Ecological Tourism

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Recommended: Environmental impacts of tourism

Mass tourism is one of the largest industries in the world (Hunter, 2002). However, it can lead to many types of pollution such as noise, air and water pollution and it can be quite a negative impact on the environment (Marx, 1997). Ecological tourism on the other hand, can lead to more positive impacts and less negative ones. Ecological tourism has been growing rapidly in the travel industry (Higgins, 1996). This is most likely due to the fact that it has so many benefits. Ecological tourism can be defined as “travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people” (Winson, 2006, p. 8). Promoting ecological tourism will assist in reducing the amount of pollution, encourage environmentally friendly activities which may provide many opportunities and most of all, it will protect our environment.

Mass tourism can cause a large amount of pollution due to many tourists travelling by cars, buses, or airplanes, which can produce air and noise pollution (Marx, 1997). Noise pollution from airplanes can have a huge impact on the environment however, gaseous emissions are possibly the biggest issues concerning airplanes (Copeland, 1992). Traffic jams occur often as a result of mass tourism and that can cause more harm than good to the environment as well. This is known as congestion (Marx, 1997). Congestion also occurs in the air and is a huge threat to air travel as it leads to unnecessary consumption of energy, which increases waste. (Copeland, 1992). This proves that it should be a priority to cut back on how often individuals drive and fly and they should be conscious of how much energy they are using or even wasting. Air travel provides a lot of money for the tourism industry due to the fac...

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..., B. R. (1996). The global structure of the nature tourism industry: ecotourists, tour operators, and local businesses. Journal of Travel Research, 35(2), 11-18.

Hunter, C. (2002). Sustainable tourism and the touristic ecological footprint. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 4(1), 7-20.

Jacobson, S., & Lopez, A. (1994). Biological impacts of ecotourism: Tourists and nesting turtles in tortuguero national park, costa rica. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 22(3), 414-419

Marx, A. (1997). Towards sustainability? the case of tourism and the eu. European Environmental Law Review, 6(6), 181-186

Nimrod, G. (2007). Retirees’ leisure: Activities, benefits, and their contribution to life satisfaction. Leisure Studies, 26(1), 65-80.

Winson, A. (2006). Ecotourism and sustainability in cuba: Does socialism make a difference?. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14(1), 6-23.

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