St.

Vincent College of Cabuyao

Barangay Mamatid, Cabuyao City, Laguna

Ecotourism Management

Since the late 1980s, ecotourism has been drawing interest as an alternative to mass
tourism. The term was originally equated with ecologically sustainable tourism but other
definitions such as the one from the Philippine Department of Tourism expanded its scope to
cover the cultural resources as well.

The development of ecotourism is supported by both supply and demands consideration. On the
supply side, may places possess significant natural and cultural assess. Philippine is ideal for
ecotourism development because of its outstanding natural and cultural asset. It is a
“megadiversity” hotspot with more than several hundred species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and
amphibians as well as a wide diversity of native trees, plants and flowers, 67% of which are unique
to the country.

Ecotourism also gained support as a controlled economic activity in protected areas where many
indigenous people live. This is because ecotourism provides a non-extractive means for making
money out of sensitive natural areas while having the potential to uplift the well-being of host
communities, including indigenous people.

Benefits and Cost of Ecotourism

Ecotourism offers many potential benefits:

1. Revenue Generation – Revenues can be created from entrance fees, user fees,
concessionaire rentals, and donations of tourist.
2. Local Employment – Local people can find employment as local tourism officers, tourism
planners, tour guides, waiters and vendors.
3. Environmental Conservation – the ecotourism focus embeds the values of conservation
among the local population who become the vanguards for protecting the environment.
4. Environmental Awareness – educating visitors on the importance of a clean and green
environment.
5. Appreciate the local culture
6. Opportunities – inclusion for women, indigenous communities, and vulnerable groups in
decision making and management of ecotourism areas

Classification of Ecotourism
In their review of literature, Alampay and Libosada (2003) cited various classification
system of ecotourism.

1. Acott, La Trobe, and Howard (1998), distinguished between deep and shallow ecotourism.
• Deep Ecotourism emphasizes the right of humans to survive and thrive
as any other species while aiming to minimize humans’ negative impacts
on living and nonliving things found in nature.
• Shallow Ecotourism support the notion of “people-nature dichotomy” and
the necessity of removing humans from “natural” areas in order to preserve
it. Shallow ecotourism see nature as an object for entertainment, and
something to be exploited to benefits humans
 St. Vincent College of Cabuyao
Barangay Mamatid, Cabuyao City, Laguna

2. Weaver’s (2001) hard-soft categorizations with their own dimension of visitor volume, it
come with their own classification of ecotourism consisting of four quadrants.
• Large Scale, Active Ecotourism – has higher volume of tourist consisting of
larger group; has emphasis on personal experience; western standard services
are not essential; there is some degree of standardization for trips and itineraries
• Smaller Scale, Active Ecotourism – has lower volume of tourist involving smaller
group; emphasis is still on personal experience but few. If any services are
expected; involves specialized trips and itineraries
• Larger Scale, Passive Ecotourism – attract higher volume of tourist. Involving
larger groups; emphasis is on interpretation and services and facilities are
expected
• Lower Volume, Passive Ecotourism – involves lower volume of tourist,
consisting of smaller groups; the emphasis is on interpretation and services and
facilities are expected.

Principles of Ecotourism
Here are the list of major values and principles of Ecotourism

1. Minimal Impacts
2. Environmental and cultural awareness and respect
3. Positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
4. Direct financial benefits for conservation
5. Financial benefits for local people and private industry
6. Memorable interpretation experiences to visitors
7. Design, construction, and operations of low-impact facilities
8. Recognition for the rights and beliefs of indigenous people.
9. Support for human rights and democratic movement.
10. Organized by specialized tour operator for small groups with services provider partners at
the destination
11. Generation of alternative income and employment opportunities
12. Promotion of well-being and community development
13. Interpretation
14. Education
15. Community Participation in Management
16. Ethics
17. Responsibility
18. Sustainability
19. Cultural Sensitivity
20. Inclusion of local community and indigenous people in development
21. Gender equality.