Thoughts about Tourists & Tourism - An opinion

By Malcolm Noden

November 19, 2018 10:00 a.m.

Those of us who live in Nassau County, and in particular those who live on Amelia Island, are all too familiar with the many effects of the presence of all those tourists who choose our community for their vacations. We all have multiple and often very different reactions to the presence of our many visitors, and in some cases, some folks are unhappy about what has happened to our island as more tourists come here, and faster and visible change occurs on a daily basis.

Often the most visible changes are due to the development of ever more tourist facilities, such as restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, retail stores, etc. and the associated increase in the ongoing construction, expansion and development of our infrastructure; roads, bridges, power lines, water and sewer pipes, etc. These developments often result in the loss of natural habitat, including trees and small water courses, and loss of habitat for local wildlife.

When considering the loss of the “simpler times” of long ago, many yearn for a slower, less chaotic community life, and thus it is easy to blame all those visitors who seem to the foundational cause of all the massive changes in our former, quieter less noisy lifestyle.

Those of us who are not owners and investors in the real estate boom, are often hard pressed to accept all this rapid, disconcerting change, in exchange for the huge influx of revenues, and the resulting tax collections. Example: we know from the annual reports of our Tourist Development Council, (TDC), that we are receiving some 700,000 overnight visitors each year, and that collectively they spend $450 million dollars, (+/-), while they are here Moreover, we know that, based on the slope of increased demand over the past five years, those numbers are going to continue to increase every year in the foreseeable future.

But, we ask, what price are we paying for this bounty, and how much longer can we continue to expand the market on an island that has real finite physical boundaries? Moreover how can we sustain this expansion over time, and what kind of future are we making for our children and grandchildren?

For these kinds of issues, perhaps we might take some advice from the South Korean diplomat, Ban ki-moon, who was the former Secretary General of the United Nations, (2007-2016). When asked about this specific problem, he noted that: “Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.”

Note the judicious use of the controlling element of this observation, the word sustainable! What is necessary for this to happen is that city and county authorities, need to carefully & consistently consider how our tourism market demand is unfolding, and what we need to do as a community to ensure that, in addition to the economic benefits we get from all those visitors that we also make sure to preserve social justice, as well as environmental stewardship.

Since we all are affected by the rapid changes associated with our increased visitor demand, we all need to be conscious of the actions of our elected leaders, and thus we need to make sure that our voices are heard clearly as we push for the benefits of greater sustainability.

We need to hear one of the most cogent and persuasive voices for greater citizen involvement in this situation, which comes from Joe Kaeser. Kaesar is currently the CEO of Siemens A.G. the German pharmaceutical company, and a well-known international spokesperson for environmentally sustainable causes. Said he: “Often, sustainability is discussed only in the context of energy. Energy sustainability is essential - but the word has a much broader meaning. It means long-term thinking about how we manage our businesses, invest in social spending, and plan for the future. This requires vision and leadership, and it requires citizen engagement.”

So here we have it! The primary solution. If you want it; like it or not, you must not just stand on the sidelines and complain, you must take the road to knowledgeable involvement, so that you might help to sustain and defend what we have, and how we need to care for the future of our place in the sun!

Editor's Note: Malcolm A. Noden, who is the (Retired) Senior Lecturer in Management, Economics, Marketing and Tourism at the School of Hotel Administration, at Cornell University, is a well-known expert in the applied economics of hospitality and tourism policy, promotion and development.

Noden is the past Chairman of the New York State Tourism Education Task force, an advisory board appointed by former Governor George Pataki of New York. Noden serves on the editorial board of TEOROS International, a theoretical research journal for education in tourism, and was the Cornell University representative to, and a founding member of, the World Tourism Organization, Educational and Training Board.