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1.0 INTRODUCTION Ecotourism refers to responsible travel to natural environments with the aim of environmental conservation and improvement as well as improving the well-being of local communities in these regions. In this regard, individuals practice nature-based tourism, which benefits the local communities and destinations, socio-culturally, environmentally and economically (Weaver, 2006). In the recent periods, ecotourism as one of the major forms of alternative tourism emerged in the mid-1980s, the niche of ecotourism has become bigger over time due to the aggressively increasing number of tourists and destinations. It has changed to become a bigger type of tourism especially in developing countries. This paper presents the case for changes in ecotourism (Singh, 2010). It will examine the current situation of ecotourism as a form of alternative tourism has gone into large-scale with the tendency transforming into mass tourism. By examining the negative impacts of mass tourism; on economic, sociocultural and environmental conditions, the tourism industry has taken various measures to maintain ecotourism instead of shifting to conventional mass tourism (Singh). 2.0 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Sustainable Development in Tourism Since the late 1980s, sustainable development has become a buzzword in development studies in general and in tourism research in particular (Liu, 2003). In 1987, the Brundtland Commission Report defined tourism development as an activity that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987:43).
The World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2001) prefers the following definition of sustainable development in tourism:
Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged that, the management of all resources is essential on order to promote economic, social and aesthetic needs so as to maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes and biological diversity and life support systems.
It refers to envision of tourism management in an economically and socially responsible manner to maintain cultural integrity, maintain the essential ecological processes and provide sustainable development (Buckley, 2010). 2.2 Alternative Tourism Alternative tourism has gained its recognition in the early 1980s emerged from the adaptable platform, it appeared as the alternative options to mass tourism (Jafari, 2000). The difference between tourism and mass tourism emerges from the degree at which tourism encourages local enterprises. For example, it supports locally owned small-scale enterprises rather than the externally owned and large-scale organizations (Haig, McIntyre & others, 2002). Ecotourism first appeared as a manifestation of alternative tourism that emphasizes attractions based on the natural environment (Weaver, 2006) will receive more detailed introduction.
3.0 ECOTOURISM 3.1 Definition and Purposes Ecotourism involves making visits to natural and fragile undisturbed areas. Following its inception as a nature-based form of Alternative Tourism in the mid-1980s, ecotourism has widely been viewed as a critical effort by environmentalists to preserve the existing ecosystems for future generations (Harris, 2002). The purpose of ecotourism is to educate tourists concerning ecology and undisturbed natural systems (Pathania & Kumar, 2008). It directly benefits political empowerment and economic development of the local communities with the intention of “fostering respect for local cultures and human rights” (Choo, & Jamal, 2009, pg. 437). 3.2 Ecotourism Development
Primarily, ecotourism concerns itself with the living parts in natural environments as well as promoting socially responsible travel, environmental sustainability and personal growth (World Tourism Organization, 2010). Growth in the sector may be attributed to the aspect of promoting responsible tourism. Traditional tourism has received criticism for promoting social ills such as sex trade in underdeveloped regions. However, ecotourism advocates responsible tourism with the objective of minimizing the cons of conventional mass tourism. In this regard, ecotourism has witnessed its growth due to an increase in support for responsible tourism. Furthermore, individuals are more interested in creating economic opportunities to improve local communities in areas that have been negatively affected by conventional mass tourism (Kruger, 2005). Today, individuals view the ecotourism as an activity performed with the intention of environmental conservation and community empowerment. In this regard, the branch of tourism has attracted more participants who intend to safeguard natural environments so that future generations may enjoy. “The promotion of economic development, especially in the lowly developed regions is a significant factor that has affected the growth of ecotourism” (Buckley, 2010 pg. 151). In this perspective, local communities benefit from economic development programs that are initiated using the funds and resources from ecotourism (Buckley, 2010). As a result, mass tourism arises from the gradually expanding of ecotourism.
