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definition: an Asian proverb says that “Tourism is like a fire, you can use it to cook your soup, but it can also burn down your house”.
Ecotourism has been defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people” [The International Ecotourism Society TIES] and as such it is “...envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.” [World Tourism Organisation].
responsible agencies: an interesting initiative related to ecotourism is the Tour Operators Initiative (TOI), which is voluntary and not-for-profit (25 members in 2002). Its mission is to improve the sustainability of the tourism industry, and to encourage tour operators to make a voluntary yet firm corporate commitment to sustainable development.
Since the launch of the Tour Operators' Initiative in 2000, the TOI Secretariat has been collecting from the individual members 'good' examples of how a tour operator can effectively integrate the principles of sustainability into its various areas of operations. This effort has been very successful, not only because it demonstrates that the members of the TOI actually take action, but, most importantly, because it helps spread awareness that tour operators can actually do something about sustainability. The examples have been collected in the report “Sustainable Tourism: The Tour Operators' Contribution”.
good practice: the examples in the report offer a survey of different programmes, policies and actions that tour operators are implementing around the world to promote the goals of sustainable tourism and protect the environmental and cultural resources upon which their business depends.
Discovery Initiatives [www.discoveryinitiatives.com], a UK-based outbound nature tour operator, offers holidays and tours that support wildlife and conservation. Tour design is therefore a crucial step in the company’s sustainability strategy. The three key holiday types offered by Discovery Initiatives are:- Footprint Holidays that ‘don’t cost the Earth’ are relaxing or special interest tours that use organisations, operations or accommodations which make an active contribution to their local communities and their environment and encourage fair trade. For example, a walking tour of Dominica, in the Caribbean, offers a chance to go off the beaten track to little-visited parts of the island and stay in hotels and lodges all locally owned.
- Insight Holidays allow individuals or small groups of holidaymakers to experience and gain a privileged insight into wildlife or communities as part of an overall holiday itinerary. For example, in Namibia, tours visit community wildlife conservation initiatives run by the local population and contribute $350 per client to these programmes.
- Discoverer Holidays allow individual holidaymakers to get actively involved as field assistants in specific research. For example, a tour in Kalimantan, Indonesia, on the island of Borneo, allows travellers to work with the leading orang-utan study programme in the world and contributes $1,000 per client to the Orangutan Foundation in Tanjing Putung National Park. These holiday programmes are designed to use tourism as economic leverage with local communities, supporting them in protecting their environment and culture networking: the holidays are based on partnerships that increase awareness and encourage grassroots environmental action, offering a method of supporting small-scale and local community projects in a sustainable and pro-active way.
At the same time, tourists get practical opportunities to experience or become actively involved in projects that deliver credible outputs and to see and understand ecological or development issues that are of interest to them. The holiday programmes generate funds directly (through fees paid by the participants) and indirectly (through increased membership and interest in co-operating organisations, legacies and other fund-raising opportunities).
tour operators: in order to offer you a reference point in organising your responsible travel, we report here the TOI for Sustainable Tourism members list:- Brazil: FreeWay Adventures
- Canada: G.A.P. Adventures
- Germany: Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, LTU-Touristik GmbH, Studiosus, TUI Group
- Finland: Aurinkomatkat-Suntours
- France: Accor
- Italy: KEL 12, Orizzonti, Settemari, Viaggi del Ventaglio
- Morocco: Atlas Voyages, Dynamic Tours
- Netherlands: NS Travel
- Pakistan: Travel Walji’s PVT
- Sweden: My Travel Northern Europe
- Turkey: VASCO Travel
- UK: British Airways Holidays, Discovery Initiatives, Exodus, First Choice (UK & Ireland), TUI Northern Europe (UK & Nordic Countries)
- USA: Premier Tours
holiday ideas: ecotourism can also combine travelling and volunteer work for local projects. For instance…- Travel to Nicaragua with the US Center for Global Education [www.augsburg.edu/global], on a ten-day travel seminar where you will visit communities and wildlife areas during this remarkable opportunity for bird-watching and the study of environmentally sustainable development in Nicaragua. This travel seminar will emphasise conversations with local community organisers and advocates, economic developers, and members of faith communities with special interest in environmentally sustainable development. The discourse will be balanced with observations of indigenous and migratory bird species and other wildlife in a variety of neo-tropical habitats. Migratory birds represent a natural connection between North and Central American countries. Participants will visit with people trying to make a living within the tropical forests, and others who are developing preserves and educational programs for bird preservation.
- Volunteer at the Rural Community Development Program-Nepal [www.rcdpnepal.com/workcamp.html] in one of their international work camps. Volunteers enjoy the unique culture, religions, people, and beauty of Nepal while meeting local villagers. Each 2 week work camp includes food, room, local transportation, a minitrek, a Tharu village visit, and a jungle walk of the Royal Chitwan National Park.
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