Ecotourism:
One Means of Attempting to Achieve Sustainability?
ENVS 2: International Environmental Issues
Thursday, 17 February 2005
Tom Hudspeth
The World Commission on Environment and Development
(Brundtland Commission) in Our Common Future (l987)
offered a definition of sustainability:
“...to meet the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Ecotourism
Technology transfer and diffusion of innovation from Global
South to Global North
Much to learn and draw from success stories in developing
countries
“Nature tourism involves travel to unspoiled places to
experience and enjoy nature. It usually involves moderate and
safe forms of exercise such as hiking, biking, sailing, and
camping.
“Wildlife tourism involves travel to observe animals (sic), birds,
and fish in their native habitats.
“Adventure tourism is nature tourism with a kick: it requires
physical skill and endurance (rope-climbing, deep-sea diving,
bicycling, or kayaking) and involves a degree of risk-taking, often
in little-chartered terrain.
Ecotourism
Defined by its benefits to both conservation and people in the host
country, as well by the recreational activities of the tourist
More than travel to enjoy or appreciate nature
Goes further than nature tourism, by striving to respect and benefit
protected areas as well as the people living around or on these lands
Definition of Ecotourism:
“Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the
environment and improves the well-being of local people.”
-The International Ecotourism Society or TIES (2003)
Definition of Ecotourism:
“Ecotourism is travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected
areas that strives to be low impact and (usually) small scale. It
helps educate the traveler; provides funds for conservation;
directly benefits the economic development and political
empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect for
different cultures and for human rights.”
-Honey (1999, p. 25)
Characteristics of Genuine or Authentic Ecotourism:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Involves travel to natural destinations
Minimizes impact
Builds environmental awareness
Provides direct financial benefits for
conservation
5. Provides financial benefits and empowerment for
local people
6. Respects local culture
7. Supports human rights and democratic
movements.”
-Honey, 1999, p. 22-24
Standards that Characterize Ecotourism:
1. Tourism activity in relatively undisturbed
natural settings
2. Minimal negative impacts on the environment
3. Conservation of natural and cultural heritage
4. Active involvement with and benefit to local
community
5. Tourism-generated profits contribute to
sustainable development
6. Educational experience for visitors that
incorporates both natural and cultural heritage
-Ceballos-Lascuráin
Guiding Principles for Ecotourism:
1. Tourist activiti es must not degrade the resource
2. Visitors should be offered educational first-hand experiences
3. All stakeholders (host community, gove rnment, non-governmental
organizations, industry, and tourists) must be involv ed
4. Tourism must respect the intrin sic value of natural resources
5. Tourism cannot overtax the resource supplies of the local region
6. Stakeholders must be encouraged to develop partnership s
7. Tourist revenue must provide conservation, scientifi c, or cultur al
benefits to the resource, local community, and industry as a whole
8. These benefits must be long-t erm.
-Pam Wight (1993)
Problems with Conventional Mass Tourism
(which has become synonymous with the four S’s: sun, sea, sand, and
sex):
 High infrastructure costs
 Overdevelopment and uneven development
 Adverse social effects, invasion by culturally insensitive and
economically disruptive foreigners
 Adverse environmental effects, pollution
 Meager economic benefits because of leakage, whereby most
of the profits do not stay in the host countries
Negative Sides of Conventional Tourism's Economic Boom:
 Often the only benefit to the local community is found in lowpaying, menial service-level employment as maids, waiters, and
drivers
 In most all-inclusive package tours, more than 80 percent of
travelers' fees go to the airlines, hotels and other international
companies, not to local businesses or workers.
 Large hotel chain restaurants often import food products to
satisfy foreign visitors and rarely employ local staff for senior
management positions, preventing local farmers and workers
from reaping the benefit of their presence.
 Resorts and hotels often over-consume natural resources like
water and power, forcing utility prices up and causing blackouts
and water shortages for locals.
Negative Sides of Conventional Tourism's Economic
Boom (continued):
Hotel shops often import or buy mass-produced gift items
instead of those produced by local craftspeople and artisans.
Many tourists never leave the hotel grounds or cruise ship,
reducing the possibility of tourist income for local businesses.
Faced with limited economic prospects, locals lose the
incentive to preserve and conserve their natural and cultural
resources.”
-Honey (1999, p. 9), TIES (2003)
Evolution of Ecotourism
1. Scientific, conservation, and nongovernmental
organization circles
2. Multilateral aid institutions
3. Developing countries
4. The travel industry and traveling public
Tourism



Since the 1990’s, vies with oil as the world’s largest legitimate
business.
Worldwide, tourism generates annual revenues of nearly 3 trillion
dollars and contributes nearly 11% of the global GNP, making it
the world's largest industry.
World’s number one employer, accounting for 10 per cent of jobs
globally.
Tourism
Ecotourism has become the most rapidly growing and most
dynamic sector of the tourism market.
1. >one-third of the U.S. traveling public had taken at least
one ecotour by the mid-1990’s.
2. Prior to September 11, ecotourism grew by 30 per cent
annual increase, compared to a 4 percent growth rate in
the U.S. travel industry.
Factors Indicating Ecotourism Is Likely to Thrive Over Time:
1. Increased awareness of environmental problems
among tourist populations,
2. Willingness of tourists to engage in socially-aware
travel, and
3. Interest in visiting lesser-known countries like
Thailand and Belize rather than traditional vacation
getaways” to places like Cancun and the Canary Islands.