4.0 MASS TOURISM 4.1 Definition Mass tourism refers to the accumulated appearance of travelers to a special destination at a particular period (Edgell, 2006). It has developed due to changes in transport systems, which allow the transportation of large groups of tourists. Most individuals consider mass tourism as a cheap way of earning a holiday because most destinations offer a “package deal” for the travelers. Significant examples of mass tourism include skiing on the mountains and sunbathing on beaches. 4.2 Impact of Mass Tourism The job creation in destinations is one of the factors that drive the development of mass tourism. It encompasses the development in terms of superstructure construction (Edgell, 2006). In most situations, the revenues earned from mass tourism are used to construct additional accommodations and attractions. In such a case, the local communities benefit from the employment. However, the job creation could be a major pitfall in most mass tourism destinations, which is the creation of seasonal jobs (Pathania & Kumar, 2008). When jobs are seasonal, the economic development that emerges from these jobs is not sustainable. For example, the creation of seasonal jobs has affected the economic development in Jamaica because the local populations lack economic activities to perform when the tourists fail to visit. As a result, unsteady economic growth is witnessed because the flow of revenue is inconsistent (Choo, & Jamal, 2009). On the other hand, cultural pollution also occurs because of mass tourism. The tourists who participate in mass tourism introduce new cultures and values to the local communities. The new cultures and values may have negative effects because they might replace the existing cultures of the local populations, which should be preserved instead of modification and commodification (Pathania & Kumar, 2008). Most of the tourists live similar lifestyles when they visit tour regions as to when they are at home. For instance, a tourist in Jamaica uses the same amount of water that may get used for agricultural practices such as planting rice. Additionally, transportation is a key component of tourism. However, the means of transport used to pursue traveling and tourism have negative environmental impacts such as pollution (Zambrano, Broadbent, & Durham, 2010). 5.0 IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY IN ECOTOURISM
The program focuses on regulating the manner in which ecotourism companies interact with cultural and natural resources in the improvement of economic activities. Using such regulations within the sector makes is possible for controlling the management of ecotourism and promoting sustainability in the sector (Buckley, 2004). Furthermore, companies that provide ecotourism services are rated and ranked according to their adherence to the objectives of the sector. Regulating and accreditation of the ecotourism sector is the first step towards developing a program, which will lead to the sustainability of the tourism sector (Gamesby, 2010). 5.2 Education A sustainability improvement strategy should address the issue of cause-and-effect of different ecotourism actions on the cultural, natural, and economic environment. Education will help in improving the awareness and sensitizing both local communities and tourists on the underlying benefits of ecotourism. In this regard, the guidelines and education improve on the sustainability by offering information based on research and funding research in order to understand the possibilities of ecotourism (Gamesby, 2010). Facilitating research in the field will enable the regulatory body and other participants in ecotourism to understand the impacts of their actions concerning ecotourism. For example, in Malaysia the government has conducted an education program to local communities known as Eco-Host to educate the locals on the benefits of ecotourism. The program involves the training of young men and women who complete high school, but fail to make it to campus on how to use eco-tourism as an economic booster. So far, the program has trained over ten groups, each group consists of 150 individuals (Haig, McIntyre & others, 2002). The training programs will provide confidence and knowledge to these participants, which is vital for the promotion of sustainability in ecotourism. In this approach, participants will mitigate the negative effects that emerge from mass tourism especially in underdeveloped regions (Kruger, 2005). 5.3 Local Growth and Control Local growth and control is an important strategy in improving the sustainability of ecotourism (Buckley, 2010). The advantages of initiating local growth and control strategies identified by the fact that individuals from local communities develop ecotourism prior to accepting tourists to their natural environments (Shen & Redcliff, 2012). In this perspective, local communities can develop additional products to offer to tourists who seek to visit natural ecosystems. The advantage lies in the fact that the communities that initiate local control and growth techniques are better placed in sustaining ecotourism.
The competitive advantage emerges from the ability to prepare for different situations that may arise from the activity (Haig, McIntyre & others, 2002). Furthermore, placing the local growth and control mechanisms is suitable because the local communities are can identify the streams of income and how to utilize the income that come from ecotourism (Kruger, 2005). The approach eliminates the negative voice that arise from tourism because prior to benefiting from ecotourism, and the community has already identified the projects that will be run using the revenues from ecotourism. Therefore, such local communities can use ecotourism as a blessing concerning economic stimulation and advancement (Buckley, 2010). For example, in China, the Green Project is a recycling project, which is being used to use the revenue from ecotourism (Singh, 2010). The government remits the funds raised from ecotourism towards environmental rehabilitation and running recycling plants. The funds play a great role in creating employment, which counts as economic development, and in making ecotourism sustainable because the project has goals (Shen, & Redclift, 2012). 6.0 CONCLUSION Due to the negative impacts created by mass tourism, ecotourism is relatively sustainable as compared to mass tourism. Ecotourism will not be an immediate success in every culture that attempts it. It can only exist in an area where human activity is already sustainable (Haig, McIntyre & others, 2002). In the order tourism to succeed, governments should promote code of conduct, standards and good practices so as to ensure sustainability across the globe. To attain that, they should support accredited bodies such as the World Tourism Organization and the World Travel and Trade Council that promote tourism worldwide (Weaver 2006). Second, creating guidelines and education is another direction in making ecotourism sustainable. Promotion of socially responsible travel appeal to individuals who then offer support and participate in ecotourism (Haig, McIntyre & others, 2002). Third, local communities get to discuss their visions and hopes for the future with developers. Ecotourism plays a significant role in economic development by providing local communities with economic stimulus program.
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