Currently, ecotourism is rapidly becoming one of the world’s largest industries. According to the World Trade Organization, 600 million people traveled to see “environmental areas” in 2000, spending more than 500 billion U.S. dollars. This makes ecotourism one of the world’s number one earners, ahead of automotive products, chemicals, petroleum, even food .
But, what exactly is ecotourism? Ecotourism happens to be a special branch of tourism. The Conservation International defines it best saying it is “responsible travel that promotes the conservation of nature and sustains the well being of local people .”
There has been dramatic growth of participation in outdoor recreation and ecotourism activities. The bad impacts of ecotourism have led to high demands and this has attracted tourist developers looking to access the environment, “answering the tourist’s demands”.
Unfortunately, there are very few rules or regulations regarding ecotourism and its development. And because of the lack of rules tourism developers are destroying the environment. This problem can not go unnoticed. We are running out of places to ruin, and we will soon not have any where to call home.
According to Erlet Cater and Gwen Lowman,
“The much needed rules and regulations must include good and environmentally sensitive, infrastructure-including airports, transport and communications networks, and sanitation and electricity supplies. But above all else, sustainable ecotourism requires careful planning ”.
Without this planning, ecotourism is doing more harm that good.
I will show how these tourist developers are putting huge strains on the environment and how the effects of this behavior will eventually leave the land with the inability to cope with the drastic changes. I believe with carefully planned ecotourism development and rules and regulations, we can make ecotourism and the environment blend simultaneously.
First, the tourist developers are adding increased pressure to the limited natural resources, especially in places...
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...ions to stop all this destructive behavior.
Letting this growing problem go unnoticed will lead to the environment’s crumbling. We have no other options when it comes to living on another planet, at least at the moment. We need to establish harsher rules and take better care of where we call home.
In conclusion, now that I have explained what tourist developers are doing wrong and what they are doing to destroy our environment we can see that the effects of their behavior have been devastating. We are running out of places to ruin and resources to use up. Someone must step up and create rules so we can protect our environment instead of destroying the earth.
Bibliography
Cater, Erlet, and Lowman, Gwen. Ecotourism-a sustainable option?. New York, 1994.
Croall, J. (1995) Preserve or Destroy: Tourism and the Environment. London:Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
“Ecotourism.” Online Posting. 2 February 2002. 27 January 2004.
Theobald, William. Global Tourism: the next decade. Oxford, 1994.
Worpole, K. (1999) Driving Forces. The Guardian, 8 June.
This aspect is “The Double-edged Sword of Ecotourism.” In this chapter, Stanford expresses the positives and negatives of ecotourism. Ecotourism is a form of tourism which involves visiting fragile and undisturbed natural areas and in this case, the main reason is to see gorillas. Ecotourism has its good and bad. It is good because those poor communities that live close to the habitats of the apes can have a source of revenue. Those areas are really poor, and with ecotourism, they can earn about $9000 dollars a month. However, those areas may not exactly be the safest. Stanford cites a 1999 cross border attack by rebel groups in Rwanda in which 8 ecotourists were murdered and this attack deterred tourist from going there for many months. Another negative aspect of ecotourism is how it affects the apes. Although, many apes who do live in these areas of habituation and have tourists coming in and out, the apes develop really high stress levels. When humans move too quickly or make loud noises, the apes are stressed out and can flee. Not only that, but increased stress levels lowers their immune systems making them more susceptible to disease. Stanford ends this chapter saying that ecotourism is bound to happen if the countries are too poor to provide for their people and that “the apes will have to live with the results” (190). In
There has been intense controversy in regards to Hawai’i and Charleston, South Carolina’s strong dependence on tourism as a means to help stimulate their economies. On an economic standpoint, there has been substantial support in regards to the benefits tourism has had in helping to sustain economic revenue in both areas (Blair, 2010; Frampton, 2010; Smith, 2010). Environmentalists, however, are becoming concerned about the posed environmental effects caused by the increase in tourism to Hawai‘i, while those of whom call Charleston home feel as if they are being plagued by an overrun of tourists to the area (Bly, 2010; Conrow, 21). In this proposed paper, I will explore the economic advantages and the environmental concerns associated with tourism in Hawai’i and Charleston, South Carolina.
