ECO TOURISM
WEEK 1 Protected Areas
Definition of Eco Tourism
• The Oxford English Dictionary, the
word “ecotour” was first recorded in
1973, followed by “ecotourism” in
1982.
• “Tourism to areas of ecological
interest (typically exotic and often
threatened natural environments),
especially to support conservation
efforts and observe wildlife; spec.
access to an endangered
environment controlled so as to have
the least possible adverse effect.”
• Ecotourism was perhaps best
defined in 1990 by Megan Epler
Wood, the co-founder of The
International Ecotourism Society
(TIES) and author of six influential
books on the subject.
Brief History of Eco Tourism
• Ecotourism’s earliest origins
arguably began with the Sierra
Club’s Outing program. Launched in
1901, these annual expeditions took
hikers into the Sierra Nevada’s
backcountry in order to show
members natural wonders, “so that
those persons could become active
workers for the preservation of the
forests.”
• The modern movement began to
take root in the environmental
activism of the 1970s.
• Some sources suggest that the term
ecotourism was originally coined by
Mexican architect-turned-
environmentalist Héctor Ceballos-
Lascuráin. He used the word to
describe traveling to undisturbed
areas in order to enjoy their natural
beauty and culture.
Principles of Eco Tourism
• Ecotourism is essentially all about
bringing nature/wildlife
conservationists, local communities,
and the responsible travel industry
together to ensure development
focused on long-term sustainability
rather than short-term profits.
• The goal is to develop tourist
accommodations, activities, and
attractions that benefit everyone
involved– the local flora/fauna, the
local people, travel industry
stakeholders, and travelers alike.
WEEK 2
• Provide drinking water
• Store the same amount of carbon as
the tropical rainforests
• Keep us healthy
• Help reduce the risks and
consequences of extreme events
• Enhance food security
• Provide homes, jobs and livelihood
Characteristics of hard and soft
ecotourism as ideal types
Hard (Active, deep)
• Strong environ commitment
• Enhance sustainability
• Specialized trips
• Long trips
• Small groups
• Physically active
• Physical challenge
• Few if any services expected
• Emphasis on personal experience
• Make own travel arrangements
Soft (Passive, Shallow)
• Moderate environ commitment
• Steady state sustainability
• Multi-purpose trips
• Short trips
• Larger groups
• Physically passive
• Physical comfort
• Services expected
• Emphasis on interpretation
• Rely on travel agents and tour
operators
Distribution of Eco Tourism in Protected
Areas
Three types of area
• Heavily develop sites, or sacrificial
space
• Immediate hinterland
• Transportation corridors and other
access roads
Modified Area
Modified Spaces - Based on natural
environment “or some element thereof”,
provide ecotourism experiences in
extensively modified venues
• Enrich learning
• Occupies a very large and
expanding portion of the world’s land
area
 • Divert pressure away from WEEK 3-4
vulnerable natural environments
Principles and Guidelines of Ecotourism
Agricultural Land
• Ecotourism attracts people who wish
• Food-producing land to interact with the environment and,
• Occupies about half of the world’s in varying degrees, develop their
land surface knowledge, awareness, and
appreciation of it.
Urban Spaces
• The Ecotourism Society gives the
• Municipal parks, cemeteries, and principles and guidelines of
golf courses ecotourism. These are following as:
• Offers diverse wildlife habitat • Prepare travelers to minimize their
• Remnants natural spaces that negative impact while visiting
harbor wildlife sensitive environments and cultures
before departure.
Artificial Wetlands • Prepare traveler for each encounter
with local cultures and with native
• Irrigation, dams
animals and plants.
• Often attractions enormous variety
• Minimize visitors impacts on the on
of wildlife
the environment by offering
• Eventually resemble a natural,
literature, briefing, leading by
undisturbed habitat in their
example, and taking corrective
complexity
actions.
Artificial Reels • Minimize traveler impact on cultures
by offering literature, briefings,
• Unintentional or intentional leading by example, and taking
• Shipwrecks or other solid materials corrective actions.
• Artificial reefs for improving habitat • Use adequate leadership, and
of commercial fish population maintain small enough groups to
Dive Sites of Subic Bay ensure minimum group impact on
destination. Avoid areas that are
