Papers by Kristiaan Hartmann
This research focuses on communicating sustainable tourism in the diving scene of Bonaire. For di... more This research focuses on communicating sustainable tourism in the diving scene of Bonaire. For diving it is important that marine life is sustained and protected, otherwise diving would not be as interesting as it is. For Bonaire this is really important since this island is almost fully dependent on diving in the tourism sector. Bonaire is seen as divers‟ paradise because of its pristine marine life. Bonaire is a small island near the coast of Venezuela and is part of The Netherlands Antilles. It will become a part of The Netherlands in October 2010. Bonaire is, as many Caribbean islands, dependent on tourism to get some financial revenue. The island is focused on dive tourism. A sustainable way of developing the island is therefore almost inevitable. Sustainable tourism and intercultural communication are the theoretical concepts of the research. Two concepts that have a special interest to me. Sustainability is getting more and more important these days. Since we, as the world, encounter more and more problems of our pollution. And since I have a bachelor in Tourism Management my knowledge lays in that field. In a globalizing world cultures meet more and more, therefore intercultural communication is getting increasingly important. The research question is formulated with the above mentioned context and theoretical concepts; How does the tourism industry involving Bonaire communicate sustainable tourism and what role do cultural differences play in the communication between the different stakeholders? The research is conducted on Bonaire. I have gained my data with observations, participant observations, informal conversations and recorded interviews. During my stay on Bonaire I interviewed people that are important in the diving and/or tourism industry. While diving I could see for myself how the dive resorts communicate sustainable tourism to the tourists and talk with other tourists. Furthermore I became friends with people that work in the diving industry. In that way I could collect data through informal conversations. During the field research I found out that Bonaire is not a sustainable tourism destination at this moment. Bonaire uses sustainability in their marketing campaign. That is why people get the image of Bonaire being a sustainable destination. In fact this idea is only based on the Bonaire National Marine Park, which consists of all waters around Bonaire. However Bonaire is planning to implement several activities and programs in order to create a sustainable destination. Help from The Netherlands is needed to solve the two huge problems that pollute Bonaire‟s nature. Firstly Bonaire has a dump site where all garbage is dumped, nothing is separated or removed from the island. Secondly Bonaire also lacks a proper sewerage system. How the tourism industry is communicating sustainable tourism was not researchable because of the lack of sustainable tourism and the lack of proper communication. However I have encountered cultural differences between the stakeholders in tourism. These cultural differences and different interests of the stakeholders result in bad communication. In order to create a sustainable tourism destination Bonaire needs to implement more sustainable ways of operating and create better communication between all stakeholders.
Uploads
Papers by Kristiaan Hartmann