THE University of Fiji is offering a new eco-tourism course to sustainable tourism management students to give them a better understanding of the impact of development on the environment.
The courses offered under the program helps future hotel managers better manage their properties while taking into account how such a development affects the ecosystem.
Program co-ordinator and management lecturer Dr Navneel Prasad said sustainable tourism was a core focus of the program.
“This course is basically to ensure responsible tourism,” he said.
“It’s how students can be part of the tourism industry and be involved in the development of their properties without compromising the environment.
“For example, the management program focuses mainly on the student becoming a manager in any department in a property or anything involved in the industry.
“But we don’t have any courses which teach potential managers the negative impacts such developments could have on the environment.
“This program basically shows students how small movements in the environment could change the whole ecosystem and its long term impacts.”