About ecotourism
Ecotourism is a growing market niche within the broader travel industry, with the ability to be an important tool for sustainable development. With sales measured in billions of dollars a year, eco-tourism industry which is really difficult to take advantage of market trends. At the same time, it often operates quite differently from other segments of tourism, because ecotourism is defined by its results in sustainable development: protection of natural areas, education of visitors about sustainability and the creation of benefits for the local population.
Ecotourism is a small but rapidly growing industry which operates within the niche market governed by market forces and regulations. Ecotourism is primarily promotes the market as tourism based on nature. From a functional point of view, ecotourism is in the market mostly individual or small-scale tourism (tourist groups to 25 people and hotels with fewer than 100 beds) in which operating a small or medium-sized enterprises in the fields of nature. It is a market segment that focuses on keeping and accommodation of small groups in the areas of nature with the educational approach, using materials with instructions and specialized local guides. Like all forms of sustainable tourism, ecotourism is a dynamic area, with new techniques and approaches that are developed each year.
Many different parties must be involved in its implementation - including entrepreneurs, government, NGOs and local communities. Responsible businesses should be encouraged to properly manage the tourists with the help of guidelines, certification and regulations. The local community must be prepared to properly finance the management of ecotourism or risk disruption of their natural and cultural resources and, ultimately, its position in the rapidly growing international market. Local communities put up on the line, and therefore may be the most to lose in the growing international ecotourism market.
Given that globalization makes local control of the economy all the harder, ecotourism seeks to reverse this trend by highlighting that local entrepreneurs and local communities must be involved to a greater extent. Opportunities to rural communities in tourism, attracted attention and triggered many expectations, but the risks are great if you can not make the appropriate preparations. Local people must be informed in advance about the possible consequences of tourism development and it must formally agree to development in their areas.
Ecotourism is defined in the market, as a form of tourism based on nature, but also formulated and studied since 1990. year by the non-governmental organizations, development experts and scientists as a means of sustainable development. The term ecotourism is, therefore, refers on the one hand, the concept includes a set of principles, on the other hand in a special segment of the market.
International Society for ecotourism - The International Ecotourism Society / breaks, formulated in 1991. was one of the first definition: "Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas, which saves the environment and maintain the welfare of the local population." IUCN (which is now called the World Union for Conservation of Nature - World Conservation Union) establishes 1996th The ecotourism is "responsible environmental journey and visit the relatively untouched areas of nature, to be enjoyed in nature and that it is respected (and all accompanying cultural objects from the past and the present), and promotes conservation, has low impact visitors and allows beneficial active socio-economic involvement of local people. "
Ecotourism is a subcomponent in the field of sustainable tourism and sustainable version is primarily tourism based on nature, and includes elements of rural and cultural tourism. Ecotourism strives in all its forms to achieve sustainable results. However, it is important to clarify that all tourist activities - whether it is closely associated with vacation, business, conferences, congresses or fairs, health, adventure or ecotourism - should aim at sustainability. This means that planning and development of tourist infrastructure, its still business as well as its marketing to focus on environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability criteria.
The strong orientation towards the evolution of the field of ecotourism principles, guidelines and certification based on sustainability standards, with his unusual position in the field of tourism. Over the years, discussions at conferences have led to a general consensus on the components of ecotourism:
• Contributes to conservation of biodiversity
• Maintains benefit the local population
• Includes interpretation and learning experience
• Includes a responsible action on the tourists and the tourism industry
• directed primarily to small groups by small enterprises
• Requires the least possible consumption of non-renewable resources
•Emphasizes local participation, ownership and entrepreneurial opportunities, especially for rural population
Many people often wonder why ecotourism should be viewed differently from other forms of sustainable tourism. In fact, ecotourism must be planned and manipulated in such a way to successfully reach their key social and environmental goals. This requires:
1. Specialize in marketing to attract passengers who are primarily interested to visit the areas of nature
2. Management capabilities that are customized treatment of visitors in protected areas of nature
3. Guide services and interpretation services, offered free by the local population, which are directed toward issues of history, nature and sustainable development
4. Government policies that determine the income from tourism for the creation of funds to the protection of wild landscapes and the sustainable development of local communities and indigenous peoples.
5 Focus attention on local residents, which must be given the right to give consent for the development of tourism based on previous information, the right to full participation and, if they so choose, to finance and provision of training to take advantage of these options for sustainable development.
Refer to: Megan Epler Wood: Ecotourism –principles, procedures and policies for sustainability, CenORT, Beograd, 2002.
