(DP) A philosophical approach to sustainability

I would start this “path” with an introduction, and a personal reflection that I hope could reach, with the next posts, in a more mature outcome on the philosophical and theoretical approaches on the sustainability; first of all, I would to define this term:

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non living things on earth. [1]

The actual situation of our planet shows that we aren’t sustainable for the earth. We’re not far to exploiting all the natural fossil fuels, that is our main source of energy, everyday we’re witnessing the extinction of countless biodiversity because of us, moreover we’ve failed even as society: we’ve a huge difference in quality of life, resources availability, healthcare, education, possibility and so on between rich people and poor people.

Thus, we should wondering…where we’ve failed?

In my opinion the last 60 years was the key of this philosophical and political failure; after the Second World War, the war went on, but not in a traditional way, it has changed in “cold war” that was even the struggle of two different way to think, and two different philosophies: the Capitalism and the Communism.

In 2011 we can say that we’ve seen the failure of both philosophies.

If the Communism has showed from the beginning its weaknesses especially in the way that it was applied, the capitalism has taken some more time to show it; but in the while, it has changed our way of live and the perception of what we really need to live.

With this mentality we’ve became like spoiled children, we need a lot of un unnecessary stuffs, and without those we have the perception that we can’t live an happy and satisfactory life…now I’m wondering if this is the right perception? Or we’ve been going too far from the real meaning of life? Is it fair to exploit the earth natural resources for our subsistence, to don’t take care about that at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day? [2]

This scenario (and much more negativities that I haven’t appointed) shows that we must choose a different approach in the future, and if we would change something in our world, we should trying to live in equilibrium with our environment and trying to have a development not just for a little part of population, but involve in this development whoever, especially the countries that is developing and the third world’s countries.

It might be possible?

I think the main change should come from our approach, our way to think, or philosophy if you want to call that in this way…the main issue to win this challenge –our generation’s war- it will be change the capitalism (or better, consumism) way of live. We should start to understand that we are living a life with too much superfluous stuffs, and we are far to live with the essential ones; this means that we are focusing our attention on trivial things and we’re losing the key things of the life: the friendships, the relations…our environment, our earth.

We should “come back” or “degrowth” instead of growth and get day by day farther from an ideal point of no return. As more time as we’ll take to understand that, as less possible will be to come back; and we’re already in terrible delay, we’re almost exploited a huge part of the earth’s resources, and we’re spoling too much of our environment, and we aren’t taking care about the need of poor world’s poor people…where we want to go through this way? It’s like we are driving a car, always faster, and we know that soon or later in our way there will be a wall in front of us…would we want to crash there? Or we could start to concern and try to avoid it finding an exit that we can’t see if we’ll go too fast?

We need to think about it, and not just tomorrow, today it could be too late; we need to choose our future.

In the other hand –unfortunately- it won’t be important just our choices, even the government ones it will be the key for our future.

If with our choices we can be advocates for our future, to induce any changes in the government’s choices is not easy and it seems even harder because the governments of developed countries (and other international organizations) were (and are still) leaving behind a worrying situation: they seem to understand just the “profit” word, and to reach as much as possible of it, they deal the third world’s countries and the developing ones just as resources areas and not more, and moreover they trying to perpetuate this vicious circle to ensure for their the prosperity and the continuous growth with no limit. Without any changes on policy and approach from those countries/organizations it will be impossible any real change or any dream of equity in the world’s population.

I’m going to analize better the inequities of these establishments (IMF, WTO, UN, and so on…) later, because I’d to go deeply on that topic.

This is just the my “painting of nowadays”, I would to analize in the next steps the current theories that could be applied and that might change (in better) the situation about social inequity and environment sustainability.

Notes:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability

[2] Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion, The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the fight against poverty, World Bank, August 2008.

1 comentario / 27 Nov 2011 por Luca Palma
IMSD /

Finance: Hypermarkets in Spain

In these times of crisis, it is generally assumed that hypermarkets in Spain such as Auchan, Carrefour, Hipercor, Eroski, and El Corte Ingles are struggling to retain their piece of the shrinking European pie.

Let’s take a quick look at the financial situation of the biggest hypermarkets in Spain, which are Hipercor under the El Corte Ingles group, and Eroski which is part of the Eroski group.