At our current rate, humankind is speeding towards a frightening and destructive inevitability. Endangered species and biodiversity are sacrificed to line the pockets of billionaires; urban sprawls are favoured over natural land; new coal mines are opening; and indigenous cultures are being drowned in cement. Our environmental ecosystem is fragile to begin with, and we are steadily and masochistically doing more and more irreversible damage.
If the native people (whose best interest was at heart initially) are not benefiting from Ecotourism, then why has it been allowed to exist? The answer is simple: greed and selfishness. History 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.
Impacts of Tourism in Swanage Tourism has the potential to create impacts on the environment and communities that it relies on to accommodate visitors. Its impacts are mitigated by the long history of tourism activity. Communities have become used to tourism activity, and management measures to limit some areas of environmental damage have been implemented. Nevertheless, some impacts are far ranging, and they are set out below: * Inappropriate Development An increase in visitors can lead to pressure for new developments to serve and capitilise on their needs, eg. Caravan parks, visitor centres, cafes, signs, car parks, and additional accommodation.
Neth, B., 2008. Ecotourism as a Tool for Sustainable Rural Community Development and Natural Resources Management in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Researve. Kassel: Kassel University Press GmbH,
One of the key elements of tourism is the quality of the environment, both natural and man-made. Tourism however, can have a negative effect on the environment due to people not caring for the environment because it is not an area where they normally reside, so they do not consider what long-term effects that their temporary actions may have. Tourism that is not regulated or controlled can lead to negative environmental impacts on air, water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife quality and sustainability.
The article provides checklists to see whether or not it is ecotourism, with some key features being the companies relationship to the natives, if they act for convince or for nature, and if they are a certified ectourism company. The authors also talk of the consequences of ecotourism by exemplifying the Galapagos Islands boom in “ecotourism” as a negative impact that brought invasive plants, animals, and even pirates to the islands. They then point at the path to a solution for the Galapagos Islands through legislation, tour design and interpretation, and lessening their environmental impact. McElrath, Kolby. 17 February 2016.
Ecotourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.” Ecotourism splits from traditional tourism by creating the intent to experience the people of that culture. It also encourages protection of endangered environments that are home to rare species of plants and animals.
This essay is the respond to the Local Council Member who has wrong idea about a common archetype of adventure tourist. This misconception based on ignorance of current tourism industry, could potentially be a dangerous for local economy and development. The local authority must be well informed about present conditions with the tourism market, before they will make a far reaching decisions about the development direction in this industry. Currently, there are many organisations whose monitoring an international tourism business and this knowledge supposed to be good use for our common good.
Nowadays in the rea of globalization, according to the World Tourism Organization, “seven hundred million people travelled abroad in 2003”, and the number is estimated to increase to 1.6 billion by 2020. (International Labour Organization, 2005). Tourism is spreading in unusual places. A lot of people want to be in the midst of adventure. It is a vital source of revenues for the GDP of many countries. I partially agree that tourism hugely benefits the local community. This essay will discuss some of the economic, social and environment effect of tourism on the host community.
Adventure tourism: tourism involving travel in rugged regions, or adventurous sports such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping).
New Zealand tourism is largely reliant on 'Eco-tourism' so to maintain the tourism industry it is imperative that our environment is conserved. However tourism itself can have negative effects on the environment. The tourism sector must act responsibly in its use of the environment and any use must be sustainable.
Belsoy, J. 2012, ‘Environmental Impacts of Tourism in Protected Areas’, Journal of Environmental and Earth Science, vol. 2, pp. 10.
One of the most essential things for tourism to be successful in a particular place is a quality of the environment both natural and man-made. However the tourism industry involves doing many activities that have a negative effect on the environment.