Ecotourism

Ecotourism means ecological tourism, where ecological has both environmental and social connotations. It is defined both as a concept-tourism movement and as a tourism (specifically sustainable tourism) section.

Born in its current form in the late 1980's, Ecotourism came of age in 2002, when the United Nations celebrated the "International Year of Ecotourism". The meeting was a watershed event, but it was not created with those who had pioneered the niche.

There are various definitions as this is a vibrant movement and ecotourism may be defined by its lack of definition.

Generally speaking, ecotourism focuses on local cultures, wilderness adventures, volunteering, personal growth and learning new ways to live on the planet. It is typically defined as travel to destinations where the flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the adverse effects of traditional tourism on the natural environment, and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, initiatives by hospitality providers to promote recycling, energy efficiency, water re-use, and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities are an integral part of ecotourism.

Many global environmental organizations and aid agencies favour ecotourism as a vehicle to sustainable development.

Ideally, true ecotourism should satisfy several criteria, such as

For many countries, ecotourism is not so much seen as a marginal activity intended to finance protection of the environment than as a major sector of national economy and as a means of attracting tourists. For example, in countries such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product (or in Antarctica's case, economic activity).

The concept of ecotourism is widely misunderstood and, in practice, is often simply used as a marketing tool to promote tourism that is related to nature. Critics claim that ecotourism as practiced and abused often consists of placing a hotel in a splendid landscape, to the detriment of the ecosystem. According to them, ecotourism must above all sensitize people with the beauty and the fragility of nature. They condemn some operators as "green-washing" their operations — that is, using the label of "ecotourism" and "green-friendly", while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways.

Although academics argue about who can be classified as an ecotourist, and there is precious little statistical data, some estimate that more than five million ecotourists — the majority of the worldwide population — come from the United States, with other ecotourists coming from Europe, Canada and Australia.

Currently there are various moves to create national and international ecotourism certification programs, although the process is causing controversy. One example of ecoturism certificates has been put into place at Costa Rica, though the program has been dismissed as green-washing by others.

One criticism against ecotourism is that the air travel to often remote places is not included in the "environmental impact calculation". A journey to a place 10,000 kilometers away and home consumes about 700 litres of fuel per person. This issue was discussed in detail during the Environmental Impact of Transportation E-Conference http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/transportation.html

Another problem is that some of the destinations visited by ecotourists are extremely sensitive to environmental impact from human use (e.g. Antarctica, Amazonian Rain Forests, bird breeding colonies) and can be damaged even by careful travellers.

A new form of tourism is called Clean Tourism.

Ecological Mass Tourism (EMT)

When people think about the word ‘Ecological Mass Tourism’ they normally link it with negative thoughts of mass tourism that is associated with environmental degradation. The truth is we believe that Ecological Mass Tourism is beneficial for everyone, but in essence we must first understand what Ecological Mass Tourism actually encompasses: Mass Tourism: “refers to the steady stream of large numbers of tourists to holiday destinations.” Ecotourism “nature based tourism involving the education and interpretation of the natural environment and is managed to be ecologically sustainable. This definition also recognises that ‘natural environment’ includes cultural components and that ‘ecologically sustainable’ involves an appropriate return to the local community and long term conservation of the resource” Ecotourists: are tourists who participate in different sorts of nature based tourism. Furthermore “most ecotourists are often found to be residents of the developed world with above average incomes and educations.” By integrating all 3 words into 1 we have constructed our definition of Ecological Mass Tourism or (EMT) for short. Ecological Mass Tourism or (EMT): are large numbers of educated tourists and ecotourists participating within the realms of diversified forms of managed ecotourism. EMT also attracts tourists who not only participate in ecotourism, but also recognise its cultural components and its involvement with giving a fitting return to the local community and long term conservation of the resource.

In properly defining EMT we believe that it is beneficial to all parties involved, and more importantly it can also be perceived to be sustainable. In addition to this EMT also has the ability to be managed properly and has definite infrastructure, cultural and social benefits linked Ecological Mass Tourism does not go against the principle of mass tourism on the basis that it contains financial, cultural and social benefits associated with its concept.