According to the financial information provided by El Corte Ingles, the sales turnover and net income of Hipercor hypermarkets in 2010 saw a general decline in contribution as compared to 2009, with a 5.4% decrease in turnover and profit, and a 25.6% decrease in consolidated profit. The decline in net sales and profits was a result of a reduction in prices and margins, as well as structural changes. However, the hypermarket chain continues to hold 14.9% share within the group, being the second largest area of activity after the El Corte Ingles department stores.

On the other hand, Eroski’s 2010 fiscal year managed to yield a 7% increase in consolidated profit and 17% increase in operating profit. A significant cut in prices in order to gain competitiveness and paying back of bank debt, however, resulted in a burden of 70.5 million euros. The increasing rate in unemployment and fall in confidence of consumers and consumption of families due to the economic crisis was seen as the main cause of the decline in its financial figures.

However, Eroski managed to cut some of their long-term and short-term financial debt with the paying off of bank loans, and reinforced measures to cut costs and improve internal management. In order to build consumer confidence, the hypermarket chain launched EROSKI basic, a brand that claims to offer “products of proven quality at very competitive prices”. Eroski’s reinforcement of its competitive prices has represented a saving of over 143 million euros for customers.

It can be concluded that although some hypermarkets in Spain are generally encountering financial decline, some policies and measures have been adopted to counter the drop in profit and gain consumer confidence, while hypermarkets such as Hipercor seem to focus on improving staff productivity and expanding its presence throughout the country, as seen in the opening of a new centre in A Coruña in 2011 as well as diversifying its range of products, such as perfumes, children’s clothes, diapers, and other baby products.

Comments Off on Finance: Hypermarkets in Spain / 27 Nov 2011 por Syafrina Sharif
IMSD /

Managerial Skills – the driving factors

As everyone else I really enjoyed the topics and I feel sorry that it comes to an end. What I will keep with me from now on, even without the necessity to review deeply the several strategies and mechanisms we analyzed, is what I believe to be the connection of all the subjects dealt:

the vision of the future, the awareness of the present.

Effective presentations are the ones which bring the audience from their current reality to your preferred future, to your ideas,solutions: from point “A to B”; awareness? understanding the audience is critical: what they want to learn? what are their expectations? the maturity with the topic?
Same thing with Negotiation: Effective negotiations are the ones which assure our objectives in the long term, in the future while safeguarding the present. We negotiate to improve, to progress, but also for long term continuance. Having an ideal vision, clear objectives, know where we want to go, while at the same time having a great understanding of the other party, their objectives, expectations and so on is fundamental.
Leadership: we expressed several times that a leader is a visionary, looks ahead, to change, long term. Awareness? the leader must first know himself: limits, strengths, values..how can transmit values if you do not believe on them? and finally understanding of the team: what is the best strategy to boost the team potential?
Time Management: this is about what is important for us, what will make our life better..something that will help to achieve our desired state, our vision. Again, awareness: distinguish what is important, what not; what is urgent, what less.

To conclude, how are awareness and vision connected? With an aptitude I define as strategic thinking: the process that make people think about what is important to be done today in order to fulfill the goal of tomorrow.

Comments Off on Managerial Skills – the driving factors / 27 Nov 2011 por Francesco Mazzeo
IMSD /

Financial consideration of Hypermarkets in Spain

Hypermarkets enjoy the “large scale” economy or bulk economy: as they invest a lot of money in huge purchases they can keep the prices low as they achieve better conditions with suppliers. Such purchase power is reflected also in efficiency ratios as account collection period and account payable period where figures show how hypermarkets in Spain receive cash quickly while they can afford to pay back later. Such characteristic is beneficial for them as practically the achieve a surplus of cash (at a certain time) which compensates bigger liabilities and allows current liquidity. At the same time it rises some doubt about ethical and Corporate Responsibility issues (which they claim to fully satisfy) as the supplier has little choice: low prices and deficit on the balance of payment, situation they accept usually thanks to the stability of the relationship.

Another interesting characteristic is that hypermarkets in Spain tend to have low risk appetite: They tend to avoid to leverage the company increasing liability and decreasing equity, while, when liabilities increase, they are financed in a way which doesn’t raise financial expenses (Interest) as for example the explained mechanism of surplus in the balance of payments. In addition equity also tend to increase proportionally with liabilities thanks to reinvestment of retained earnings (self financing).