Wreck sites under-managed and over-visited.
1. Oryuko Maru • Ensure managers, staff and contract
2. Seian Marua employees know and participate in
3. USS New York all aspects of company policy to
prevent impacts on the environment
4. LCU
5. Japanese Patrol Boat and local cultures.
6. USS Lanikai • Give managers, staff and contact
7. El Capitan employees access to programmes
8. LST that will upgrade their ability to
9. San Quentin communicate with and manage
10. Barges clients in sensitive natural and
11. Sakura Maru cultural settings.
12. F4 Phantom (Not shown) • Be a contributor to the conservation
of the region being visited.
Reef sites • Provide competitive, local
employment in all aspect of business
1. Arizona Muck
2. Castle Rock operation.
3. Lighthouse Reef • Offer site-sensitive accommodations
4. Airport Reef that are not wasteful of local
5. Nabassan Reef resources or destructive to the
6. Canyons environment, which provide ample
opportunity for learning about the
Wasteland environment and sensitive
interchange with local communities.
• Most modified and degraded sites
• Focuses on personally experiencing
have ecotourism potential
natural areas in ways that led to
• Devastated areas by war, mining,
greater understanding and
deforestation, storage of
appreciation
contaminated materials, overgrazing
Characteristics of Eco-Tourism
• Ecotourism is travel to fragile,
pristine, and usually protected areas
that strives to be low impact and
(often) small scale. It helps educate
the traveler, provides funds for
conservation, directly benefits the
economic development and political
empowerment of local communities,
and fosters respect for different
cultures and for human rights.
Some important characteristics of
ecotourism are following as:
1. Involves travel to the natural
destination. These destinations are
often remote areas, whether
inhabited or uninhabited, and are
usually under some kind of
environmental protection at the
national, international, communal, or
private travel.
2. Minimize impact. Tourism causes
damage. Ecotourism strives to
minimize the adverse effects of
hotels, trails, and other infrastructure
by using either recycled or plentifully
available local building material,
renewable sources of energy,
recycling and safe disposal of waste
and garbage, and environmentally
and culturally sensitive architectural
design.
3. Builds environmental awareness.
Ecotourism means education, for
both tourist and residents of nearby
communities. Well before the tour
begins, tour operators should supply
travelers with reading material about
the country, environment, and local
people, as well as a code of conduct
for both the traveler and the industry
itself. Ecotourism projects should
also help educate members of
surrounding communities,
schoolchildren, and the broader
public in the host country.
4. Provides direct financial benefits for
conservation. Ecotourism helps raise
funds for environmental protection,
research, and education through a
variety of mechanisms, including
park entrance fees; tour company,
hotel, airline, and airport taxes. And
voluntary contributions.
5. Provides financial benefits and
empowerment for local people.
Ecotourism holds that national parks
and other conservation areas will
survive only if, there are happy
people around the perimeters. The
local community must be involved
with and receive income and other
tangible benefits (potable water,
roads, health clinics, etc.) from the
conservation area and its tourist
facilities.
6. Respects local culture. Ecotourism is
not only “greener” but also less
culturally intrusive and exploitative
than conventional tourism. Whereas
prostitution, black markets, and drug
often are byproducts of mass
tourism, ecotourism strives to be
culturally respectful and the human
population of a host country.
7. Supports human rights and
democratic movements. The United
Nations-sponsored World Tourism
Organization proclaims that tourism
contributes to “international
understanding, peace, prosperity,
and universal respect for and
observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms for all. Such
sentiments, however, are little
reflected in conventional mass
tourism. In this way, ecotourism
supports humans rights and, to
establish international peace.
Segment of Eco Tourism
• Ecotourism in wild life
• Eco adventure travels
• Sustainable tourism
• Responsible tourism
• Nature base travels
• Green travels
• Cultural tourism
WEEK 5
Eco Tourism Management
The popular appearance of ecotourism in
the late 1960s was treated as a panacea to
all tourism-related problems in the
