Ecotourism Responsible Tourism should be

Mass tourism is obviously not sustainable. The soaks and inappropriate tourism practices degrade habitats and landscapes, deplete natural resources and generate waste and pollution. Ecotourism - defined by the International Tourism Society as responsible travel to natural areas that support environmental care and welfare of local people - is often hailed as the solution and also as a panacea for sustainable development in communities have few resources. But ecotourism Current developments are always responsible alternatives? The construction of roads, car parks and accommodation in national parks are just examples of dubious ecotourism development. The lack of regulation has also led to the use of ecotourism as a lucrative market designation of vacation adventure rather than an indication that the tour operators responsible tourism practice. In addition, some communities have complained that they were never consulted about ecotourism development plans, or that the benefits do not reach the level anticipated. A deeper question is whether ecotourism is really desirable in some areas. A few ecotourists in a fragile environment but would impact hundreds of it in a "resort" that exists, and can pave the way to mass tourism.

Similarly, critics of ecotourism, as the Red Third World, fear that if the holidaymakers return ecotourists, then hordes of travelers invade peoples and protected areas instead of staying in existing tourist center. A development that would increase the undesirable impact of tourism rather than alleviate the current problems. Recognizing the impact of ecotourism, both good and bad, the United Nations has declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism, offering those involved the opportunity to review the impact of ecotourism on the environment and communities. On the way to the culminating event, the World Ecotourism Summit, has been a series of preparatory meetings in the world to discuss tourism within the context of conservation, communities and marketing. The goals of the Summit to be held in Quebec, Canada from 19 to 22 May, include obtaining a better understanding of the impact of ecotourism, improve their approach, management, marketing and regulation, and ensure the equitable distribution of benefits among all involved.

These are ambitious goals, especially since ecotourism involves a large area from interested local community groups and indigenous peoples to global corporations, national governments and development agencies. However, since what is involved is environmental degradation and damage to local communities, it is obvious that ambicioso.A make a plan despite criticism from WWF, the conservation organization, believes that ecotourism is responsible if the potential to support conservation and communities. But the organization warns that ecotourism is not a cure-all. Any time you can be an alternative to harmful economic activities such as logging and mining, there will be few cases where ecotourism alone can provide enough income to support conservation and people. The organization believes that ecotourism should be part of a broader development strategy and its growth carefully monitored. The WWF also warns that the existence of a wilderness area does not automatically mean an ecotourism initiative will succeed. Success requires, among other things, good access, training, comfortable accommodation, wildlife visible, appropriate marketing, impact monitoring and proper regulation. Many ecotourism initiatives by small communities were released only to fail by not taking into consideration factors you anteriores.El WWF believes that all tourism should maintain or improve the biological and cultural diversity, use resources sustainably and reduce over-consumption and waste.

She is also working to develop such responsible tourism practices in several different levels. One of them is to support community ecotourism enterprises where they have control over the development of ecotourism and have an equitable sharing of benefits. Another is to support certification programs for ecotourism tour operators. For example, the LINKS program, which was a joint initiative of WWF, the State of Alaska and the Association of Tourism and Recreation Wildlife Alaska, is now an official project of the Council? Arctic and aims to certify arctic tourism businesses operating in a socially and environmentally responsible, and assist in the market for such businesses to passengers. A major impact on tourism, but often overlooked, is the emission of CO2 from air travel, contributing significantly to global warming and climate change. Accepting that few people would actually travel to reduce the impact on the environment, WWF is promoting a new business tool to assess the impact on the environment, or "ecological footprint" of a vacation. The tool calculates the Footprint Vacacional environmental impact anyone can have a vacation, examining the individual components, such as flights, waste and consumption of food and then suggesting "scenarios" to reduce that impact.

In a similar area, WWF is working with the eco-tourism operator in the UK, Discovery Initiatives, which pays a fee to a climate care plan that invests in alternative technologies and renewable energy products designed to counter the impact of air travel. Although certification, better regulation and involve the local community properly go far to ensure that ecotourism is responsible, ultimately, its future will depend on passenger take it into account. The future is promising. In a recent survey in the United Kingdom, for example, 85% of respondents said they would prefer that your holiday does not affect the environment. Ecotourism sector growth over the past two decades also suggests that there is widespread interest in not damaging the environment while on vacation. There is hope that the results of the World Ecotourism Summit, along with the work of organizations dedicated to responsible ecotourism will help to raise awareness of issues affecting ecotourism, and to ensure that ecotourists do not destroy the landscape inadvertently visiting . For more information on tourism in Costa Rica visit www.ameuropeservices.com