Ecotourism: A New Revolution In The Making
Over the recent past couple of decades mankind has got to understand as well as appreciate the importance of a better and cleaner environment that has resulted in a greater impact on our lives today. Now, more and more tourists are becoming attracted to the new concept of ecotourism that is taking place as something of a new revolution in the way that we are thinking about taking our holidays.
A Welcome Departure From The Usual Tourism Hotspots
About twenty years ago, how we took our vacations used to follow a tried and tested path, which meant going to places based on interests and budgets. If we could find a place that was worth visiting and it did not cost more than what we could afford, then that was all there was to taking a holiday. But, with new concerns about our environment coming to the fore, there has been a gradual shift in position and rethinking has led to the beginning of ecotourism.
Basically, ecotourism is making a trip to locations that are environmentally significant as well as sensitive and though it is now gaining in popularity, has in fact been known to us in one form or another for quite some time. Excursions to watching birds is something we may all be familiar with and this is just one good example of what ecotourism is all about. We can even think of Charles Darwins trip to the Galapagos Islands as being the pioneering form of ecotourism.
Today, however this form of tourism is quite viable and it all really began in the early eighties though at that time its popularity was confined to small groups of people that showed their keenness in the environment. The popularity of ecotourism increased when in 2002 the United Nations declared it as being the Year of Ecotourism. There are many forms of ecotourism though generally it means visiting places that have one of a kind environment, and one can easily think of places such as rainforests, and also endangered animals habitats as good examples of such ecotourism destinations. It is also almost a custom to leave a tiny footprint when one visits such places.
Most ecotourism operators provide facilities, tours as well as allow you to interact with the habitat so that you come away better educated and also do not impact the habitat too adversely. Sustainability is another aspect to ecotourism and very often it has been seen that there are some places where there are people hell bent on exploiting these sensitive areas, which require giving jobs and putting money into the local economy to prevent such from happening.
Eco Tourism Caribbean
There is considerable acrimony among proponents of mass tourism and those of ecotourism concerning various factors including travel safety as well as security and even global or regional schisms are developing.
It is also almost a custom to leave a tiny footprint when one visits such places. When economic benefits trickle down to local people, it allows, in theory at least, for the benefits to act as incentive to protect nature and also makes the locals take to behaviors that promote conservation rather than exploitation of natural resources. So, where is the impact of ecotourism on economies the greatest? This is because various forms of ecotourism are managed by various different companies, groups, or organizations.
As well this is one of the types of ecotourism which truly maintains and respects the local culture and heritage.
This ecotourism campaign aimed at highlighting as well as publicizing ecotourism as a concept as well as a method to conserve natures resources while providing a means of earning an income to the local peoples. There, people can walk the trails and see natural wonders such as geysers. Even though countries such as Australia and Costa Rica are good ecotourism examples, there are still many destinations that do not have, as yet, the green certification that promise to keep the environment from being harmed and thus there is need for more work to be done to make these destinations good ecotourism examples.
This was a wonderful sight50 years ago.
It is also a fact that all tourism development programmes will be used to advance government interests because they need the approval of the government before anything can be done, it can often result in government interference in the running of ecotourism projects and thus there may be little or no accountability and transparency in ecotourism. Though ecotourism in general first evolved during the eighties, it has now become quite a major influence in tourism and the trend is seeing further progress as more and more people are becoming aware of what ravages mass tourism can inflict on our fragile natural resources. Because of this, it would be of great benefit to provide a child with an ecotourism activity as it will shape their lives forever. Well, if a teacher is successful in presenting the true facts of the subject of ecotourism, then the quizzical looks will quickly disappear as people begin to realize the absolute seriousness of the issue. |
