Ecotourism set to make China green
Professor of Tourism Ross Dowling has returned from an eight city lecture tour in China where he was the first foreigner invited to address the Chinese Ecotourism Summit.
The summit highlighted China's potential as a destination for global eco-tourists. Professor Dowling's eight city tour included lectures on ‘Global Ecotourism Trends and Issues’ at six universities. His address at the Chinese Summit was in Ganzhou, southern China where he presented an overview of how to successfully develop Ecotourism in environmentally protected areas.
In addition Professor Dowling gave public lectures in Hong Kong and Macau on his way to and from China. In Macau, a small but industrialised province that is set to be a major casino hub in China, he spoke on ‘Pushing the Limits of Tourism.’ “We wanted to get the message across that Macau does not have to rely solely on the casinos for the tourism dollar,” he said. “The city can use its lakes and forest land to attract ‘eco-tourists’ for financial benefits whilst conserving the natural environment.”
“Macau is basically the size of Joondalup and they are planning to turn the entire area into a casino district to support the local tourism market, but they can also benefit from fostering a more sustainable type of tourism, as an addition to casino tourism.”
At the prestigious Hong Kong Polytechnic University Professor Dowling spoke on the issues and impacts of Cruise Ship Tourism. The professor's lecture was well received by the university and members of the cruise industry. His knowledge of the eco-tourism market has led to his second book being translated into Chinese.
“Hong Kong is set to become a major regional hub for cruising,” he said. “So I encouraged the industry to also consider the social and environmental impacts of the industry, as these can be both good and bad.”
The lecture tour was a noted success. “I was treated like a rock-star.” Professor Dowling quips. Packed lecture theatres and an offer to write a book on Ecotourism from the Shanghai Normal University indicate that China is opening discussion to go green and further their research into ecotourism.
