Ecotourism A Special Type of Sustainable Tourism

Transcription

1 Ecotourism A Special Type of Sustainable Tourism Prof. Nazmiye Erdogan Başkent University Ankara Turkey Prof. Biljana Petrevska Goce Delcev University Stip Macedonia

2 Firstly, to give a few basic definitions and to assess the prevailing mainstream theoretical explanations on ecotourism. Secondly, to analyze alternative theoretical explanations and critisizm of ecotourism. Finally, to present my critical ideas and conclusion 2

3 3

4 Ecotourism is a growing segment of the global tourism industry that is making significant positive contributions to The environmental, social, cultural and economic well-being of destinations and local communities around the world. Suitable balance between dimensions must be established to maintain its long-term sustainability. 4

5 Marked a major rise of Ecotourism as an Important Form of Sustainable Tourism (Butcher, 2006) 5

6 6

7 Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves education and interpretation 7

8 Ecotourism is based on nature travel, including the principle of sustainability 8

9 Ecotourism has provided an impetus to assist in GREENING THE TOURISM INDUSTRY on many fronts TIES,

10 10

11 Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts Build environmental and cultural awareness, and respect Generate financial benefits for local people Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities Provide positive experiences for visitors and hosts Produce direct financial benefits for conservation 11

12 By increasing capacity building opportunities, ecotourism is also an effective vehicle for empowering local communities around the world: To fight against poverty To achieve sustainable development Surendran, Sekhar

13 Problems in Ecotourism Solutions in Ecotourism Individual knowledge Behavior of Some tourists Tour operators Local people Environmental education of especially ecotourists Empowerment of local people who are interested in ecotourism Successful ecotourism planning is a function of establishing sound goals and criteria 13

14 The ecotourism planning is based on two important criteria: Local tourism resources Ecotourism carrying capacity Shi, Zhao and others,

15 15

16 One of the most stated principle of ecotourism is sustainable use of exhaustible natural resources with no or minimal negative environmental effect: It represents eco-friendly use of natural resources Surendran, Sekhar,

17 This prescriptive narrative assumes that the protective use of natural areas is inevitable and necessary for generating source of income This focus on the notion of balance between economic interests and environmental conservation is one of the main tenets of ecotourism This notion is nourished by the ideology of development and sustainable tourism 17

18 The proponents of ecotourism have failed to see the threat caused by such activities Tourism development in protected areas or ecotourism provides An alternative to the exploitative use of environmental resources (Drumm, 2008) 18

19 Almost all mainstream definitions agree that ecotourism involves traveling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural places; There are serious problems in such explanations, because ecotourism must be determined By the nature of activity Not by the place of activity It is not the location or the quantity, but the nature of the activity, use, organization and outcome that must characterize ecotourism But, not all tourism to natural areas is ecotourism 19

20 Many protected areas in developing countries is found to be poorly planned, with the infrastructure and management inadequate even unsuitable for ecotourism. Isaacs criticizes ecotourism as a wildlife conservation strategy for its inability to insure the long term protection of environmental assets. He claims that; Ecotourism is only a proxy market designed to attract customers 20

21 Therefore, the net benefits from such conservation are low and occasionally negative for the members of local communities 21

22 As a result it is claimed that the term ecotourism is somewhat vague The IUCN has listed ecotourism as the second major threat to protected areas 22

23 Revenue leakages, as labor is drawn from urban sector, instead of focusing on training of unskilled or less-skilled locals Inequitable distribution of income among the locals Compulsory displacement for the creation of national parks Sticking only to gun and guard approach for preservation Insensitive attitude of the tourist Lack of education for visitors as well as locals policy gap in terms of poor planning and improper unethical management of ecotourism Damage to crop and livestock by wildlife All such problems infuse negative attitude in the minds of the locals and ecotourism as a policy fails (Das, Chatterjee 2015) 23

24 New environment friendly Products are produced Clean production processes Environmental monitoring are developed By the same system that creates environmental problems???? Reducing waste Maximizing the energy savings are taken 24

25 Sustainability, in fact, refers to the sustainability of the industrial structures???? 25

26 Ecotourism will be unable to solve many of the environmental problems its proponents believe it can It also may create problems of its own.??? (ISAACS, 2000) 26

27 There are lots of suggestions, recommendations and talks about the functions of ecotourism to improve The environment and economic welfare of local people by forming a symbiotic relationship between powerful parties involved in ecotourism and local people However the main point is missing in these recommendations: How to establish a symbiotic relationship among the involved parties??? 27

28 The mainstream idea of ecotourism nicely fits in the sustainable development notion: There are poor, conventional and economically inactive local communities. These communities need jobs and products of modern life Ecotourism is one of their saviors: Ecotourism brings the opportunities of welfare, safety, security to the local communities What they have to do is simply to participate in the action for development...??? 28

29 Thus, the global practices of economic exploitation are metamorphosed into the providers of goods and services for the benefit of people on earth...!!!!!!!!!! 29

30 take only photographs leave only footprints!