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- Involves travel to natural
destinations. These destinations are often remote areas, whether inhabited
or uninhabited, and are usually under some kind of environmental protection
at the national, international, communal or private level.
- Minimizes Impact. Tourism
causes damage. Ecotourism strives to minimize the adverse affects of
hotels, trails, and other infrastructure by using either recycled materials
or plentiful available local building materials, renewable sources of
energy, recycling and safe disposal of waste and garbage, and environmentally
and culturally sensitive architectural design. Minimization of impact
also requires that the numbers and mode of behavior of tourists be regulated
to ensure limited damage to the ecosystem.
- Builds environmental awareness.
Ecotourism means education, for both tourists and residents of nearby
communities. Well before departure tour operators should supply travelers
with reading material about the country, environment and local people,
as well as a code of conduct for both the traveler and the industry
itself. This information helps prepare the tourist as The Ecotourism
Societies guidelines state"to learn about the places and peoples
visited" and "to minimize their negative impacts while visiting
sensitive environments and cultures". Essential to good ecotourism
are well-trained, multilingual naturalist guides with skills in natural
and cultural history, environmental interpretation, ethical principles
and effective communication. Ecotourism projects should also help educate
members of the surrounding community, schoolchildren and the broader
public in the host country. To do so they must offer greatly reduced
entrance and lodge fees for nationals and free educational trips for
local students and those living near the tourist attraction.
- Provides direct financial
benefits for conservation: Ecotourism helps raise funds for environmental
protection, research and education through a variety of mechanisms,
including park entrance fees, tour company, hotel, airline and airport
taxes and voluntary contributions.
- Provides financial benefits
and empowerment for local people: National Parks and other conservation
areas will only survive if there are "happy people" around
their perimeters. The local community must be involved with and receive
income and other tangible benefits(potable water, roads, health clinics,
etc.) from the conservation area and it's tourist facilities. Campsites,
lodges, guide services, restaurants and other concessions should be
run by or in partnership with communities surrounding a park or other
tourist destination. More importantly, if Ecotourism is to be viewed
as a tool for rural development, it must also help shift economic and
political control to the local community, village, cooperative, or entrepreneur.
This is the most difficult and time-consuming principle in the economic
equation and the one that foreign operators and "partners"
most often let fall through the cracks or that they follow only partially
or formally.
- Respects local culture:
Ecotourism is not only "greener" but also less culturally
intrusive and exploitative than conventional tourism. Whereas prostitution,
black markets and drugs often are by-products of mass tourism, ecotourism
strives to be culturally respectful and have a minimal effect on both
the natural environment and the human population of a host country.
This is not easy, especially since ecotourism often involves travel
to remote areas where small and isolate communities have had little
experience interacting with foreigners. And like conventional tourism,
ecotourism involves an unequal relationship of power between the visitor
and the host and a commodification of the relationship through exchange
of money. Part of being a responsible ecotourist is learning beforehand
about the local customs, respecting dress codes and other social norms
and not intruding on the community unless either invited or as part
of a well organized tour.
- Supports human rights and
democratic movements: Although tourism often is glibly hailed as a tool
for building international understanding and world peace, this does
not happen automatically; frequently in fact tourism bolsters the economies
of repressive and undemocratic states. Mass tourism pays scant attention
to the political system of the host country or struggles within it,
unless civil unrest spills over into attacks on tourists. Ecotourism
demands a more holistic approach to travel, one in which participants
strive to respect, learn about and benefit both the local environment
and local communities. Although not part of The Ecotourism Societies
definition, giving economic benefits and showing cultural sensitivities
to local communities cannot be separated from understanding their political
circumstances. In many developing countries, rural populations living
around national parks and other ecotourism attractions are locked in
contests with the national government and multinational corporations
for control of the assets and their benefits. Ecotourist therefore need
to be sensitive to the host country's political environment and social
climate and need to consider the merits of international boycotts called
for by those supporting democratic reforms, majority rule, and human
rights. For example the campaign by the African National Congress(ANC)
to isolate South Africa through a boycott of investment, trade, sports
and tourism helped bring down apartheid. Determining whether to boycott
or visit a country is not always easy. Among the questions to ask are:
Does the economic growth fueled by tourism really improve the chances
of human rights being respected? Will boycotting a country harm already
impoverished workers more than it will corporate or government titans?
Or are the short term economic penalties more than offset by the ultimate
benefits of change? If one visits a repressive state like China, Indonesia,
Peru or Syria, it is possible to make the trip rewarding both personally
and politically by consciously learning about the country beforehand,
meeting with dissidents and average folks, as well as government officials
while there, and speaking about the political climate, not just the
weather after returning home.
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Defining
"Ecotourism" a has proven to be a difficult task given all the
different players attempting to define it. People tend to define things
in terms that are beneficial to themselves, hence the variety of definitions.
There are however several workable definitions currently in wide use.