Criticism of Ecotourism

Construction of tourist facilities may increase the amount of jobs available to local people however it does also mean that more land is lost for natural habitats and although it is a necessary harm which is needed to increase economic activity there are few regulations on how much land can be used for new buildings and the removal of vegetation can increase soil erosion (Safariholidays 2011). Africa has a very delicate eco system which is highly vulnerable to drought and famine so although the benefits of tourism mean increasing sustainability in the long run it must be ensured that the locals receive some of

"Cannibal Tours" by Dennis O 'Rourke made me rethink my view of tourism. Whereas before I thought tourism could be a good way for people from different cultures to learn about each other, I now consider, it is necessary for tourists to show local people as they are here, to gain knowledge about villagers and give them knowledge of where tourists came from. Both parties should learn about each other culture, rather than taking pictures of what fascinates tourists the most. From “Cannibal Tours” I experienced, often we criticize another culture for being behind with technology, education and their way of thinking. For instance, in the film, it was clear that tourist and primitives had two different acts, first, an act of taking photographs of primitives, second an act of bargaining for second or third price. Tourists take a lot of advantage of weaker people and try to transform their way of life. After I watched the film, it made me think about the impact tourists have inflicted on the local people of New Guinea and their ways of life as their culture is slowly wearing away because of the invasion of tourists.

Tourism plays a significant role in sustainable development and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) wish to encourage all countries to make sure that their policies and actions for its development and management fully embrace the principles of sustainability. Likewise, policies to promote sustainable development should take full account of the opportunities offered by tourism. Various international conventions and declarations have put forward principles and guidelines for sustainable tourism and the importance of tourism and its sustainability was underlined at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. Many countries declare that they are pursuing, or wish to pursue, policies for ‘sustainable tourism’. Despite this interest, there remains a degree of uncertainty over the scope and priorities for making tourism more sustainable and only partial appreciation of how to put this into practice (Making Tourism More Sustainable, 2005).

Eco-tourism is when you travel to a natural space and appreciate nature and protect the environment. You also learn the past and present of the destination.

To study the ecotourism in Kenya, this report was written. Ecotourism is a travel to protected areas that attempts to be low impact and small scale. It helps to educate the traveller, provide funds for conservation, directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, and cultivate respect for different cultures and for human rights (Honey 2008, 33). However, the concept evolved to encompass considerably more than simply “nature-based travel” to “natural” areas, with subsequent definitions including the importance of distributing environmental and socio-economic benefits to the local population (Honey 2008; Ross and Wall 1999; Epler-Wood 2002). Kenya is one of the global leaders in tourism and community-based ecotourism, working with the many local ethnic group to protect the environment and local culture. Many activities such as game-viewing safaris

Ecotourism began in Costa Rica in the 1970’s. It was very small and began to grow exponentially in the late 1980’s. In 1970 Costa Rica had a GNP, gross national product of 1000 million in 1995 that number nonuple to 9000 million. Many consider 1978 the first year ecotourism began in Costa Rica. At that time, Costa Rica had a GNP/capita of 1500. After the ecotourism boom, the number ballooned to 2000 in 1992. It is evident by the 33% increase in GNP/capita that ecotourism was a positive influence economically on Costa Rica.

Researchers have different definitions for tourism. According to (Jafari,J.,2000)." "tourism is traveling to natural areas untouched and uncontaminated by human factor, with the specific purpose of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery, wild animals and plants in it, as well as any cultural events (past and present) found in these areas.

When it comes to the topic of ecotourism, most of us will readily agree that it is a less harmful alternative to mass-tourism and that it promotes responsible and low-impact travel to areas where flora, fauna and cultural heritage are the primary drawing power. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of what the impact of ecotourism actually is and what its long-term consequences are. Whereas some are convinced that ecotourism provides the basis for sustainable development, particularly in places that suffer from exploitation and excessive resources’ usage, and that could only improve the general conditions of the local people, others maintain that we are still far from true ecotourism, for many are those in the

In developing countries, many citizens define development as having a quality of life and surviving (citation 19:17). In contrast, societies in western countries often view development as a constant growth in technology, which often has negative impacts on the environment. As a result, the concept of sustainable development has been created to express new methods of evolving as a society without doing any damage to the environment (citation). In order to have economic gains in a country that practices sustainable development, it will be necessary for conservationists to promote tourism. For example, tourists often stay in resorts in Africa to admire wild predators, such as lions (citation). Although the development of resorts may have negative impacts on the environment, tourists contribute large amounts of money to the local communities. Additionally, trophy hunting serves as a reasonable form of sustainable development in countries where citizens are threatened by large predators. For example, in Tanzania, inhabitants have experienced falling victim to lion attacks (citation). Trophy hunting serves as a major form of development in Tanzania because individuals associate a numerical value with large animals (citation). This will result in an increased concern for the populations of these animals, which will promote conservation

The use of natural resources to attract tourists, if successful, leads to the obligation of an infrastructure upon ‘nature’. Over time, it is the manmade structures that maintain the desirability of the tourist resort, not the natural features that prompted the original.(Ryan, 1991) Thus by focusing too much on attracting tourists

As I was contemplating a topic for this paper on, I happened to be reading the chapter in Pastimes, our textbook, which talks about ecotourism and sustainable tourism. I frankly had never really considered the impact millions of visitors had on a state Park or national monument, and the idea of sustainable tourism as defined by Russell, “controlling visitation to tourist sites so that impacts are neither permanent or irreversible.” I found myself thinking more and more about leisure pursuits and how they do impact society as a whole. For example if I am a kayaker, what were the impacts of producing my kayak on the environment? What is the impact of me kayaking on fish and other wildlife in the river or lake ? Being a student, I don’t travel much and I am not a kayaker, but what about my own leisure activities? How does my primary hobby, gardening, either positively or negatively impact the environment and/or society as a

Ceballos-Lascurain (1993) defined ecotourism as, “Environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features - both past and present) that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations”.

In the above paper, Moorhouse et al. aim to independently assess different types of non-consumptive Wildlife Tourist Attraction (WTA), excluding zoos, for their implications on species conservation and welfare. They also compare the opinions of visitors to the attractions, using reviews left on TripAdvisor, with the results of their review. The general conclusion of the study is that WTAs have many negative effects that tourists are unaware of and that there is a need for much better public education on this

This report is all about the eco-tourism business in South Africa. The chosen business is wild life experience park in which different activities are included like wild life safari, eco-friendly boating, whale and dolphin watching. In the wild life experience park the species are protected because the different species are placed at different part of the jungle. This report demonstrate the brief knowledge about the eco-tourism, Sustainable eco-tourism, sustainable practices, Impact are minimized by the practices and how effective are their policies and procedure in reducing the impact.

The Travel and Tourism industry is still one of the largest single businesses in world commerce and its importance is widely recognized. The tourism industry is now one of the largest sectors earning foreign exchange. In the face of many benefits, many countries have started assigning due weight age to the tourism industry in their national development agenda. Tourism is an industry that operates on a massively broad scale: it embraces activities ranging from the smallest sea-side hotel; to air-lines, multi-national hotel chains and major international tour operators. Originally, non-traditional industries such as tourism emerged as a solution to strike a balance between ecology and industry