Trifter

Ecotourism is defined as “nature tourism” and has become of the most lucrative niche markets, as it represents 2-4% of all international travel expenditure. It is also an attractive option for the governments looking for ways of earning foreign exchange, as ecotourists are higher spender than “ordinary” mass tourists.

The positive impacts of ecotourism are for example that it can prevent urban drift, because it can provide an essential alternative income and the profits can used for a community’s development. In addition to this, ecotourism could also be an important means of protecting the world’s rapidly disappearing ecosystems and protect them from deforestation, agricultural or housing development, etc.

Ecotourism is not, however, necessarily “sustainable tourism”, as so-called eco-hotels not always take into consideration social and local economic factors, as well as environmental management issues. In Belize, for example, the tourism industry is now only interested in marketing and advertising a product than ensuring that Belizeans’’ goods are being preserve or that Belizeans are benefiting from tourism. Now, Belizeans are marginalized and have no access to their own goods.

Image by jrubinic via Flickr

The implementation of Ecotourism has also negative consequences, green washing for example, because there is no internationally accepted definition and anyone call anything eco even if it is not. Another negative aspect is tourism’s huge appetite for basic resources, what has meant that governments are finding themselves opposed over land rights by local people.

In some countries an “ecotax” has been implemented, in order to raise the funds to correct the serious environmental damage and to protect fragile areas.  Tourism operators have lobbied against it because of the risk they have to take, although, according to a survey, 64% of tourists are prepared to pay extra-money if it went towards environmental or social improvements.

Image by jrubinic via Flickr

Ecotourism needs, however, not only to provide good conservation measures, but meaningful community participation, what can make the tourism “product” more fairly traded. An example for community participation is Yachama Lodge in Ecuador, which was built by the Quichua community. While visitors stay at the Lodge, they can fish, swim and trek through the forests. Income from the lodge helps fund a health clinic, a bee farm and a perm culture farm.