Kenyan Tourism Industry

Tourism is the world’s largest industry with nature-based ecotourism seeing rapid growth since its initial arrival in the 1980s. It is estimated by the World Tourism Organisation that nature tourism generates 7% of all international travel expenditure (Lindberg, 1997) and this figure will have increased rapidly over recent years. It’s increase in popularity is due to a number of factors; tourists becoming increasingly bored of the typical sun, sea and sand holiday’s, the increase in global awareness or environmental issues such as global

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.

Williams Powers, an ecotourist activist wrote in his book, Whispering in the Giants Ear, “That which we allow to exist, to flourish freely according to its own rhythms, is superior to anything our little hands create.” Ecotourism is defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

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

You know that feeling you have when you are in a place so beautiful that it takes your breath away? That’s exactly what it feels like to be in Brazil. I have never been to a place more colorful, unique or magnificent than Brazil. And I believe that I would not have had such an amazing trip if I had not chosen to travel with Ideia Tours. I choose Ideia Tours because they are a certified sustainable tour operator and I wanted to have an experience that was conscious about the impact tourism has on a destination. Before traveling, I wanted to find out where Ideia’s sustainable certification label came from and how it adheres to the World Tourism Organization’s three main aspects of sustainable

Most people hear the word ecotourism and immediately tune out because they assume it does not apply to them. Well you know what happens when someone assumes. The facts are that at a point in someone's life their parents dragged them to go on a tour of a some sort of nature. The parents probably told them not to hurt it and in doing so they have been an ecotourist! Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas or nature-based areas that conserves the environment and preserves the well-being of local people. Some ecotourists mess up sometimes and others do not. Although many people think Ecotourism is butchering the environment, it actually can be beneficial for the environment and the people involved.

Ecotourism is one of fast growing sectors in tourism industry. It is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.” by the International Tourism Society (TIES). Tourists choose the ecotourism package or accommodations because they want to minimize bad effects and give benefits back to the communities. However, a word of ecotourism do not qualify that has same sustainable levels of tourism products. Few governments and interest groups of tourism are using the word ‘ecotourism’ to advertise their destination. Unprotected locals and wildlife animals can be damaged under the name of ecotourism.

The idea that led to Ecotourism emerged in the late sixties when people like Oswaldo Muñoz, now president of the Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association, started guiding tourists around their countries to view natural wonders. Many companies began to set up lodging near parks and reserves and even began to develop tours of those areas. The vision of showing off exotic plants, animals and the overall natural beauty of countries like Ecuador also attracted them. Yet early on, this did little to help the local economies. It actually contributed to other problems: In Ecuador, half of the country's rain forest disappeared, and environmental groups and other organizations promoting ecotourism flocked to places where endangered species, including many indigenous populations, lived. But with the growing environmental awareness of

Ecotourism is the activity of going to natural environments and enjoying what it has to offer such as breath taking scenery and wildlife. Home to approximately four million people (“Costa Rica”), Costa Rica is known for being one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world which leads to the popularity of ecotourism in the country. There is a growing demand of eco-tourists and this country is able to fulfill the market. The developing country has much to offer such as rain forests, natural parks, and wildlife. Tourists are inclined to visit the protected areas and natural parks. As a result, these natural resources bring tourists income into the country. Although the government’s attempts at attracting visitors to the ecotourism industry in Costa Rica seem to be successful, it also has its negative effects on the economy.

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

Ecotourism is directed towards natural, fragile and relatively undisturbed environments, intended to support conservation efforts, economical benefits for local communities, observe wildlife in natural environments and as an educational alternative (Scheyvens, 1999). Developed and maintained to remain sustainable indefinitely, causing no change, alterations or degradation to the environment and surrounding areas (Reynolds and Brathwaite, 2001).

Often times when people think think of the environment they think of fields, lakes, or wild animals. This, however, is no longer the reality of our world today. Because of human impacts on the environment, fields have been turned to shopping malls, lakes have been dried up, and undomesticated creatures are being wiped out by the thousands. One main perpetrator of this destruction is ecotourism. ecotourism is defined as, “travel to natural areas in ways that conserve the environment and improve the welfare of local people.” (“Significance of Protecting Natural Sites for Ecotourism Development”). The term “ecotourism” was first used in the 1970’s, but became popular only in 1990 when the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) was founded.The main goals of ecotourism were to have a means for people to tour natural places, but without having a negative impact on the environment. (“Ecotourism”). This, however, has not been the case. Preservation of the environment is no longer the main goal of ecotourism companies, for the great profits have become many of their main concerns. The positives aspects of ecotourism are not worth the extinction of endangered animals, the overuse of natural resources, and the disturbance of local communities.

Ecotourism; the careful development end management of tourism in areas of unspoiled natural beauty, so that the environment is preserved and the income form tourism contributes to its conservation. (Chambers 21st century dictionary, 1996)

Table 1 presents the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The sampled visitors comprised 70.9% males and 29.1% females. This is inconsistent with the previous studies such as Hu and Lu (2014) that observed that 60.5% of the tourists to ecotourism sites in Zhejang in China were female. The dominant age group of the tourists was 25-54 years, which is the second highest national age group in Nigeria (CIA Factbook, 2016). The majority of the visitors had professional / management occupation. The visitors represented a well-educated segment of the population, with 50.6% having completed Bachelor Degree/ Higher National Diploma. Earlier studies by Coghlan (2011) in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef reported that there were more students and professionals as tourists and were educated. Majority (58.3%) of those included in the study earned less than N18,000 (USD112.5) (USD1= N160 at the time of this study) in a month with 32.0% an indication that their income was lower than the approved minimum wage in the country which is N18,000 (USD112.5). In addition, only 32.0% were members of environment related NGOs; this might be due to low level of the activities and outreach of environment related NGOs in most part of the country. Findings on trip characteristics (Table 2) showed that 80.0% visit the parks occasionally which were an indication that the ecotourists were not frequent in the parks. Furthermore, 76.6% were night visitors, 45.7% were in the

Environmental conservation efforts are currently being undertaken throughout Chile, not only by the Chilean government, but also the concerned individual citizens, grassroots organizations, international non-profit organizations promoting sustainable growth and environmentally responsible tourism. These organisations work with indigenous groups to prevent deforestation and develop sustainable use of Chile's native forests. (Society, 2012) Countries could adopt the conservation measures which Chile has done to ensure the environmental sustainability of adventure tourism.