Ecotourism: The New Earth-Friendly Vacation

Ecotourism essentially means "ecological tourism," where ecological has both environmental and social connotations. It is defined both as a concept and tourism movement and as a tourism sector.

Born in its current form in the late 1980s, Ecotourism came of age in 2002, when the United Nations celebrated the "International Year of Ecotourism." The tourism industry defines it as being "environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed areas, to enjoy and appreciate nature and accompanying cultural features and to become aware of the need for preserving natural capital and cultural capital. Ecotourism should have low visitor impact and should contribute to the well-being of local populations." However, this is a vibrant, new movement and there are various definitions.

Many global environmental organizations and aid agencies, favour ecotourism as a vehicle to sustainable development. Ideally, Ecotourism must satisfy several criteria, such as conservation (and justification for conservation) of biological diversity and cultural diversity and participation in the management of ecotourism business.

For many countries, ecotourism is not so much seen as a marginal activity intended to finance protection of the environment than as a major sector of national economy; and as a means of getting currencies. For example, in countries such as Kenya, Ecuador, Nepal, Costa Rica and Madagascar, ecotourism represents a significant chunk of foreign revenue.

Critics claim that ecotourism-as practiced and abused-often consists in placing a hotel in a splendid landscape, to the detriment of the ecosystem. According to them, ecotourism must above all sensitize people with the beauty and the fragility of nature. They condemn some operators as "green-washing" their operations-that is, using the label of "ecotourism" and "green-friendly", while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. Although academics argue about who can be classified as an ecotourist, and there is precious little statistical data, some estimate that more than five million ecotourists-the majority of the worldwide population-come from the United States, with other ecotourists coming from Europe, Canada and Australia.

Countries where Ecotourism has been championed by the government include Costa Rica and Australia. Currently there are various moves to create national and international Ecotourism certification programs, although the process is causing controversy.

Whether of not some bureaucratic oversight committee will effectively regulate the ecotourism industry, ecotourists will continue to reject jaunts to beach communities-like La Jolla, California-or grand amusement parks-like Disneyland-and venture into the untamed and undeveloped areas of the world, and experience God's own perfectly natural and perfectly beautiful amusement park. The ecotourism is here to stay, and the ecotourist community is growing like a weed.