- Lindsay (2003)
Profile of Ecotourists:
1. Most are between 31 and 50 years of age, equally divided
by gender, and physically active.
2. They tend to be better-educated professionals or
businesspeople, often from dual-income families with a
combined income of $50,00 or more who have a genuine
interest in learning something about nature.
3. They are discriminating, and they recognize quality and are
willing to pay for it.
4. Many belong to environmental organizations or profess an
interest in conservation.
5. Many are also socially-minded and interested in the
culture, history, and people in developing countries.
Authentic/Genuine Ecotourism Versus “Ecotourism Light”
“Greenwashing by superficial, feel-good rhetoric and minor costsaving modifications that do not transform tourism into a tool that
protects the environment, benefits local communities, and educates
the tourist
Pressing Issues and Challenges Which Must be Addressed in
Order to Fully Implement Ecotourism’s Principles:
 Local communities, sustainable development, and
empowerment
 Free trade versus local control
 Role of the state
 Leakage
 Visitors: how many and what kind?
 Effects on local cultures
 Boom and bust
 Standards, monitoring, and evaluation: by whom?
-Need for standards and independent third party
certification like sustainable forestry, fair trade coffee
and tea and cocoa, etc.
 Ecotourism in its national context”
-Honey (1999, p. 84-94)
Critics and Detractors of Ecotourism
 Biggest criticism: ecotourism plays a role in destroying the
culture and lifestyles of indigenous peoples which it claims it is
seeking to protect.
 TIES has been working on developing “Rights and
Responsibilities: Codes of Conduct for Tourism & Indigenous
and Local Communities.”
 Setting standards for the interaction between the tourism
industry and local communities, particularly indigenous
peoples, remains one of the most complex and difficult issues
within the ecotourism field.
Strategies to Achieve the Principles of Ecotourism:
1.
Keep the enterprise to a manageable scale. Small-scale
grass-roots development that incorporates the desires and
opinions of local people tends to be the best policy. Sustainable
development does not imply absolute limits on the number of
visitors, but limits based on present technology and organization
and on the capacity of the (environment) to absorb present forms
of damage.
2.
Ensure that construction and maintenance of ecolodges
follow environmental protocols to avoid degrading the very areas
that tourists value for their pristine qualities.
3.
Demonstrate an upfront commitment to environmental
objectives, provide quality leadership, and exploit small market
niches where personalized service and unique experiences are
favored over large-scale operations.
Strategies to Achieve the Principles of Ecotourism:
4. Education for host communities and for the tourists who
plan to visit them is key to providing both with a good
experience.
5. Prioritize conservation over short-term profit.
6. Gain local enthusiasm by doing as much as possible to
ensure that benefits are shared fairly and that no one shoulders
a disproportionate share of the cost.
7. Develop an economy that does not rely on tourism as the
sole source of income for the community.
Strategies to Achieve the Principles of Ecotourism:
8. Follow principles of common sense.
9. Gain necessary government support to provide financial
backing for rural and indigenous people who lack the
resources to acquire education or start up business initiatives,
to provide organization and coordination of ecotourism
efforts, to give small communities access to knowledge about
sustainable development, and to prevent abuses. But do not
allow government control to overshadow local interests.
10. Strive for local ownership and 80% local staffing.
What YOU (as a Responsible Ecotourist) Can Do!
 Choose locally-owned and operated lodges, hotels, tour guides.
Take advantage of local taxis, buses and car rental agencies.
 Support local and international tour companies and
accommodations that employ local people and purchase locallygrown foodstuffs.
 Eat in local restaurants and shop in local markets.
 Purchase souvenirs from local shops and artisans.
 When paying locals for goods or services, make every effort to
offer a fair price.
 Pay access fees to protected sites, even when voluntary. Your
money supports local efforts to conserve those areas.
 Frequent local cultural events. Your money helps local artists
and performers and encourages preservation of cultural heritage.”
-TIES (2003)
Summary
1. Ecotourism offers an opportunity for communities and individuals
that possess interesting natural and cultural resources “to develop
sustainable economic strategies, instead of pursuing
environmentally-damaging patterns of resource use.
2. Finding a compromise between preservation and development is
often challenging, and ecotourism can generate additional
environmental problems for the very regions it is intended to
protect.
3. Ecotourism can live up to its promise if it follows the principles of
wise development, adequately monitors and protects its resources,
and ensures fair distribution of profits within the host community;
and avoids the pitfalls of unsustainable or unregulated tourism that
damages the resources we all value.
4. While not a panacea or silver bullet, it does offer great promise.
UVM Travel-Study Courses to Latin America Studying
Ecotourism
 Focus: all address sustainability, ecotourism, and environmental
interpretation
 Starting point is one of humility, recognizing that we have more to
learn from them than they from us when it comes to living sustainably
 Venues:
-Brazil or Honduras during January break
-Belize over extended spring break
-Galapagos Islands & Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, or Costa
Rica during summer session
 First-hand knowledge about tropical forest ecosystems (as well as
coral reef ecosystems, in the case of Belize)
 Emphasis on community-based sustainable
development/conservation/ protection of biodiversity/ecotourism
Community-Based Conservation
 Members of the community cooperate in protecting the
biodiversity of their natural communities and offer ecotourism
efforts from which they benefit financially far more than they
would if they cut down the forests and engaged in slash-and-burn
agriculture or ranching, killed the wildlife, etc.
 Sharp contrast with the North American tradition of practicing
conservation by setting aside tracts of land as parks or other
protected areas