Consequently while the return on Equity has not such big margin, investments are safer and they enable to overcome the financial crisis situation with less difficulties even if net profits eventually drop.

Comments Off on Financial consideration of Hypermarkets in Spain / 27 Nov 2011 por Francesco Mazzeo
IMSD /

Development Perspectives: Blog 1. Failures of GDP

Measurement beyond gdp. My first blog below will discuss the failures of GDP. The second blog will focus on the potential indicators and what indicator sets are necessary for policy makers and the general public to evaluate in order to assess the wellbeing of people and the society in which they live. I then have briefly written on the need to re evaluate development projects. My overall emphasis is the need for constant re evaluation and awareness to accurately describe society and develop it.

Thesis: GDP fails to measure progress and the well being of nations.

National accounts have traditionally been measured by GDP, however, in many ways, the GDP is insufficient to evaluate the well being of a society. The insufficiency lies in the fact that GDP is merely one indicator, one fraction of the equation that does not represent the whole. GDP ignores wealth variation, household production of services, international income and waste flow. Furthermore, it does not take into account the destruction and deterioration of the environment. Factors of well being such as quality on interpersonal relationships, economic security and health and safety are discounted from the GDP and therefore should not be a tool to measure the variety, quality and overall well being of a society. The GDP is unable to give us any indication to the overall state of the society on neither a national scale nor the individual scale. It is important that we synthesize all aspects of economy so that we fully capture the state of society. A complete picture will allow for measurement of progress as well as highlight the dimensions that must be reevaluated and reworked to the benefit of the whole.

The GDP is a single figure that represents the total market value of all final goods and services. It is limited and has a narrow scope. There are several key players that have been and are currently addressing the GDP shortcomings. Riane Eisler and David Loye are the co-founders of the Center for Partnership studies. They have been working to outline the development of quality of life and well being over the past thirty years. They work to move from the traditional dominating system (with winners and losers) to a partnership system “mutually respectful and caring relations.” (CPS) Loye investigates the link between gender equality and global well being. Using the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators Loye and Eisler has conceptualized a system to more accurately measure quality of life.

Barbara Krumsiek, the CEO of Calvert stated, “ All over the country, citizens are demonstrating a desire to engage in serious discussion about how to measure quality of life and livable communities…” Calvert-Henderson and their organization address the inadequacy of macroeconomic indicators. Their organization highlights the need and desire to redefine society. Policy makers and national attention must re focus on the areas of need and the areas of success through implementation of meaningful indicators. Both Eisler and myself do not believe we need to abandon the GDP but only elaborate on it, as it has been previously concluded the GDP is only a minor piece of the complete puzzle of a society.

Eisler’s main objection to the GDP is that it does not account for all economic activities. “For instance, GDP does not add in monetary value of ‘the caring economy,”- the unpaid care of household, children, the elderly, and the disabled family members,” Rowe exemplifies Massachusetts to examine the goods and services that are unaccounted for. The value of unpaid care time, if it received typical wages, would result in $151.6 billion annually as noted in Rethinking the Gross Domestic Product as a Measurement of National Strength. Obviously, life is more complex than the traditional GDP. The GDP fails to acknowledge the unpaid work force that largely contributes to the well being of a society.

Biggie Smalls the rapper sang “Mo money, mo problems,” The GDP implies the more money a country has the less problems it incurs. However, Richard Easterlin asked the question, does economic growths improve the human lot? What became known as the Easterlin paradox concluded that within a given country, people with higher incomes are more likely to report being happy. However, in international comparisons the average reported level of happiness does not vary greatly with national income per person, at least in countries with income sufficient to meet basic needs. To drive the point home Amartya Sen in Development as Freedom looks at the economic progress and wealth created in the last century in contrast with the devastating destitution, oppression and degradation of billions of people worldwide. Sustainable economic growth must be built on the improvement of individuals’ lives instead of market expansion. The gap will only continue to grow between the rich and the poor if the only concern and indicator is the GDP.

With the gap of the rich and poor growing wider, the GDP aggregated computed numbers per a capita does not assess the conditions the majority of people find themselves in. For instance in 2010, the US’s GDP was $14.7 trillion; yet, the average American has a personal debt of $50,000. Our commonly used statistics do not factor in the lives and activities of the individuals and communities. If we fail to evaluate the conditions on a local level, then we cannot take the appropriate measures to improve the overall state of a society. I will continue to look at potential indicators and necessary tools needed to measure the overall state of a society.

