Ecotourism 1

GEN 1030 Introduction to Environmental Studies

Project “Ecotourism: pro’s and con’s”

Ecotourism 2

Outline

Introduction

Advantages:1. Environmental:

a) Symbiotic relationship with nature b) Environmental education

2. Economic: a) Beneficial for the whole countryb) Beneficial for local people

Disadvantages1. Environmental:

a) Carbon footprintb) Illegal using of flora and fauna c) Necessity of building living rooms and hotels

2. Economic: a) Import leakageb) Exploitation of local tribes

Conclusion

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Ecotourism was firstly introduced in Africa in the 1950’s with the legalization of hunting (Miller, 2007). Before this date the concept of ecotourism was not widely recognized and understood properly. From 1980s the concept of ecotourism became more common and widely known (Weeks, 2009). According to Ceballos-Lascurain (1993), Mexican ecotourism and cultural tourism expert, "Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature accompanying cultural features, that promotes conservation, has low visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations”. In other words ecotourism is a type of tourism that involves visiting fragile, and usually protected areas.

Hovards (2006) defines 3 major types of ecotourism: • Nature-based ecotourism. This form of tourism based on direct interaction of tourists

with wild environment. It includes African safari, coral reefs diving, visiting national parks, etc.• Argo tourism is type of ecotourism where visitors are able to explore and experience

rural agricultural life, customs and try on native way of living (ex. visiting tea plantations in India).• Cultural tourism is a branch of ecotourism, which focused on region specific traditions

and lifestyle of the people in particular areas: history of those people, their art, religion and other cultural staff (ex. tribes in Africa).

Today ecotourism starts to gain popularity and becomes one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. It is extremely pleasant news because society concerns about environmental and global problems and would like to know more about them. However, this growing interest might give not only benefits but also it might lead to unwanted consequences.

Advantages:1. EnvironmentalThe major advantage of ecotourism is its low impact on the environment. Today it is very

hard or even impossible to find any human activity which is not harmful to our environment and nature. Every cause of ecological problem is directly connected with people’s activity. From an environmental point, ecotourism becomes more and more popular and widespread, because of its symbiotic relationship with nature (Sinha, 2006). From previous lectures we have already known that symbiosis means coexistence of 2 species. In this case ecotourism has no effect on our environment. That is why ecotourism and nature have the ability to exist together and benefit at the same time. How does it work? Very simply. We can enjoy the natural beauty and uniqueness, but do not touch and destroy it. The other side of such coexistence is money, got from tourists, will go to restoration and protection of natural resources. Another very important aim of ecotourism is environmental education. Ecotourism provides tourist with the great opportunity of learning with a help of nature. Tourists get very important experience: they face ecological problems by themselves. It educates people, makes them to think about nature. Also it teaches people how to take care of the environment.

2. EconomicalAnalyzing another positive aspect of ecotourism, Honey (2009) discusses that ecotourism

can generate valuable income for the host country and improve the lifestyle of people. The financial contributions to the host country through this new sector of the travel industry are

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collected in two ways: directly (through spending) and indirectly (through taxes, such as airport taxes). Money that is spent directly reaches the community, whereas money that is spent indirectly may reach the community if government ploughs it back. For example, to build new roads, to provide people with electricity, public transport, education and health services. Ecotourism dollars also provide economic benefits for local people in the form of park fees that will be useful for building schools and infrastructure (Powell, 2008). Svoronou (2005) says that ecotourism increases the national pride in the festivals, customs and stems the flow of people out of villages and into the cities, by providing jobs. For example, in Namibia local people are trained as guides, trackers, and in the hospitality industry. Facilities that have been developed for tourism can benefit the residents. For example, in Mae Hong Son there are some villages where their local people open their homes and welcome foreign visitors. Local people can earn more incomes by renting out their houses to the tourists.

Disadvantages:1. Environmental On the other hand, ecotourism has its own negative sides. One of them again is

connected with the environment. It is obvious that any kind of tourism is associated with flights. As the result, ecotourism can increase the level of carbon footprint created by flights to faraway places and make contribution to the problem of greenhouse gases (Cox, 2007). In this case ecotourism and tourist will become responsible for such contribution. Taking into consideration one of the purposes of tourism, we can easily say that every adventure and travel is associated with different souvenirs and things for refreshing memory. Unfortunately, local people can make the souvenirs from animal parts, including endangered species. Every tourist likes shopping and buying such souvenirs. However, buying them will only encourage local people to kill more and more animals in order to make money. Another problem appears because of the necessity of building living rooms and hotels (Svoronou, 2005). It will not be so beneficial for the environment, if building constructions take the place of forests and fields. Hotels and living rooms will lead to habitat destruction.

2. Economical Tourism in developing countries has many costs (Hook, 2004). For example, tourists

often insist on the same standards as they are used to in their country of origin. To meet their demands, the host country must import food and drinks. This is called import leakage: when much of the income from tourism leaves the country again to pay for imports (Honey, 2003). The same applies to spending on infrastructure to accommodate tourists’ demands. In addition, in peak seasons, there is pressure on infrastructure. For example, water is a scarce resource in Namibia and it is under even more stress when there are a significant number of tourists using the water resources.

Another problem appears with exploitation of local tribes because they are used as a cheap labor. Cox (2007) argues that ecotourism is spreading in developing countries very fast. This situation presents a significant change to wild habitats and indigenous people who have spent years being separated from consumerist nations. Honey (2003) points out that this problem is controversial because ecotourism offers financial benefits for the local community but at the same time it can exploit local tribes for cheap labor.

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To summarize all above mentioned fact, it is significant to emphasize the fact that ecotourism is a branch of tourism and it is main purpose is a joyful pastime and all mentioned problems were mentioned in order to increase our awareness about negative side of environmentally targeted holidays.

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References

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Honey, M. (2009). Community conservation and early ecotourism: Experiments in

Kenya. Retrieved from http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/January-

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Honey, M. (2003). Protecting Eden setting green standards for the tourism industry.

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McRandle, P. (2006). Low-impact vacations. Retrieved from

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Parks, T., Parks, T., & Allen, C. (2009). The development of a framework for studying

ecotourism. International Journal of Management, pp. 89-98.

Svoronou, E., & Holden, A. (2005). Ecotourism as a tool for nature conservation: The

role of WWF Greece in the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest Reserve in Greece. Journal of

Sustainable Tourism, pp. 456-467.

Tomazos, K., Butler, R. (2009). Volunteer tourism: The new ecotourism? Anatolia: An

International Journal of Tourism & Hospitality Research, pp. 196-211.

Weeks, K. (2009). Eco chic. Retrieved from http://eco-chick.com/2009/10/4596/eco-

chic-weekly-october-4-2009/