Be an Earth
Friendly Traveller!

In the current media environment, one cannot help but to see that the world is rapidly changing. Every day, our natural habitats are getting smaller. This is sad news for the nature lover.

Wouldn’t it be nice though, if you could help to make the world a better place through your travel options? You can! By taking the time and energy to make more earth focused tourism decisions, you can help to make a change for the better. This is the base meaning of ‘ecotourism’.

According to a study by the TIES (International Ecotourism Society), tourism accounts for 9% of global GDP and produces 1/12th of the world’s jobs. Tourism rates are currently increasing by 3% globally.

Due to the development of transportation and price competition, it has become possible to access various attractive places with relative ease, as it has become more and more possible to access global information easily via the Internet.

Nature tours are widely used in terms such as mountain climbing, trekking and visiting national parks. The attraction of nature tours is that one can touch the magnificent nature, have an exciting experience, and be healed and refreshed by nature. On the other hand however, there are also negative effects, such as a large number of people entering the area, litter and having a negative effect on  nature by not only overuse but also by the destruction of natural areas in order to build hotels and facilities in a profit-first manner by large corporations.

Since ecotourism is also an important factor in setting rules and policies in the destination location, it will not be feasible if all the governments, municipalities and local residents, tourism industry officials, tourists, etc. are not involved. No matter how much the municipalities want to spread ecotourism, it will not start unless the local people accept and implement it, and services cannot be provided without the tourism industry. 

If the tourists do not go there, it does not matter how great the eco-tourism mechanisms and services which are offered.

What is Ecotourism?

As defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary, Ecotourism is ‘the business of organising holidays to places of natural beauty in a way that helps local people and does not damage the environment’. For a closer view, TIES (International Ecotourism Society) defines this as “Responsible travel to the natural environment that protects the environment, maintains the lives of locals, and educates travellers about nature.”

Ecotourism is beneficial in many ways. Some of these include: the money from tourism benefits those in the local community, it sponsors environmental protection as well as providing travellers a unique opportunity to learn about and coexist with nature. 

Does ecotourism seem like something that could be a relevant form of tourism in your life?
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