Work Cited

Eisler, Riane. 2007. Real Wealth of Nations. San Francisco, CA: Berret- Koehler

Publishers.

Eisler, Riane, David Loye and Kari Norgarrd. 1995. “Women, Men, and the Global

Quality of Life.” Pacific Grove, CA: The Center for Partnership Studies.

Loye, David. 2007. Measuring Evolution: A leadership Guide to the Health and

Wealth of Nations. Carmel, CA: Benjamin Franklin Press.

Rowe, Jonathan. 2008. “Rethinking the Gross Domestic Product as a Measurement of

National Strength.” Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science and Transportation, Subcommittee on Interstate

Commerce, March 12.

Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books.

You tube: Global Spirit’s Oneness: The big picture featuring conversation with Riane

Eisler and Deepak Chopra.

http://www.calvert-henderson.com/about.htm.

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/well-being_m

1 comentario / 27 Nov 2011 por Lauren Musiello
IMSD /

Development Perspectives: Blog 1. Failures of GDP

Thesis: GDP fails to measure progress and the well being of nations.

Work Cited

Eisler, Riane. 2007. Real Wealth of Nations. San Francisco, CA: Berret- Koehler

Publishers.

Eisler, Riane, David Loye and Kari Norgarrd. 1995. “Women, Men, and the Global

Quality of Life.” Pacific Grove, CA: The Center for Partnership Studies.

Loye, David. 2007. Measuring Evolution: A leadership Guide to the Health and

Wealth of Nations. Carmel, CA: Benjamin Franklin Press.

Rowe, Jonathan. 2008. “Rethinking the Gross Domestic Product as a Measurement of

National Strength.” Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science and Transportation, Subcommittee on Interstate

Commerce, March 12.

Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books.

You tube: Global Spirit’s Oneness: The big picture featuring conversation with Riane

Eisler and Deepak Chopra.

http://www.calvert-henderson.com/about.htm.

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/well-being_m

Comments Off on Development Perspectives: Blog 1. Failures of GDP / 27 Nov 2011 por Lauren Musiello
IMSD /

Environmental Economics Case

I magine a factory located upstream that pollutes a river. It produces steel for the automotive industry. Downstream, local fishermen find they catch less fishes due to the pollution.

The problem here is that both groups have the right to engage the economic activity they are doing and none of them are guilty of having a negative impact on the other. Although I do believe it’s the governments’ obligation to promote an environmental legislation that restricts the amount of pollution produced by industries in order to maintain fish stocks at an appropriate level.

So, the first step should be that the government sets a cap or limit to the pollution an industry can emit into the river systems of the country or region. This limit at first should not be very strict and should be below the maximum fish stocks and the ecosystems can tolerate and work properly. They should establish a time frame for before this new legislation starts ruling with the idea of allowing the steel factory to take appropriate measure to reduce their pollution. Since the steel factory will probably need to invest money to, let’s say, build or install a water treatment plant. In the mean time the government should subsidize the fishermen for their losses until the fish stocks get back to their normal level. Through time this has to cap should get lower until it has no considerable negative impact on the environment.

Comments Off on Environmental Economics Case / 26 Nov 2011 por Javier Solano Palacios
IMSD /

Financial and Economical Situation of El Corte Inglés

Today I want to have a closer look at the economical and financial situation of one hypermarket in Spain: El Corte Inglés. A hypermarket is a “very large commercial establishment that is a combination of a department store and a supermarket.” El Corte Inglés is the biggest department store chain in Europe and third in the world. To the El Corte Inglés group belong amongst others: Hipercor, Telecor, Opencor, Supercor and Sfera. The El Corte Inglés group had following operating figures in 2010 and 2009 in Millions of euro:

In 2010 the group has suffered a big decline because of the crisis in consumption in Spain within their net income (-13.5 %) however this decline could be stopped with special promotions. Thus the margins were lower but the total revenue could be stabilized at 0.3 % to 16,413.42 million Euros in 2010. The “El Corte Inglés Department Stores” contributed 58.6 % or 9,611.97 million Euros (2009: 9,650.50 million Euros) to the turnover of the group. Furthermore it contributed 64 % or 392.40 million Euros (2009: 383.66 million Euros) to the consolidated profit, this is an increase of 2.3 % in 2010.

