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 International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people". However, this is a vibrant, new movement and there are various definitions.

Eco-tourism 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

conservation (and justification for conservation) of biological diversity and cultural diversity, through ecosystems protection
promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, by providing jobs to local populations
sharing of socio-economic benefits with local communities and indigenous people by having their informed consent and participation in the management of ecotourism enterprises.
increase of environmental & cultural knowledge

minimisation of tourism's own environmental impact
affordability and lack of waste in the form of luxury
local culture, flora and fauna being the main attractions

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. A very good example of ecoturism certificates has been put into place at Costa Rica, which is also a country of reference in the ecoturism world.

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 km away and home consumes about 700 litres of fuel per person. 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.

Environmentally Responsible Hotels

One component of ecotourism travelers can consider is environmentally responsible hotels. The concept of “green hotels”—hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, lodges, and inns that use energy and other natural resources in environmentally responsible ways—is one that can be adopted not only by ecotourists but by anyone who travels, whether for business or pleasure. Hotels that adopt green practices help reduce the negative impact that hotel use has on the environment when they utilize renewable resources whenever possible, make efficient use of nonrenewable resources, and ensure that any byproducts that result from their operations are reused or recycled.

Examples of green practices some hotels have adopted include rerouting waste water to irrigate their golf courses and salvaging the sludge to use as fertilizer; reducing laundry water temperatures from 90 degrees C to 60 degrees C, replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lamps, installing low-flow shower head and low-flow toilets, offering a sheet and towel reuse program whereby guests have their linens exchanged every two to three days instead of daily, installing solar panels to heat water, implementing a hotel-wide recycling program, and replacing individual soaps and lotions with wall dispensers. Adoption of green practices typically helps hotels realize considerable savings that can range from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Although the number of hotels adopting green practices is growing, many have not yet embraced the concept. All travelers can support green hotels, encourage nongreen hotels to adopt environmentally responsible practices, or engage in such practices themselves whenever they are hotel guests.

External links

Tourism | Ecology | Environment

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Environmentally Responsible Hotels

See also

External links