An introduction to sustainable tourism using Mercy Huts as a case study

2. CAN TOURISM
REALLY
CHANGE A
COMMUNITY?

3. Sustainable tourism is tourism that
meets the needs of present tourists
and destination communities while
also protecting and enhancing
opportunities for the future.
It is not a type of product, it is an way
of thinking that guides tourism
industry people as they make
decisions about how to help tourists
and the communities in which they
work.
The purpose is to allow communities
to benefit economically from tourism
while reducing any negative impacts
on them.

6. BENEFITS OF
SUSTAINABLE
TOURISMFor travellers -
➤ Relationships with local
community members
➤ Knowledge of where money
spent is going
For the community
➤ Money can go to community
development or support
➤ Employment in tourism
companies
➤ Money spent at local shops
and with locals artisans or
companies

7. What Can
Sustainabl
e Tourism
Do?
Raise
money for
community
developme
nt
Provide jobs
for
community
members
Create
global
connection
s
Provide
opportunit
ies for
voluntouri
sm
Example
?
Example
?
Example
?
Example
?

9. INDONESIA
➤ Fourth-largest population in the world
➤ Tenth-largest economy in the world
➤ Poverty has recently fallen from 17%
in 2004 to 11% in 2014
➤ However around 40% of Indonesians
live just above the poverty line
➤ Around 60% of Indonesians are
farmers - lots of struggling farm
workers in rural areas
➤ Around 7.9 million Indonesians
employed in fisheries - can struggle
when catch levels decline
➤ Women have less access to
education, earn less and are often
excluded from decision-making
processes

10. AUSTRALIAN ENTRY, HALF THE
ENTRY FOR INDONESIA
RECORD AND COMPARE THE
FOLLOWING THINGS:
UNDER ‘PEOPLE AND SOCIETY’ -
POPULATION, LIFE EXPECTANCY AT
BIRTH, ACCESS TO WATER AND
SANITATION IN RURAL AND URBAN
AREAS
UNDER ‘ECONOMY’ - GDP PER
CAPITA AND POPULATION BELOW
POVERTY LINE

11. Around 500km
northwest of
Australia
Southwest of
Timor
Around
1200km
squared in
area

12. ROTE ISLAND
➤ People in this area live on
around 1/3 the income of other
Indonesians
➤ Rote Island is part of East
Nusa Tenggara Province,
which has a 23% poverty rate
➤ This is considering the
‘poverty line’ at about $25 a
month income in urban
areas and $17 in rural
➤ Only 39% of kids in the
Province are enrolled in
secondary school

13. ROTE ISLAND
Go to the Wikipedia page for East
Nusa Tenggara province
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_
Nusa_Tenggara
Scroll down to the section on
Growth and Development
Circle Rote Island on your world
map and annotate it with five
facts, in your own words, that you
think best illustrate the living
conditions on Rote Island
You could consider health, food,
water, education, infrastructure

14. WHY IS TOURISM A GREAT SOLUTION
HERE?

15. WHAT
WOULD
YOU
DO?

16. MERCY HUTS
➤ Mercy Huts is a registered
charity establishing not-for-
profit beachfront retreats that
will help empower
communities living in poverty
in remote Indonesia.
➤ It is a surf retreat from which
all money goes into
community development
➤ They also employ only local
people from Rote

18. WHAT THEY DO
➤ Currently building a training
centre to provide vocational
training for local people
➤ Putting together a noodle
business that sells nutrient-
fortified noodles, made by
Sanitarium, and is run by local
people
➤ Educating local people on
sanitation, healthcare and water
use
➤ Surf retreat runs as a family
hotel with all proceeds going
back into the local community

19. WHY WOULD
YOU WANT TO
VISIT?

20. WHY DO WE HELP?
➤ Established by two local families, the Thistlethwaites and the
McMahons
➤ They travelled to East Indonesia frequently and were driven to help the
local people
➤ The families lived on Rote for a period in 2012 to get to know the local
community and figure out the best ways to help

21. HOW CAN
YOU
HELP?

22. OR …
➤ Let the SRC organise it for you
➤ Year 8 SRC will be supporting
Mercy Huts by running a
fundraiser next week
➤ On Tuesday, they will be
selling cakes and hot chocolate
on the Quad with all proceeds
going straight to supporting
Mercy Huts and their great
work
➤ Bring your money and your
appetites next Tuesday to
support this awesome
organisation