easy task for most islands and is an excellent solution to technologi-cally harmonize large-scale exploitation of renewable energy sources with anassured freshwater supply to satisfy the variable consumption patterns of smallislands. Renewable energy sources have the disadvantage of irregular energy sup-ply. But with an increasing demand for water, the implantation of renewable ener-gy systems can be justified. Water production plants could playa major role as vari-able loads for any system, helping absorb production peaks. As water can be storedwithout any difficulty for long periods, water demand peaks would not affect waterproduction rates.

To strengthen this renewable energy-water desalination linkage and to develop ade-quate market niches in island tourist destinations, within the framework of theEuropean Commission 's altenative sources of energy programs (EuropeanCommission, 1997), two innovative INSULA-coordinated initiatives have been for-malized. One is the Island 2010 project, aimed at promoting 100% renewabletourist destination initiatives and the other is the OPET European lsland network,aimed at establishing adequate frameworks of consensus between the tourist indus-try, local authorities, services suppliers, technological institutes and local consul-tants. The priority areas of action for the next four years are: renewable energybased desalination systems in hotel establishments, alternative transport, renewableenergy applications in protected spaces, energy efficiency and renewable energyuse in the hotel sector.

As an example of the tourist industry's capacity to adopt new behavior patterns inislands, based on the criteria of sustainable development, it is essential to underlinethe experience of the Institute of Responsible Tourism (IRT). The IRT was createdwith the support of UNESCO after the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism,held in Lanzarote in 1995,7 One of the most interesting achievements of IRT hasbeen to develop the Responsible Tourism System for application in hotels. The sys-tem is based on a set of standards, with requirements that are fully in line with ISO14000 or EMAS standards, which make enormous advances in the commitment ofthe hotel industry to their destinations.

The applicable requirements cover aspects such as:water saving and qua lity;energy efficiency policy;renewable energy sources;minimizing and recycling waste;emission and effiuent control;reduction of environmental impacts;noise and disturbance limitation;integrating establishments into the landscape;

Chapter 27 - New Tourism Challenges on Islands in the lnformation Society 477

integrating supply into the local culture;good purchasing policy;compatible and responsible tourist services; andsustainable telematic applications.

The accumulated experience of certified hotels, which started in Lanzarote, hasbeen quite satisfactory. In fact, the hotels themselves have founded a cooperativeassociation called 'Biosphere Hotels' that not only exchanges experiences with theInstitute, but also publicizes and offers a wide range of services, with the help ofelectronic information systems.

The Biosphere Hotels experience marks a fundamental change in the attitude ofthehotel sector with regard to qualification of island tourist destinations. The initiativegoes beyond the traditional scope of hotel management: it is centered on theimprovement of each establishment in order to improve the destination itself. Thiscertification system includes environmental and cultural elements, as well asaspects relative to the tourist and supplier behavior, aiming at creating synergieswithin the tourist sector by means of a label, which will have major repercussionsleading toward better resource management and better qualification of the destina-tion.

The culmination of this process has been reached through the creation of theMaspalomas Forum, under the aegis of the international conference titled'Sustainable Hotels for Sustainable Destinations' that was held on the island ofGran Canaria (Canary Islands). This Forum prepares the ground for a new leap fromtheory to practice, moving even beyond the best-practice models based on hotelmanagement. Today, a new alliance is being formed between tourism and techno-logical innovation toward a more sensible development. The implementation ofnewtechnologies in the fields of energy, waste and water management, transport andtelematics makes it possible to undertake ambitious projects that were unthinkableonly a few years ago - such as hotels that are 100% renewable energy based, zero-waste hotels or sustainable digital destinations.

References

Brigand, L. 1991. Les iles en Méditerranée. Les Fascicules du Plan Bleu 5. United NationsEnvironment Prograrnme (UNEP-Plan Bleu).

Buhalis, D. 2000. Tourism and cyberspace. Annals of tourism 28:232-235. Pergamon.Cabildo de El Hierro. 200 l. El Hierro Biosphere Reserve. Building an island on ahuman scale. El

Hierro, Balearic Islands, Spain: Cabildo de El Hierro.Cabildo de Lanzarote. 1998. Lanzarote en la Biosfera: una estrategia hacia el desarrollo sostenible

de la isla. Arrecife, Cabildo de Lanzarote - Life Programme - European Commission. pp 46-47.

