"We see the possibility for a much stronger alliance between tourism and conservation," says Jim Thorsell, director of Perks Commission of the International Union for the Concervation of Nature (IUCN) (Kutay 1989). .
Tourism is seen as a way to propel regional economic growth in countries, a Panacea for development in Cancun, Mexico "the government explicitly decided to use tourism as a way of stimulating economic development in diverse regions of the country. While no-one would point to Cancun as a desirable model of tourism develpement, its transformation from a fishing village with 426 residents to a major tourism center with 300,000 residents is a dramatic example of the potential for tourism to serve as a development growth pole." (McLaren 23).
GOOD/BAD TRANSITIONAL SENTENCE:.
Multilateral institutions, international aid agencies, and governments are now promoting "sustainable tourism," or "clean" development, discovering important new places to "protect." On the surface, many of the ideas appear to be credible, suggesting as they do the long term preservation of cultural heritage sites, national parks, and other destinations. Yet this protection is offered by investors who focus on the returns a site can bring. Travel companies such as hoteliers and airlines who are selling rooms and flights, and governments looking for foreign exchange in the infrastructure development. (McLaren 22).
Problems/Bad.
Tourism doesn't just package and sell products and services, such as transportation, accommodations, food , and a good time. It also sells beaches, mountains, and other natural sites. The problem is that tourist business often do not own what they sell. Businesses in the industry purchase at inappropriately low prices, acquire free of charge, or simply expropriate these resources as part of their products. For example. When a developer builds a resort near a national park, part of the developers product becomes the use of the park and all its natural resources.