French Polynesia:
The Effects of Tourism
Claudia Cubas
Tourism is one of today’s leading economic activities
in terms of economic growth. In a variety of countries and regions,
it is the main basis for
the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is the foundation for internal
development, service differentiation, and further productivity growth. French
Polynesia, a selection of volcanic islands and atolls scattered across the
eastern South Pacific, is a stereotype of such a scenario where tourism embodies
the economy. Tourism
increases the number of jobs, encourages economic growth, and attracts foreign
direct investments. In many
developing countries, tourism represents more than half of direct investments
and the economy of French Polynesia relies heavily on France for income.
However, tourism does not always have only positive effects on the economy and
development of a country; many times there are factors such as environmental and
cultural issues that must be taken into consideration.
Currently,
the tourism industry creates the most number of jobs out of all of the world’s
economic sectors, granting a good basis for the decrease of unemployment. It
has been predicted that the actual number of tourists should triple from 2000 to
2020. The key factors
underlying this expansion, which
broadens Polynesia’s opportunities, can be attributed towards both supply and
demand within this industry. The stimuli of supply are the decreasing
transportation costs, the increasing accessibility of geographic barriers, and
the increasing electronic communication systems, which altogether amplify the interest
of many potential travelers. The
spur of demand comes from the world’s population’s overall increase in free
time and the growing interest to bring quality into leisure. Most of the Pacific
Island countries are making efforts to increase tourism; French Polynesia, Fiji,
the Cook Islands, and Vanuatu are
many of those who have made much progress. In 1999 the
tourism
industry and related income brought about US$ 345 million dollars into French
Polynesia's economy.
Although tourism is a great source of income, it can have negative effects
on the biodiversity of an area, by causing a decrease inf biodiversity and even
cultural diversity. There are implications when building hotels, roads, and
other infrastructure to develop an area with the potential for tourism.
Deforestation can cause heavy flooding and soil erosion, which in turn destroys
the ecosystems of lagoons and mangrove swamps. Also, the pollution of waste
disposal causes the deterioration of the coral atolls and sedimentation of
coastal waters damaging the marine habitat. The disposal of these unhygienic and
environmentally damaging wastes is an underlying problem, particularly for
smaller countries like Polynesia, which lack physical space for the
establishment of dumping sites.
In French Polynesia, the main causes of reef destruction
and pollution of coastal waters are all associated with development work due to
urban growth, such as the construction of roads and hydraulic power stations.
Tahiti is the island that has been causing the most concern due to its signs of pollution from construction
of hotels. It is inevitable that land is cleared for construction and that waste
is produced but these damages should be minimized regardless of the high costs.
It is important that these issues are addressed and taken into consideration.
Tourism is
responsible for much of the environmental degradation due to heavy consumption
of water, inappropriate location of facilities, and possible damage to sensitive
environmental areas by tourists. Many tourists are not “environmentally
educated” and irresponsibly leave track of their trash, such as bottles and
plastics, etc… wherever they go. If no one is around to remind them and
somewhat force them to be aware of their negative actions, there are many
tourists who will not act responsibly, resulting in the slow destruction of the
environment and its biodiversity. In Polynesia, sailing is causing some
degradation through damage and trampling of coral colonies by people walking
over the reefs (around the Tahiti urban area), by excessive collecting of reef
species by tourists or for tourists (such as giant clams on Bora-Bora), by
anchors that break corals, and by polluted effluents from sailing boats.
Tourism
activities may often be seen as a
self-destruction cycle because as tourism increases and intensifies in a region,
there is urban growth, which results in a damaging cycle to the region’s
biodiversity. This decreases the quality and diversity of the territory causing
tourist dissatisfaction; thereby lowering return of investments, cash flow, and
profits.
As a result,
tourist operators desperately increase the use of pricing strategies (such as
promotional and discriminatory policies) in order to increase traveler’s
demands in the short-run. However, the problem is that in the long-run the
massive waves of visits into these environmentally dependent countries lowers
the overall service quality, which further strengthens the self-destruction
cycle for the environment, to an
extent where tourism may even end. Currently, Polynesia has not fallen into this
cycle, nor has it been forced to use similar strategies, however, they are
increasingly aware of such threats due to environmental problems in Tahiti, such
as sediment runoff, water pollution (urban effluents), and the exploitation of
biological resources (over-fishing).
There are
also cultural issues that should be addressed. The interaction between
tourists and the regions respective inhabitants are often limited, subjectively
creating a false and biased image of the overall portrayal of the people and
their culture. This limited acquaintance with the locals authentic everyday life
is nothing but a false image, which gradually disintegrates the local
population’s genuine traditions, customs, folklore, art expressions, handcraft
production, and overall ethnicity. This is unfortunately a part of French
Polynesia’s everyday reality. Polynesian
marketed images and information are selective enough to the degree where the
term “South Pacific” conjures images of perfect islands with happy and
smiling natives, who lead unproblematic
lives of ease and pleasure. These fabricated images are merely stereotypes set
by economic marketing forces because in reality, they hide the native’s actual
physical and socio-cultural environments. When Polynesian tourism is marketed,
it hardly concedes the wide range of geographical, political, cultural, and
social varieties found in the area; such marketing excludes the tourists who
seek for more profound and true experiences.
