A rat, insects and litter: delights of mass tourism reach Galápagos

From The Guardian, UK:

David Adam, environment correspondent, The Guardian.

Not since Hamelin has the discovery of a rat provoked so much alarm. It was only a single creature, but it had no business being on the island of Santa Fe in the isolated Galápagos archipelago, where conservationists now strive to keep foreign wildlife at bay as effectively as hundreds of miles of open ocean did for millions of years.

The rat is alleged to have arrived on the MV Discovery, a giant British cruise liner that visited the islands in April. Today, the ship is due to return to the Galápagos, and arriving with it are 460 paying passengers, protests and a campaign to protect the islands from such mass tourism.

More . . .

A rat, insects and litter: delights of mass tourism reach Galápagos

UNWTO: Tourism To Grow 4 Percent In 2007

From ehotelier.com, USA:

(Fuente traducido en Espanol por Google.) 

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said today that 2007 should be a critical year to consolidate tourism as a key agent in the fight against poverty and a primary tool for sustainable development.

Against a projection of continuing worldwide growth in international tourism of more than 4 percent for international arrivals and revenues, Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli called for renewed effort to include sustainable tourism in the international development agenda, as a key tool to advance the Millennium Development Goals.

He identified five major areas for consolidated global action:

First: for Industrialized and Newly Emerging States to craft pro development strategies and agreements which encourage tourism to the world’s poorest countries to advance economic well being, social development and mutual understanding.

Second: for Least Developed States to collectively recognize the impact and potential of tourism across their economies, integrate it into national accounting systems using the UN Tourism Satellite Account and place it at the heart of their Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs.

Third, for All States:

In acting within the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization, to increase tourism commitments and provide specific tools to help poor countries use tourism services to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.

In acting on Climate Change, to build a pro development element into tourism and climate strategies, particularly for airline flights, taxation and emission
trading.

The Galapagos Travel Advisor

“The Travel Advisor“

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