Ecotourism
(or Nature Tourism)

What's New?

• Amazon Interactive: The Ecotourism Game
  (Educational Web Adventures, 1996)

• Ecotourism is stressing animals to death
  (iafrica.com, 8 March, 2004)

• A new wave of American "geotourists" are willing to spend more on culturally-sensitive, environmentally-friendly travel
  (The Outdoor Network, October 30, 2003)

Links

• Nature Tourism - Library Subject Guide
  (LaTrobe University, Australia)

• The International Ecotourism Society

• Conferences & Internet Resources on Sustainable Tourism Research
  (e.g., ecotourism)

What is Tourism?

• Tourism might be defined as polite, organized sticky-beaking (to satisfy one's curiosity) into other people's places and cultures.  Tourism is an organized form of the more colloquial notion of traveling.

What is Ecotourism (or Nature Tourism)?

• Ecotourism or Nature Tourism attracts tourists with an interest in temporarily living in and coming to better understand a specific, novel, relatively natural ecosystem.  Activities whilst living in the new ecosystem often include watching, photographing and studying information about the system.

• An example of ecotourism is visiting, photographing, and learning about organgatuangs in Borneo.

• Since the mid-1990's ecotourism has emerged as a human activity distinct from adventure travel.

• Ecotourism tends to be marketed as a more "politically correct", "environmentally and culturally aware" form of tourism, e.g., "responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improve the well-being of local people." (more info).

• Despite their "green image", few ecotourism trips contribute a collective positively to the natural environment (e.g,. how does one replace the energy consumed in transportation to the exotic location?)

Why do it?

• A growing industry / field

• Potentially life-changing or at least memorable

• Develop new skills and knowledge e.g., could be part of career change