Cabildo de Tenerife. 1999. lncoming tourism statistics. Canary Islands, Spain: Santa Cruz deTenerife.

Calviá Agenda Local 21. 1997. La sostenibilidad de un municipio turístico. Calviá, Majorca,Balearic Islands, Spain: Ajuntament de Calviá-Majorca.

ECOMOST (European Community Models of Sustainable Tourism) Project. 1994. Planning forsustainable tourism. International Federation ofTour Operators (lFTO).

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European Commission. 1997. Energy for the future: renewable sources of energy. White paper fora community strategy and action plan. COM(97)599 final (26/11/97).

FUTURES (Spanish Tourism Competitivity Framework Plan). 1997. The Lanzarote integral prod-uct: objectives and conditions for a quality project. Study promoted by ASOLAN in the frame-work of FUTURES, promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. Spain: Ministryof Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Gobierno de Canarias, 2000a. Statistics of the M inistry of Public Works, Lodging and Water.Gobierno de Canarias. 2000b. Catálogo Regional de Especies Amenazadas. Canary Islands, Spain:

Viceconsejería de Medio Ambiente.Gobierno de Canarias. 2000c. Libro Blanco del Medio Ambiente de Canarias. Canary Islands,

Spain: Viceconsejería de Medio Ambiente.Island Solar Summit. 1999. Sustainable energies: building the future of the islands. Santa Cruz de

Tenerife: Cabildo Insular, Insula, UNESCO, ITER (Institute of Technology and RenewableEnergies).

Kakazu, H. 1999. Sustainable tourism development for small islands. Insula, International Journalof Island Affairs 8(3) 15-20.

Kakazu, H. 2000. Japan's small and remote islands: development, policy and performance. Insula,International Journal of Island Affairs.

Luengo, A. and Marin, C. 1998b. Tenerife y El Mar. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain:Cabildo Insular/INSULAlUNESCO.

Luengo A. and Marín C. (eds.).1998a. Lanzarote Reserva de Biosfera. Lanzarote, Canary Islands,Spain: Cabildo de Lanzarote.

Mendaro, C. and Marín, C. 1992. Ecoplan Isla de la Gomera. Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de ObrasPúblicas, MaB.

Rochoux, J.y. 1999. The development of services and Reunion Island, Insula, International Journalof Island Affairs 8(3)58.

STMA (Seychelles Tourist Marketing Administration). 2000. Framework study, based on a surveyof 3000 travellers in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. o. 2, 2000: WorldTourism Organization.

Traffic Directorate-General. 2000.Yearbook 2000. Madrid, Spain: Traffic Directorate-General.

Further reading

European Island Agenda. 1997. 1st European Conference on Sustainable Island Development.Minorca: INSULA-UNESCO-European Commission.

García Rodríguez, J.L. (ed.) et al. 2000. Protección y Uso del Territorio en La Palma: el debate sobreel modelo insular. Santa Cruz de la Palma: Cabildo Insular de La Palma. Islas Canarias.

Gortázar, L. and Marín, C. 1998. Tourism and sustainable development, the island experience. SantaCruz de Tenerife: Gobierno de Canarias, Insula.

Gobierno de Canarias. Ley de Ordenación del Turismo de Canarias. LEY 7/1995.Marín, c., Romero, J.M. and Vidal, J. 1998. Plan de Desarrollo Sostenible: Estudio de Viabilidad.

Menorca: Consell Insular de Menorca, Life Programme, European Commission.Mendaro, C. 1999. Encuesta de turismo receptivo. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain:

Cabildo de Tenerife.Pérez de las Heras, M. 1999. Ecoturismo. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones Mundi-Prensa,Responsible Tourism Institute, 1999. Towards a new culture of tourism. ITR, Canary Islands.Vidal, J.M., Marin, C. and Romero, J.M. 1998. Plan de Desarrollo Sostenible de Menorca: Estudio

de Viabilidad. Menorca: Consell Insular de Menorca, Life Programme-EC, I SULA,UNESCO.

U.S. Department of the Interior. 1999. A report on the state of the islands. Office of Insular Affairs.