An example of such marketing is the Polynesian Carnival, which was not
part of their culture but was created a few years ago merely for tourist
satisfaction.
Many times
only the large national and international companies profit from the tourism
industry and the local populations are often excluded from these benefits. This opposes the main duty of tourism as a motive of
trade, diversification, and cultural interaction and enrichment.
On the other
hand, as was mentioned before, there are some positive effects of tourism, such
as economic growth. Even in terms of the environment, tourism may
sometimes encourage the steady maintenance of biodiversity and the enhancement
of cultural diversity. If one is able to maintain tourism without damaging the
biodiversity, or even better, by preserving the environment this is called
“sustainable tourism,” which in the long-term will create more revenue.
Today, eco-tourism has proven to be very successful; it is a way to
implement a method of tourism that is environmentally aware and friendly.
However, French Polynesia has not invested greatly in eco-tourism, only a
tiny minority of tourists (less than 1%) lodges in locals' houses and adapt to
Polynesian activities and lifestyle.
It is
essential that ecological services should be performed even if it is highly
expensive, because it will preserve Polynesia’s most important asset for
tourism – the environment. Such actions include recycling programs, natural
decontamination of water and air, the regulation of the hydrological and
biochemical cycles, the reproduction of plants and animals, and the biological
control of pests. Just as important, capital must be budgeted for the prevention
of soil erosion and the maintenance of landscapes of recreational, esthetic, and
spiritual value. These expensive expenditures will payoff in the future and
compensate hoteliers by increasing tourist satisfaction, profits, and preserving
Polynesia’s biodiversity. As
mentioned before, Tahiti is the main Polynesian Island, which is now showing
negative effects of tourism and has concerned the population making them aware
of the ecological services that must be implemented, especially when developing
tourism on the other islands.
It is easier
to implement a successful method of tourism when it stimulates the overall
commitment of local populations. Time must be reserved to make natives fully
understand the win-win opportunities to apply their traditional know-how and new
entrepreneurial initiative into activities because this adds value to tourism.
These include activities such as: fishery, aquaculture, diversified agriculture
of high-quality local products, and pearl production.
The use of local biodiversity, as well as cultural and archaeological
valorization stimulates cultural revitalization such as the resurgence of local
languages and creation of a new sense of pride in their culture and identity, as
has occurred in Polynesia.
Technology
such as the Internet has been a great source in helping local operators to
advertise and facilitates the reservation process without the need of an
international middleman.
Tourism
encourages economic growth, which in turn produces the necessary capital and
investments for the management of landscapes and marine environments, the
rational use of ecosystems, and the conservation of species. It is essential to
maintain the biodiversity in order to continuously increase tourism; one thing
depends on the other. However, eco-tourism has not yet been much developed in
French Polynesia as they are in other countries. Many of the Pacific Islands
have approached tourism development by opting for a system of controlled tourism
so as to minimize the possibly adverse impact on local cultures and on the
natural environment. This method is
a long-term investment. Although it is expensive to maintain the
environment reasonably clean and unaffected by pollution or wastes, in the long
run it will result in high revenue without the degradation of the environment or
any cultural collapses. It is a healthy way to look at tourism especially for
those countries, which depend economically on the tourism industry.
Bibliography for Tourism and Environmental Issues
(the above essay
drew upon the sources listed below)
Tourism in the South Pacific: A Polynesia/Melanesia Discussion—Tracy
Berno and Ngaire Douglas
http://www.environment.gouv.fr/ifrecor/domtom/fppressa.htm
http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport
/2000/September/09-27-04.htm
Tourism
http://egis.cefe.cnrs-mop.fr/TOURISM%20Overview.htm
Polynesian Islands
http://www.polynesianislands.com
Biodiversity: the
foundation
of tourism--Francesco Di Castri
http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/2000/September/09-27-04.htm
Pressures in
French Polynesia: Human pressures
http://www.environnement.gouv.fr/ifrecor/domtom/fppressa.htm
Pacific
Islands Economies: Trade Patterns and Some Observations on Trade Policy Issues--Dr
Te'o Fairbairn
http://www.nautilus.org/papers/enviro/trade/teo2.html
Case Study--Bernard Salvat and
Claire Pailhe
http://egis.cefe.cnrs-mop.fr/Tourism%20Frontpages/salvat%20art.htm
Additional
General Web Resources for the Tourist
http://www.pacificforum.com/links/
http://gohawaii.about.com/travel/gohawaii/cs/
http://gohawaii.about.com/travel/gohawaii/library/weekly/blsouthpacificfacts.htm
http://www.polynesianislands.com/fp/
http://www.polynesianislands.com/fp/
Web
Links for Traditions, Culture, Dances, Music, and Chants
http://www.tahiti-manavapf/us.html
http://gohawaii.about.com/travel/gohawaii/library/weekly/blsouthpacificfacts.htm
http://www.tahiti-manava.pf/us.html
The Heiva,
which occurs in July all over French Polynesia, is a dance and singing festival
with competition among groups of different villages, and
a fair for everyone. (It is the pre-opening event of the festivities is
the celebration of the Autonomy.)