Chapter List

Tourism and Nature: Three Propositions

The conference theme of Taking Tourism to the Limits is both an appropriate and topical focus for an industry which trades upon the basic premise that the earth's resources can be used for human enjoyment through leisure and tourism activities. With a growing environmental consciousness among some sections of modern society, tourism raises many philosophical issues if one considers the conference theme. Among the questions this raises, are:

• Should tourism be allowed to take the earth's resource base to its limits?

• How does the tourism industry view the world and what world views exist?

• What are the implications for natural areas, given the continued growth in niche markets such as ecotourism?

If the role of the academic is to pose critical views and to question prevailing assumptions and critiques of society, tourism academics have a duty to act as a counterbalance to the profit-led, short-term and global power of the tourism industry rather than simply endorsing their views. Tourism has a long tradition of academic questioning of...