Though there are many definitions of ecotourism, the term is most commonly used to describe any recreation in natural surroundings. The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as: "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people".
Worldwide, tourism generates annual revenues of nearly 3 trillion dollars and contributes nearly 11% of the global GNP (Gross National Product), making it the world's largest industry. Although the events of September 11th rocked the tourism industry and made it difficult to predict long-term trends, ecotourism is a growing component of the larger tourism industry, and several factors indicate that it is likely to thrive over time. These factors include increased awareness of environmental problems among tourist populations, willingness of tourists to engage in socially-aware travel, and interest in visiting lesser-known countries like Thailand and Belize rather than traditional vacation getaways.
In 1993 the World Tourism Organization (WTO) estimated nature tourism generated 7 per cent of all international travel expenditure. More recent research reveals this is now much higher, accounting for 20 per cent of international travel in the Asia-Pacific region and some areas, such as South Africa, experiencing a massive growth in visitors of over 100 per cent annually.
Ecotourists tend to travel on economy and to use clean but private 2 or 3 star accommodation. They typically stay with local families, or at small, environmentally-friendly hotels called ecolodges. These opportunities for personal contact with members of the host community facilitate cross-cultural exchange and add greatly to the value of ecotourism experiences for some people.
Ecotourists are articulate, assertive and well educated. They demand quality experiences. When they are planning their trips ecotourists have many questions. They want to be informed on the best times to visit any particular site and what are the trade-offs going there at other times.
Amongst international ecotourists, most come from northern Europe and North America rather than from southern Europe or Latin America. Many Australians are also keen to experience ecotourism.
Practically speaking, ecotourism includes activities in which visitors enjoy hands-on experiences, such as bird-watching in the Brazilian rainforest, hiking in the mountains of Nepal, participating in a traditional village celebration, or taking a canoe trip down a river.
The following are just some of the many topics which interest ecotourists: local flora and fauna, geology (people are interested in soils and what makes them different), spectacular features (waterfalls, lakes, grand forests, rocky headlands, coral reefs), history and culture. The aspects ecotourists find very interesting are: customs and rituals, religion, traditional art and crafts (such as weaving), ceremonies (the Balinese attract many hundreds of people to their cremation ceremonies), traditional music and dance, traditional architecture and building, traditional lifestyle generally from the forms of agriculture to the diet and style of cooking.
There are many factors which attract ecotourists. Apart from the destinations providing quality information is the key factor to ecotourism. Ecotourists are prepared to endure a great deal of discomfort to explore areas if the subjects can be made interesting.
The more that it explained and the better the explanations, the more time they will spend exploring. Ecotourists don't want to be rushed. They prefer fewer stops with more quality time at each. They want to watch the sunsets. They want to be assured that they will get adequate, well planned quality-time.
Ecotourism has the capacity to deliver a lot of economic benefits to traditional cultures. However whether those benefits are realized depends on how ell the ecotourism is managed. Having a good resource to attract ecotourists is a good start but to get the greatest local benefits requires careful management to maximize the time which they spend locally. |
