Beating the oil patch bust at Banff National Park

Once known for its stunning mountain scenery and wide open plains, in recent decades the Province of Alberta has become synonymous with the ebb and flow of a resource-based economy built around the Athabasca tar sands. Despite the best efforts (and lots of public funds) of both the Alberta and Canadian governments to scrub the tar sands' negative image, the industry has seriously eroded Canada's credentials as a country committed to environmental protection.

From this perspective the collapse in oil prices over the past year may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise for the province - and the country. At a concrete level, the boom-bust cycle of the extractive sector is making the steady-as-she-goes business model of Banff National Park look all the more attractive.

Banff is one seven parks in Alberta which together constitute the Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks world heritage site. Established in 1885, it is Canada's first national park and the third world-wide. By emphasizing sustainably-paced development that balances conservation with measured infrastructure enhancements, Banff National Park has retained its reputation for providing visitors with a memorable outdoors experience while introducing new or enhanced attractions (e.g. the installation of a via ferrata on Mount Norquay) in a measured way that continues to build visitor numbers.

Banff townsite (credit: Borbrav)

As noted by Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper this week, almost four million visitors are expected in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, up 7.5 percent over the percent and up a further 10 percent over the year before. While the focus on increasing visitor numbers has provoked concern from some quarters in the environmentalist community, the approach being adopted nonetheless demonstrates a sensitivity to the various interests at stake, including protection of the natural environment. Authorities responsible for certain other world heritage sites would do well to take notice.

Selfies and world heritage sites: A dangerous mix?

Along with hoverboards and e-cigarettes, the selfie and its sinister accessory - the selfie-stick - are facing a continuing backlash in the media and officialdom. Ostensibly linked to safety concerns over the danger posed by the sticks and the careless photographers wielding them, it appears that accidents are particularly common at world heritage sites, based on a string of incidents in recent months.

These include a Japanese tourist who died after slipping on stairs while taking a selfie at the Taj Mahal's Royal Gate, and just this week a Chilean tourist who was struck by a train in mid-selfie near Machu Picchu, the world-renowned sanctuary of the Inca empire.

While thankfully the Chilean tourist survived the accident, I have no doubt it is only a matter of days if not weeks before the next such incident comes to light

To my mind the lesson is clear, and it has nothing to do selfie-sticks: accidents are sure to happen whenever people are not paying attention to their surroundings.

A seven-step program to turn Nigeria into a "tourism giant"

The Eagle Online, a Nigerian newspaper, published a thoughtful article yesterday on seven steps Nigeria must take it if it become a "tourism giant". With outstanding cultural heritage, attractive beaches, dynamic cities, etc, the country undeniably has tremendous potential, yet as everyone knows Nigeria is dogged by an awful reputation for corruption online con artists and, in recent years, a bloody Islamist insurgency.

While arguably Nigeria needs to focus first on improving its international reputation and tackling Boko Haram before it can hope to attract any significant number of international visitors, all seven steps are sound, and moreover several could equally be applied in any number of countries, including many whose current tourism strategy seems fixated on showcasing just one or two major attractions, raising serious questions of sustainability and equity in the process (Cambodia's focus on Angkor Wat comes to mind in this regard).

In brief, the seven steps are:

1. Develop a tourism mindset 
2. Promote internal tourism 
3. Integrate all the tourism attractions 
4. Make travelling easy 
5. Give us world-class institutions 
6. Dream big dreams 
7. Give everyone light

Good advice, to which I would add just one more suggestion: given local people a stake in the success of the tourism industry, as they can be your most effective ambassadors to foreign visitors - either in a positively or negatively.

Jordan's tourism industry suffers as conflict in the Middle East trundles on

Being situated in a region of political instability and religious strife has cost Jordan dearly over the years - whether in relation to its misjudged support for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 or its difficult balancing act in maintaining relations with both Israel and the Palestinians - and as such it is sad to see once again the ill-effects of geography on this most welcoming of countries.

As Deutsche Presse-Agentur is reporting this week, Jordan's tourism industry is in crisis, with the number of visitors this year at just 30 percent of where visitor numbers stood in 2010. The cause of the downturn is clear enough: violence in neighbouring countries dissuades potential tourists from coming, despite the fact that Jordan is much safer than many other popular tourist destination, whether in Western Europe, the Americas or Asia.

However, the tourism industry is a major source of revenue for Jordan, and all those who depending on tourism - either directly or indirectly - are suffering at a time when the country is already bearing more than its share of the burden in housing refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Let's hope that 2016 brings more positive news, both for Jordan and the wider Middle East.

Foreign tourists abandon Egypt

Few countries in the world can rival Egypt for its remarkable geography and wondrous monuments, including of course the pyramid fields from Giza to Dahshur, a world heritage site since 1997. While in years past this made Egypt one of the most visited countries in the world (14 million foreign tourists came in 2010 alone), the violence and unrest has taken its toll, despite the best efforts of the country's strongman president, Mr. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, to crack down on opposition.

With the exodus of Russian tourists following the explosion on a Moscow-bound passenger aeroplane in October 2015 foreign tourists have all but disappeared. Cited by the Nikkei Asian Review, one trinket seller in the vicinity of the Giza pyramids lamented: "I've been doing business here for 15 years and now is the worst. It's really difficult to make a living."

Unfortunately, given the authorities' continuing campaign against Islamic militants within Egypt as well the seemingly endless strife in nearby countries, whether Syria, Iraq or Libya, prospects for the Egyptian tourism industry remain grim for the foreseeable future.