Tourism industry, ecotourism in particular, has seen a surge in recent years in terms of economic benefits. The rise has been at a rate of 10-15 percent per year all over the world, with the third world countries recording a growth of 6 percent per year (Kamuaro, 2007). In the African continent, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are the main countries that are benefiting from this trend (Kamuaro, 2007). Keeping aside the financial gains to governments, tourism industry arguably results in various negative consequences for local communities in terms of psycho-social impacts, physical displacement and violation of fundamental rights among others (Kamuaro, 2007).
Like any other country, people in Tanzania who either directly or indirectly come under the effect of developing tourism industry have to face many problems. To start with, the basic reasons for such problems to local people are government’s economic interests; ignorance of local people; intrusion by foreigners as tourism investors and visitors; and inability of local governments to effectively implement policies in their true spirit (Kamuaro, 2007; Abdullah et al., 1997). The negative impacts of tourism industry can be broadly divided into four categories- violation of individual rights, damage to local traditions and cultures, environmental hazards, and social degradation (Kamuaro, 2007).
Threat to Local People’s Right on Land
Tourism industry in Tanzania is mainly based on forest and coastal areas. The obvious illiteracy and ignorance of people residing in these previously undeveloped areas often make them suffer from or react very slow to any negatively influencing developments in their areas, by which time considerable damage already occurs. Mkomazi game reserve is the best example for this, which was planned any prior information to the local people (Kamuaro, 2007). The Masai residing in the area never had any prior intimation of proposed developments (Kamuaro, 2007). Similar example is the case of Ngorongoro district where a vast grazing land was given to the Sultan of the United Arab Emirates as a hunting ground (Kamuaro, 2007). When this unilateral government decision was opposed by the local people, they had to face grazing restrictions on their herd (Kamuaro, 2007). Such decisions have taken away the limited livelihood such as pastoralism from local communities (Kamuaro, 2007).
The basic problem lies in the fact that tourism development activities affect the areas, which are traditional livelihood sources for people residing there. Poor people are often left with no option except to accept the conditions. In most of the instances, people formerly living the proposed development areas have to relocate from those areas (kamuaro, 2007). This is not only denying their right to live, but also creating ambiguity concerning their future (Kamuaro, 2007).
Potential Damage to Indigenous Cultures
Though little known cultures can be exposed and popularized through increased number of tourists to those particular areas, some arguably negative opinions arise in this context. Some people feel that treating ethnic groups such as Masai as a major asset in addition to natural scenery and wildlife for tourism industry can do nothing in avoiding the exploitation and suppression of these groups by dominant communities (Kamuaro, 2007).
It seems likely that in spite of giving apparent importance to these groups for boosting tourism activities, not much heed is on their real problems of cultural existence, control over ancestral lands, and lack of rights on land and resource use (Kamuaro, 2007). Furthermore, it is argued that bolstering tourism by showing these ethnic groups as must seen people with distinct cultures from normal ones should be considered as a dehumanizing act (Kamuaro, 2007).
Environmental Destruction
The exploitation of natural parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the name of tourism development results in a great damage to the environment. The much touted ecotourism of Tanzania is not any exception to this scenario. In the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the riverine forest has undergone heavy deforestation due to lodges and camps arranged for visitors (Kamuaro, 2007). Moreover, the vehicular traffic arising from the transport of tourists and site drives in the reserves are leading to disturbance to and disappearance of plant and animal life (Kamuaro, 2007).
Apart from this, the intention of maintaining cleaner tourist sites is leading to dumping of waste materials such as sewage in to nearby grazing grounds and settlement areas (Kamuaro, 2007). Also, dumping of sewage from camp areas in to rivers poses potential threat to people and animals that use those sources for drinking water (Kamuaro, 2007). Hence, it seems that a real sense of protecting nature is lacking except for creating specialized zones for gaining profits through increased tourism.
Social Degradation
Social degradation can be described in two aspects, the first one being the traditional culture erosion and the other as the negative impacts from visiting tourists. As it is mentioned earlier, development of tourist places generally has led to loss of land for the local people (Kamuaro, 2007). Insufficient compensation and, relocation to marginal places with harsh climate and scanty resources have made effected people depend for on influential persons, who run development activities in those sites, for livelihood (Kamuaro, 2007). This in turn with the decreased concern from the government leads to loss of social and cultural identity for these people, as they have to depend on outside sources for living (Kamuaro, 2007).
Moreover, youth in these communities are exposed to various unacceptable tendencies from visiting tourists either by conditions or by attraction. The result has been the erosion of positive traditional values and increase in activities such as prostitution (Kamuaro, 2007). This is leading to incidence of diseases such as AIDS (Kamuaro, 2007). Hence, the scenario can be described as a situation driven shift from a traditional positive culture to damaging and unhealthy behavioral changes.
The Case of Misali Island
The decision of the government to allow tourism investors and subsequent situations arose due to the reaction of public indicates the potential effects of unreasonable tourism developments of areas without involving local communities (Abdullah et al., 1997). In this case, though a consensus was reached to involve local people in discussions on and activities for developments in the region, the inability of the local Zanzibar government to invest proper finances and resources for initiatives has resulted in the comprehensive development programs (Abdullah et al., 1997). Simultaneously, the reliance of local government on outside investors for financial support has led to increased influence of those people in the region. However, decreased surveillance and dedication by the government has become one of the main reasons for the setbacks to nature conservation initiatives (Abdullah, 1997). Nevertheless, the government’s plan to implement eco-tourism programs in the region by collaborating with potentially affected people, outside investors and NGOs provides a reasonable solution to many problems (Abdullah, 1997).
Recommendations
Concentrating on and implementing certain policies and procedures can eliminate or at least minimize many adverse effects of tourism industry development. They can be described as follows.
- Tourism development activities should involve local communities (Abdullah et al., 1997).
- Affected people should be given a fair share of the revenues generated from the industry either through financial support or by providing jobs etc.
- A substantial part of profits should be spent on community development programs (Abdullah, 1997).
- Clear demarcations should be maintained to prevent intrusion of visitors in to restricted areas and violators should be penalized (Abdullah, 1997).
- Local people should have the right to access the sources without any obligations (Abdullah, 1997).
- Every possible effort needs to be implemented to protect local culture from the negative influences that may rise from increasing number of visitors. This is possible with proper education and guidance to community people.
Conclusion
All in all, the tourism industry in Tanzania has shown a dramatic growth in recent times. Though the economic benefits of it are very necessary for the prosperity of the nation, proper attention is needed to overcome the problems posed by these developments. Then only the benefits can be comprehensive and the industry will be more acceptable to all.
References
Abdullah, A., Hamad, A. S., Ali, A. M. and Wild, R. G. (1997). Misali Island, Tanzania – An Open Access Resource redefined. 8th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP), pp. 1-11. 2008, Web.
Kamuaro, O. (2007). Ecotourism: Suicide or Development? Non Governmental liaison service.
Programs in Africa. Global Exchange. 2008. Web.