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Ecotourism

Ecotourism was coined in 1983 and aims to preserve natural beauty and generate revenue through nature-based tourism. It involves responsible travel to natural areas to experience and learn about the environment without disrupting ecosystems. Ecotourism should benefit local communities economically and empower them to conserve natural and cultural resources through participation in tourism planning and management. The key principles are to minimize environmental and cultural impacts, educate travelers on conservation, and ensure local communities directly benefit from tourism revenues.

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217 views3 pages

Ecotourism

Ecotourism was coined in 1983 and aims to preserve natural beauty and generate revenue through nature-based tourism. It involves responsible travel to natural areas to experience and learn about the environment without disrupting ecosystems. Ecotourism should benefit local communities economically and empower them to conserve natural and cultural resources through participation in tourism planning and management. The key principles are to minimize environmental and cultural impacts, educate travelers on conservation, and ensure local communities directly benefit from tourism revenues.

Uploaded by

Thanoj Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ecotourism

Introduction

. Over the years tourism plays as an important role in global development. The International
Union for Official Travel Organization (IUOTO) now called World tourism organization
(WTO) has defined tourist as temporary visitor staying for atleast twenty four hours in a
country visited and the purpose of whose journey can be classified under one of the
following heading:(A) leisure-recreation, holiday, health, study ,religion and sports;
(B)business ,family ,mission ,meetings. On the basis of purpose tourism is again divided
into various types. Such are medical tourism, religious tourism, health tourism, ecotourism,
coastal tourism, tribal tourism, commercial space tourism, mountain tourism, domestic
tourism, internal tourism and international tourism. Our late prime-minister Jawaharlal
Nehru considered the tourist as ambassador of foreign countries and tourism as gate way to
develop diplomacy.

The Concept of Eco-Tourism

Out of all these tourism ecotourism plays an important role in contemporary world.

The term Ecotourism was first coined by a Maxican environmentalist, Hector Ceballos-Lascurain
in the year of 1983. He was initially used to describe the nature based travel to quite undisturbed
area with an importance on education.

Preserving the natural beauty and generating revenue through these beauties is the main thrust of
this tourism. Several terms are used to express the idea of preservation of environments. It may
be green tourism, nature tourism, responsible tourism and sustainable tourism etc. Ecotourism
is completely a new approach in tourism and now it has become a fastest growing sector in the
world. Ecotourism is a preserving travel to natural areas to realize the cultural and natural history
of the environment, taking care not to disturb the integrity of the ecosystem. It is also creating
the economic opportunities to the local communities that makes conservation and protect the
natural resources as well as the cultural heritage of our beautiful planet. In short, ecotourism can
be categorized as a tourism programme that is “nature based and ecological sustainable.

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According to UNEP, Ecotourism as development tool can advance the three basic goals of
the convention on Biological Diversity:

a. Conserve biological and cultural diversity by strengthening protected area management


systems both public and private sectors and enhance the value of sound eco-system;
b. Promote the sustainable use of bio-diversity, by generating income, jobs, business
opportunities in ecotourism and related business networks; and
c. Share the benefits of ecotourism development equitably with local community and
indigenous people, by obtaining their informed consent and active participation in both
planning and management of ecotourism business.

PRINCIPLE OF ECOTOURISM:

Because ecotourism was originally just an idea, not a discipline, many businesses industries
and governments promoted it without an understanding of its most basic principles. Each region
affected by ecotourism should develop its own principle, guidelines and certification procedure
based on the materials already available internationally (UNEP, 2002). The following principle
should be followed;

I. Minimize the negative impacts on and culture that can damage a destination.
II. Educate the traveler on the importance of conservation.
III. Stress the importance of responsible business, which works cooperatively with local
authorities and people to meet local needs and deliver conservation benefits.
IV. Direct revenues to the conservation and management of natural and protected areas.
V. Emphasize the need for the regional tourism zoning and for visitor management
plans designed for either regions for natural areas that the slated to become eco-
destinations.
VI. Emphasize use of environmental and social base-line studies, as well as long-term
monitoring programs, to assess and minimize impacts.
VII. Strive to maximize economic benefits for the host country, local business and
communities, particularly peoples living in and adjacent to natural and protected
areas.
VIII. Seek to ensure that tourism development limits of acceptable change as determined
by researchers in cooperation with local residents.
IX. Rely on infrastructure that has been developed in harmony with the environment,
minimizing use of fossil fuel, conserving local plants and blending with the natural
and cultural environment.
Definition:

World Tourism Organization has defined Tourism that involves traveling to relatively
undisturbed natural areas with specified object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery
and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural aspects (both past and present)
found in these areas (Omars,1995). The Eco – Tourism Society (ETS) defined Eco – Tourism as
a responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environments and sustains the well being
of the local people. Its main aim are ecological and socio- cultural integrity, responsibility and
sustainability.

Following diagram will help more in understanding the concept of ecotourism

Source: www.ecotourismindia.com

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