wfn.org | United Methodists consider impact of tourism

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov.  30, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York     {699}

 
NEW YORK (UMNS) - How does a tourist impact the country where he or she
is visiting?

Issues of "ethical tourism" were considered during a November
consultation at the Church Center for the United Nations, sponsored by
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Participants included
eight United Methodists who work as travel agents as well as staff from
Stevens Travel, the agency used by the board.

Ecological concerns, sex tourism, child prostitution and pornography and
sacred sites of native peoples were among the issues raised. The travel
agents also discussed how to reach the wider industry and the
development of a United Methodist policy on ethical tourism.

Kolya Braun-Greiner, a Women's Division executive and member of the
board's staff team on children and youth, noted that travel accounts for
one of the largest international sources of revenue. "It has a huge
economic impact, particularly on developing countries," she said.

But often, she added, citizens of the host countries do not have control
over tourism or the monies it generates.

Sex tourism and child prostitution impacts the poor and women and
children in the countries where such activity flourishes. Another
concern is the effect of huge hotels and other tourist-related
facilities "that are often placed in regions where there aren't adequate
regulations," Braun-Greiner explained. "The impact, environmentally, is
profound." 

Janie Sims of Petersburg, Texas, who has worked more than 10 years in
outside sales for travel, said she had heard about issues such as sex
tourism but was less aware of the impact tourism has on indigenous
people. And she doesn't believe that the average consumer is aware
unless he or she has been exposed to information on those issues.

Joyce Elaine Fish of Corpus Christi, Texas, a high school teacher who
has done outside travel sales for about 15 years, thinks one solution is
to set up tours which allow travelers more contact with the people of
the places they visit. "I find it much more satisfying to talk to people
on a one-to-one basis," she said.

Both Fish and Sims, a former Women's Division vice president, plan to
share information about ethical tourism through their connections with
United Methodist Women.

The travel industry needs to monitor itself to promote environmentally
responsible travel, according to Deborah McLaren of Minneapolis.

As the author of "Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel: The Paving of
Paradise and How You Can Stop It," she also called upon travel agents to
"work harder" to be informed about travel alternatives. Instead of
worrying about declining commissions from airlines and other groups,
travel agents could become information specialists. "People are willing
to pay for that," she said.

McLaren works for the Rethinking Tourism Project, a part of the Tide
Center in San Francisco. The project has a global network of indigenous
communities and non-indigenous support groups, such as churches and
environmental organizations, which work together on tourism issues.

"I really applaud United Methodists for looking into this (ethical
tourism)," she said. "It's something almost everyone participates in and
it's a real easy way to make your own (travel) experience more
interesting and educational."

A Board of Global Ministries team is developing a resolution on ethnical
tourism for the 2000 General Conference, the denomination's top
legislative body.

Other consultation participants and presenters included George Azumano
of Portland, Ore.;  Carol Tate Forrester, Amarillo, Texas; Margaret
Crawford Jordan, Des Moines, Ia.; Cecil P.E. Pottieger, Frederick, Md.;
Ann Reskovac, Kansas City, Mo.; Carol Smolinsky, New York; Helen
Simpkins, Taylorville, Ill.; and Wayne Underhill, Peabody, Mass. 

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