The group increased its own funds and had a significant increase of its tangible fixed assets due to the opening of new department stores. At the end of 2010 the groups’ investments were as followed:

Tangible fixed assets: 810.32 million Euros
Intangible fixed assets 67.33 million Euros
Financial fixed assets 137.49 million Euros

El Corte Inglés does not seem to have serious financial problems. They even employed 1,147 people in hard times. The situation of the market remains difficult but with cost savings and efficient management it is manageable for the group.

Resources, last accessed 26.11.2011:

Consolidated group: http://www.elcorteinglescorporativo.es/elcorteinglescorporativo/elcorteinglescorporativo/portal.do?IDM=26&NM=1

Definition: http://www.answers.com/topic/hypermarket

Informe Anual 2010 (Spanish): http://sgfm.elcorteingles.es/SGFM/ECI/recursos/doc/Datos_Economicos/Memorias/2010/Ingles/1452536366_288201113317.pdf

Sales turnover and net income: http://www.elcorteinglescorporativo.es/elcorteinglescorporativo/elcorteinglescorporativo/portal.do?IDM=3026&NM=3

Stabilized its total revenue (German): http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-dienstleister/el-corte-ingles-opfert-margen-fuer-umsatz/4555124.html

	2010	2009
EBITDA	1,017.66	1,066.82
EBIT	443.69	537.35
EAT	319.41	369.17

1 comentario / 26 Nov 2011 por Marie Glueck
IMSD /

MANAGERIAL SKILL

I have worked for about six years and coming back to class was a thing i feared, my question was will i manage? I then found myself at EOI, madrid, back in class, the fears started leaving me day after day. All in all i like all the subjects, but this subject, managerial skills has impacted on my life within days. The subject removed all my fears because i relialised that i was out there in the industry without all the skills for to perfome and contribute to the society effectively.

The main three topics ; Presentation, Leadership and Negotiations have given me a new face, and i am convinced that being here is not a waste of time and school never ends. I was a manager in my past job, managing six people, and the class on leadership, helped me to realise what i did wrong as a manager. I have pointed out some things like, delegation and how it helps. I have noted that poor delegation can cause more harm than good to the team, indeed am not the same. On the other hand, i have also learnt a very important thing that we need to manage humans and not the machine. Honestly, most of the managers out there make this mistake, and at the end of the day the whole system collapses and we get frustrated and when a manager is frustated then the frustration is shared.

I then was shocked with the simple mistakes i used to do in doing presentations. I had done several presentations in my life and if i try to give myself a mark as a proffessional then i will give myself a fourty percent, that is to say below avarag. With mistakes no eye contact, sitting down through out the presenatation, not concluding the presentation, no WIIFY, so many mistakes to be listed. However, the class has pushed me to a higher level, i will not be the same.

I also do a lot of personal business and the negoitiation skills will help me on that but also to my profession, the pie chart, steps for a negotiation, so helpful indeed.

Thanks Chris for it was very easy for me to understand your topics but also to relate to what is really out there in the industry. I take with me home the solution frame and leave the problem frame for both my personal and professional life.

Comments Off on MANAGERIAL SKILL / 26 Nov 2011 por Tabithah Mkandawire Kaluwa
IMSD /

Tourism and Development – DP

The travel and tourism industry is a dynamic and growing sector that moved 940 million people in 2010. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) there will be 1,8 billion tourists by 2030, which represent a yearly average increase of 3,3%. Tourism´s increasing importance is due mainly to its various social and economic effects over different sectors. Some countries and regions depend completely on tourism, which makes them depend on the development of local and international economies. Some other countries take tourism only as a source of foreign currency and employment. Throughout this report the socio-economic impact of tourism, as well as government´s responsibility when promoting sustainable tourism will be discussed.

First of all, the behavior of tourism throughout time should be analyzed. In the two graphs it can be seen how tourism and economic growth, measured in terms of GDP, follow the same path (see figure). Tourism decreased significantly during the 2001 – 2003 and 2008 – 2009, periods of economic recession. Since travelling is not a basic need, during economic crisis, tourists and companies tend to cut their travel expenditure.

