Sustainable island tourism: the case of Okinawa.

Abstract

has been the fastest growing and most important industry accounting for 20-70% of their external receipts. These island economies have comparative advantages in tourism because of their small market sizes, rich marine resources, tropical or subtropical climate, rich and unique cultural heritages, hospitality-oriented peoples, service-intensive nature of tourism. Tourism is a "service" as well as an "export" industry which will substitute for a manufacturing industry where small island economies do not have comparative advantage. Island tourism, however, heavily depends on islands' fragile and extremely limited natural as well as cultural resources. Islands' over-expanded tourism industry has created various socioeconomic ecological issues such as cultural friction, water shortage, environmental degradation, food insecurity, imported inflation and family problem on the life of islanders. The major objective of this paper is to identify and quantify "carrying capacity" of tourism dependent island economies focusing on Okinawa where tourism expanded about tenfold in the past three decades. Okinawa's tourism industry is now facing a serious turning point because the total tourists' expenditures have been declining in recent years in the midst of increasing trend of tourists who consume the huge amounts of islands' fragile, nonrenewable resources. This paper particularly demonstrates that the supply of water is the single most important limiting factor for sustainable tourism development for any small islands.

Perceived Socio-economic, Socio-ecological and Socio-cultural Impacts of the Caribbean’s Tourism Sector

“…Very importantly sustainable tourism development should ensure that the improved living standards and overall quality of life aspirations of the host community are addressed while satisfying the expectations of the tourists and the tourism industry (Kakazu, 2011). In the Caribbean, sustainable tourism "… is understood as the optimal use of natural, cultural, social and financial resources for national development on an equitable and self-sustaining basis to provide a unique visitor experience and an improved quality of life through partnerships among government, the private sector and communities" (CTO, 2012b).…”

“…The goal of sustainable development is to ensure that humanity is able to meet "…the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED, 1987). Sustainable tourism development according to Kakazu (2011) should lead "…to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems". This philosophy is consistent with Dumaine's (2010) who has stated that "Sustainability is about changing mindsets, beginning with our own.…”

“…In the case of Antigua and Barbuda, income from tourism accounted for slightly over 40% of GDP in 2006. In Bahamas and St. Lucia tourism's contribution was over 35%; with the exception of Haiti and Guyana where the tourism sector's contribution to GDP was in single digits, all other destinations listed in Table 1 were in double digits (Kakazu, 2011). The insular Caribbean is part of a more expansive geographic area commonly referred to as the 'Wider Caribbean'.…”

Rainfall and Runoff Observations in the Subtropical Forest of Okinawa Island, Japan

“…In this study, k was 10.1972. It was also assumed that the density of river water was constant at 1.0 g/cm 3 . We assumed that temporal variation of atmospheric pressure was the same between the two water-level measurement points, so the air pressure data acquired at Chibana No.…”

“…Because there is a unique culture and history and habitats of precious animals and plants, many tourists visit this subtropical island every year. The water demand of the urban population and tourists has recently increased, and sustainable island tourism is a major issue [3]. Seventy-two percent of the northern part of the island is covered by subtropical forest [4], which is called "Yanbaru" in a regional dialect.…”