Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Our study comprises a cross-country comparison examining relationships between climate change, conservation, and the recent expansion of tourism-based development by the governments of Belize and Republic of Georgia. Both countries recently committed to tourism for economic development with minimal initial planning. The boom Belize has experienced since 1998 is alarming given the projected impacts increases in surface water temperatures will have on the barrier reef upon which tourism depends. Few studies have been done in post-Soviet states examining the challenges of tourism development and resource conservation relative to promoting sustainable livelihoods and retaining cultural traditions. Whether tourism provides social and economic benefits to households, while simultaneously supporting sustainability is a question that social scientists have been investigating for three decades, yet the impacts climate change may have on tourism has thus far received less attention. Host populations, tourists, the tourism industry, and environmentalists have mutual interests in ensuring that tourism development is sustainable. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development promoted “win-win” policies designed to exploit the complementarity between poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental management, all the while recognizing the empirical record gave testament to the complexities of relationships between residents, traditional lifeways, development, and environmental protection. Using a comparative country approach, our paper presents a history of tourism development focused on sustainability priorities; identifies experiences residents have regarding their transition from agriculture to tourism with impacts on livelihood security and cultural identity; and discusses how conservation measures affect access to resources upon which local populations depend.