Impact of Tourism on Dubai's Ecosystem
Impact of Tourism on Dubai’s Ecosystem
Dubai has become a place that’s synonymous with ultra-rich lifestyle, state of the art technology and infrastructure. Yet up until three decades ago it was recognized to be no more than a place known for fishing and trivial trades. Since the discovery of oil reserves in the late 1960’s, Dubai has relied on the oil production to fuel its rapid economic expansion. However, depletion of its oil reserves has lead Dubai to eliminate its financial dependence on oil production to something more sustainable such as tourism. Dubai has erected massive buildings, undergone many groundbreaking projects and has constantly tried to break many world records in the attempt to lure increasing amounts of tourists, all at the cost of its ecological depletion. This substantial increase in the amount of tourism in a relatively small period of time has created various environmental issues for the country. Two of the biggest environmental dilemmas the country has to face at the moment are its supply of drinkable water and proper treatment of the sewage produces by the bustling metropolis.
One of the fastest growing sectors in the country is its tourism sector, which has accounted for 22% of Dubai’s GDP . The environmental impact (I) of the tourism experienced by Dubai is significantly depleting the resources and is increasing the amount of waste accumulated overtime. The environmental impact, referred to as (I) in the IPAT equation is composed of 3 components, namely the population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T). The amount of population for tourism in Dubai will be expected to face an increasing trend, which is what the country intends on doing. Dubai is currently forecasting an increase of 5 million more tourists by the year 2015 to 15 million tourists. The amount of tourists they have forecasted is considerably greater than that of 2010 estimate of 10 million tourists . This significant shift in the population will likely have an
Dubai has become a place that’s synonymous with ultra-rich lifestyle, state of the art technology and infrastructure. Yet up until three decades ago it was recognized to be no more than a place known for fishing and trivial trades. Since the discovery of oil reserves in the late 1960’s, Dubai has relied on the oil production to fuel its rapid economic expansion. However, depletion of its oil reserves has lead Dubai to eliminate its financial dependence on oil production to something more sustainable such as tourism. Dubai has erected massive buildings, undergone many groundbreaking projects and has constantly tried to break many world records in the attempt to lure increasing amounts of tourists, all at the cost of its ecological depletion. This substantial increase in the amount of tourism in a relatively small period of time has created various environmental issues for the country. Two of the biggest environmental dilemmas the country has to face at the moment are its supply of drinkable water and proper treatment of the sewage produces by the bustling metropolis.
One of the fastest growing sectors in the country is its tourism sector, which has accounted for 22% of Dubai’s GDP . The environmental impact (I) of the tourism experienced by Dubai is significantly depleting the resources and is increasing the amount of waste accumulated overtime. The environmental impact, referred to as (I) in the IPAT equation is composed of 3 components, namely the population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T). The amount of population for tourism in Dubai will be expected to face an increasing trend, which is what the country intends on doing. Dubai is currently forecasting an increase of 5 million more tourists by the year 2015 to 15 million tourists. The amount of tourists they have forecasted is considerably greater than that of 2010 estimate of 10 million tourists . This significant shift in the population will likely have an