Islands, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Tourism

ISLANDS, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Governments, international organizations, significant segments of the populace, environmental organizations, etc. are always concerned in developing development plans in island locations. The islands lack natural resources that would allow for the development of their population, with a few notable exceptions being the oil of the Netherlands Antilles, the mineral richness of New Caledonia, or the phosphate mining of the little island of Nauru. Despite this deficiency, the majority of the island areas have enough natural and cultural features to draw tourists from throughout the world. The island areas have long been regarded as the "gardens of Eden," or "paradise on earth," a notion that was emphasized more during the Enlightenment (18th century) and Romanticism (19th century) than it was previously. The Roussean noble barbarian decided to construct his schooling project on the island, the islands. Literature such as Treasure Islands (1883), South Sea Tales (1911), and travelogues by scientists like Darwin, Humboldt, and Wallece helped to popularize the idea of the islands untamed and joyous beauty. The passage from M. Eliade's book Images et Symboles that follows is quite instructive: "For 150 years, European literature has conjured up images of happy havens in the vast oceans, tropical paradises where reality is far different. The islands have been reduced to a place beyond of space and time, where the woman is stunning and perpetually youthful, the male is content and free, and everything is as it should be-the ideal state of humanity, as it existed before Adam and Eve sinned (Cf. King, 1997, p. 154). Tourism marketers, as well as regional and national covernments, continue to leverage this image of the islands and their people to draw millions of visitors to their beaches each year. However, the reality of the island areas and how they relate to tourism is not as perfect as what is portrayed in travel pamphlets. We came to the conclusion that there exists a paradoxical situation on the islands, a kind of vicious circle regarding their link with the development and activity of tourists; a high dependence on tourist activity, compared to an excessive vulnerability to the impacts coused by its development. This was established by establishing a detailed analysis of multiple case studies on the development and impacts of tourism in island regions. Many questions come to mind in light of this situation: Is tourism still a necessary resource for island ecosystem development?,2. What does the term "development" mean? Do island regions have more severe effects from tourism than do mainland areas? What policies can be put in place in an area like the Canary Islands that is heavily dependent on tourism and experiences a number of negative effects on the environment, the economy, and society? As of right now, experts like P. Wilkinson (1997), D. Pearce (1994[1989]), M. Crick (1996 [19891), and T. Sinclair (1998) maintain that island areas' economic growth is dependent on tourism. In other words, in many island locations, tourism is the most significant resource, if not the only one available. The island regions are unable to stop tourism from developing within their borders. We agree with this viewpoint; given the existing circumstances, particularly the economic ones, and the various obstacles the islands provide to economic diversification, we think that the vital role that tourism can play is well-established. as shown by Connell's remark (1993, pp. 128-129). "The poorest countries in the Third World are without a doubt island stotes, which con include islandi include island regions connected to third countries, like Tonga, that have not developed the tourism industry" (Cf. Bianchi, 1999, p. 40) Endorsing this concept does not mean that we cannot imagine that in the future the global environment, particularly with regard to financial Hows, would change and the islands will become lucrative regions where beneficial activities may be carried out. However, as evidenced by the fact that the islands that are leaders in the tourism industry still advertise themselves and that new island destinations keep popping up that promise perfect vacations and intensify the already fierce competition, there don't seem to be many short-term alternatives to tourism. the acceptance that the primary source of revenue for the majority of island regions is tourism. But, this does not imply that the majority of people would have better lives as a result of such money; in other words, it does not ensure that "social development" will take place. It appears that a respectable level of life has been developed in certain island regions, such the Mediterranean islands or places that rely heavily on tourists, like the Canary Islands or Hawaii. However, this situation is not sustainable, and it cannot be said that an acceptable level of development has been reached in other regions, such as the Caribbean, where there is a strong reliance on the tourism industry as a source of income. In other words, the money generated by tourism-related activities has not, at least not in large enough quantities, improved the standard of living for the vast majority of people. Stated differently, the question of whether the purposeful and extensive growth of tourism, which is envisioned as the primary source of net foreign exchange earnings, produces outcomes in line with the newly defined objective of development-which we have more accuratelu identified-must be taken into consideration (De Katd, 1991[1979], p. 20). Many authors, including S. Britton (1989), T. Barnett (1988), M. Crick (1992), D. Weaver (1988), and J. Bryden (1973), among others, have established detailed analyses of the potential causes of this situation based on theoretical approaches such as Wallerstein, I. and Amin, S. (among others)'s "center-periphery" theory and a pessimistic view of tourism (tourism as a new form of colonialism). In summary, our perspective aligns more with Mello e Sousa's (1991, p. 20) assertion that "it is not tourism that allows development, but rather it is the general development of a society that makes tourism profitable," without discounting the validity of some of their contributions. In this sense, the vertical integration of tourism activity increases with increasing levels of underdevelopment, or the more peripheral the island regions are, and naturally, the degree of economic redistribution policies decreases. The Canary Islands are not in such terrible shape, and their degree of development is clear: "We have been able to consolidate a destination for large masses of Europeans thanks to proximity, sun, and beaches; the development of a wide accommodation offer has been made possible by the initiative and hard work of the islanders as well as the financial and economic framework." These elements have propelled the Canary Islands' economy to unprecedented heights of social and economic prosperity as a result of tourism (Guidelines for the Management of Tourism in the Canary Islands: Report, p. 20). It is evident that there are issues; this is by no means a flawless "development" approach. We urgently need to consider the boundaries of current tourist expansion. It is imperative to put in place policies that minimize the detrimental effects on the local populace and environment. os well as nolicies that lesson the dire vulnerahilitu that tourist development poses. The press's regular commentary on topics like the archipelago's growing population, traffic jams, land scarcity and the pressure to use it for residential and tourism infrastructure development, as well as the grave concerns of sociocultural destruction, are a reflection of this concern. From a political perspective, this concern has been made clear by well-known papers or initiatives (such as island management plans, guidelines, and tourism moratoriums) that have sparked significant discussion within the archipelago's community and helped to promote the idea of sustainable development.