destination areas. Its popularity claimed to
be associated with the:
• general search for natural attractions
during a holiday
• eagerness to achieve sustainable
development by any means
• Potential employment opportunities
in natural areas
• Shift towards planning in protected
areas
Conceptual Definition of Eco Tourism
• Ecotourism was first defined as
‘traveling to relatively undisturbed or
 uncontaminated natural areas with
the specific objective of studying,
admiring, enjoying the scenery and
its wild plants and animals, as well
as any existing cultural
manifestations found these areas.
Trade-Off Technical Definitions of Eco
Tourism
• In the very weak definition, the
core emphasis could be given to
the natural-based component.
• In the weak definition, the core
emphasis could be given mainly
to the natural-based component
and to a lesser degree on the
educational and sustainability
components.
• In the strong definition, a
definition could stress the
measurement of the basis of
ecotourism practices in both
protected and non- protected
areas, which generates a high
level of
education/conservation/economi
c/social/cultural benefit to the
destination.
• In the very strong definition, all
three elements should be equally
considered, but with less
emphasis on the economic
aspects of ecotourism.
Components of Eco Tourism
The Natural-Based Component
• An area dedicated primarily to the
protection and enjoyment of natural
or cultural heritage, to maintenance
of biodiversity, and /or maintenance
of ecological life-support services.
Activities of Eco Tourism in a Natural
Setting
• Activities dependent on nature (bird
watching)
• Activities enhanced by nature
(camping)
• Activities where the natural setting is
incidental (swimming)
Generalize type of Recreation activity
• Kinetic experiences were non-
mechanically powered activities
such as hiking, diving, swimming
• Situation-based experience entail a
strong association with the
destination as a unique
characteristic
• A substitution or aesthetic
experience includes observation of
natural phenomena, for example bird
watching
Local Issues
• Involvement of the host community
• There are at least five areas where
local people can help to bring about
nature tourism activities: information
gathering, consultation, decision
making, initiating action and
evaluation
• Multiplier effect increases through
improved employment and higher
earnings of the local population
Educational Impacts
• Education and interpretation have to
be the foundation and this should
aim to include the local community
and both domestic and international
travelers
• Provide onsite educational
programmes at the destinations
Ecotourism Management
Considerations: Impacts Perspective
• Governments and non-governmental
organizations around the world are
developing and promoting
ecotourism in protected areas to
benefit local communities and to
help preserve the environment and
different ecosystems
• Be integrated in the planning and
development of ecotourism projects
at an early stage
• Evaluation of the knowledge of
ecotourism impacts can be
considered by understanding the
host community’s sensitivity of the
positive and negative environmental,
economic and social impacts of
ecotourism
Economic Impacts
• DIRECT impacts are those arising
directly from tourist spending
• INDIRECT impacts are those such
as when a restaurant is purchasing
supplies in order to cater to tourist
• INDUCED impacts are those such
as when an employee who works in
a restaurant buy goods and services
from wages earned
Environmental Impacts

• Ecotourism is usually concentrated

in sensitive and unique
environments.
Ecotourism Management
Considerations: Marketing Perspective
Social Impact

• People from different cultures and

societies meet and especially when
tourism development takes place it
becomes more noticeable

• The process of planning and

executing the conception, pricing,
promotion, and distribution of ideas,
goods, and services to create and
maintain exchanges that satisfy
individual, organizational, and
societal goals in the systemic
context of global environment.

• Four Ps- product, place, price and

promotion
Ecotourism Management
Considerations: A Demarketing
Perspective

• GENERAL DEMARKETING required

when an organization wants to
shrink the level of total demand

• SELECTIVE DEMARKETING
required when a company wants to
discourage the demand coming from
certain customer classes

• OSTENSIBLE DEMARKETING
involves the appearance of trying to
discourage demand as a device to
actually increase it