Travel and tourism greatly impact developing countries. I’ve seen quite a bit with relatively little travel. Hotels in Mexico left abandoned half way through development to towns built around windsurfing and kiteboarding in Brazil. Problems included packed with tourist on and off the water, and garbage littering the beach, surprisingly a lot of garbage was from local tourists. I’ve also experienced bad sewage run off and pollution in first World locations.
This video “Surfing for Change: Travel Guide To Nicaragua” by Kyle Thiermann takes a look at sustainable surf tourism in Nicaragua, and a brief look at some of the issues that plagued other spots. What I found really interesting with the theory of the evolution of a tourism spot. From the trailblazers, to backpackers, followed mainstream travel and then followed at some point by a decline.
You can find out more at http://www.surfingforchange.com
I’m in no way associated with Surfing for Change but definitely support sustainable tourism.