Tourism is a burning engine for economy. Different economic activities are directly or indirectly involved with this sector: food, transportation, hotels, construction materials and services, linen and security are just some of direct suppliers of the travel and tourism industry. In the same way, tourists ´ spending makes the financial sector be more dynamic. For instance, commerce, restaurants, transportation and entertainment are positively affected when by tourist activities. Travel and tourism therefore constitute a significant portion of the world´s GDP. In fact, it represents 9,1% of global GDP (2011) and visitor exports are expected to generate US$1,162.7 billion (5.8% of total exports) in the same year (UNWTO). Tourism´s high importance in global economy is apparent and therefore government must provide clear legislation and incentives that help to develop the industry. Some of the measures that the government can use are income and investment tax exemptions. In order to guarantee equal income for all size companies, and to prevent oligopolies, incentives for use small and medium size companies in the supply chain should be established.

Even though GDP reflects the economic evolution of a country, in order to measure the real impact of tourism over development, other variables should be analyzed. One important aspect that has direct relation with tourism is employment. According to the UNWTO, in 2010 tourism provided 260,000 jobs worldwide (8% of the world´s employment) and it is expected to provide 69 million additional jobs by 2021. As the country receives more visitors and as the private and public investment on the industry grows, direct and indirect employment opportunities also increase, which can contribute to poverty reduction in the long term. Even though it is a significant source of employment, it cannot be considered completely stable and therefore it is somehow dangerous for economy. Besides from being seasonal and creating of temporary jobs, it has a great amount of low paying jobs. On the other hand, since traveling is one of the first aspects that can be affected by adverse economic circumstances, employment stability may stumble. In this order of ideas, both government and the private sector should establish plans to overcome low seasonal effects and should try to develop diverse and stable employment opportunities.

Travelers have contact with people from various economic activities. They share with taxi drivers, waitresses and with individuals on the streets. In this order of ideas, education becomes a key factor when a region is trying to increase number of visitors. For example, quality service and knowledge about the country are fundamental. It is a private and public responsibility to provide training systems for the industry workers, with universities that graduate well-trained and service-oriented professionals that can request good salaries. Government should also create a general tourism culture, making inhabitants aware of how important tourism is for the region´s development and how they should take care of resources to achieve positive development.

Even though the tourism sector provides opportunities for all countries regardless of their level of development, in order to increase tourism the region should have relevant rates of investment. The country needs decent roads, hotel infrastructure, security, airports and connectivity with the world and basic services supply, among other types of infrastructure. Travel and tourism investment is estimated at US$652.4 billion or 4.5% of total global investment in 2011 (UNWTO). This investment should be both local (private and public) and foreign direct investment. Investment not only has a positive impact on employment and is linked to human resources development, but also helps to improve economic indexes. Therefore, governmental policies must look forward to create favorable investment opportunities for tourist companies such as hotels and airlines and it should invest part of its budget in guaranteeing that tourists can satisfy their needs when travelling. In a significant way this investment is related to political connections and to international marketing, and in the measure that corruption perception is lower, foreign investment is more easily captured.

$Tourists in Afraca$

How sad when poverty becomes a perfect tourist attraction. Tourists barely realize or research about the big socio economic problems of the regions that they visit. In future reports I will analyze if difficult socio economic situation can become an advantage to some countries.

The last element that will be examined and that is directly influenced by the travel and tourism industry is environment. Environmental impact can be caused by general infrastructure construction (roads, hotels) or by use of natural resources to meet the demand. Proper heating, use of water, use of transportation systems, trash production and contact with biodiversity are some examples of how tourism is related to environment and resources. Government has the responsibility of assuring environmental conservation through protective laws that restrict amount of visitors and that punish those who damage natural resources. There should also be financial support and control of the emission of permits to carry out tourism projects that have environmental impact. As long as environment is one of the pillars of the government, biodiversity should not be threatened. The problem is that in many countries environment is not an important issue, and therefore it is easily manipulated and used to achieve political and particular interests.

Due to the high influence that tourism has over different economic and social variables, it is important that the government promotes appropriate legislation and synchronized work between public and private sectors. Governmental policies should stimulate sustainable tourism growth, where the number of visitors increases in parallel to social, economic and environmental development. Money injection into the economy can become dangerous if other variables as labor conditions, lack of education and environmental destruction are not taken into consideration. One of the most important aspects when trying to promote development by means of tourism is involving the communities. Responsibility goes beyond creating awareness of the importance of tourism and its effects. It means studying in depth the consequences that increasing tourism has on each region and how negative effects are going to be prevented, reduced and compensated.

Sources