Essays on Ecotourism

Sustainable tourism: the real challenges

Question 1 (a) Anthropocentrism and ecocentrism has always been the concepts compared to each other. Anthropocentrism is a paradigm in which the nature is understood as the means to satisfy human needs. From the anthropocentric point of view, people occupy the priviledged place in the world, and the nature is valued and preserved because it can maintain the good quality of human life and help them achieve their goals (Thompson  Barton 149). Ecocentrism is a concept that supports the idea of the nature as the mother of life and everything in the world is connected to each other (Gladwin ...

Introduction

Tourism in Cyprus is big business. Actually it is one of the biggest economic contributors to the national economy. This Mediterranean island is perceived as the perfect island for middle age tourist and high and middle income tourist. This paper will focus on the special interest tourism and how it functions to provide an impetus to the economy of Cyprus while providing unique vacation opportunities. The tourist dollar is very important to economy of Cyprus and so is the effort to maintain the natural resources in addition to allowing as much access to tourist as possible.

SPECIAL INTEREST TOURISM IN CYPRUS

Religious: Today Cyprus ...

Question 1: Determine the types of ecotourism activities carried out in your country, state or area.

Answer: Australia houses nineteen World Heritage Sites varying from Greater Blue Mountains, to the magnificent Great Barrier Reef, to the fossil mammal sites in Riversleigh/ Naracoorte, to the Gondwana rain forests, to the Wet Tropics of Queensland. Though the nature of ecotourism activities depend on the features of the ecosystem in some cases, in others, the activities are same, the place changes. Mountain biking is an example of the former, and, exploring the flora and fauna, of the latter.

The activities offered by ecotour operators include mystery tours to explore the legends, culture, myths, ghost stories and history of a ...

Assignment One

Part A: Proposal Description of Proposal: This proposal focuses on the creation of an ecological tourist activity in a tropical biome. This particular activity, though is focused around a particular facility than on a specific activity. The location would be in the tropical rainforests of Brazil. There could, in this way, be a facility that guides people on treks. The idea is essentially for a low impact facility of volunteer ecological stewards. In this way, the compound could be dedicated to educating those taking part in the program in sustainable activities that will ultimately be geared towards the progression of health of ...

Introduction

All over the worlds, people, travel for either business or pleasure. For an individual to be a tourist, on has to travel away from home and spend a period of not less than 24 hours in the destination. In general, tourism has both benefits and impacts that may be affecting both the environment and the general population of the destination areas. Sustainable tourism is a concept of tourism that is supposed to meet the needs of the people travelling to a destination and the host people in the destination areas while protecting and enhancing the opportunities for the future. The concept of ...

“Mass tourism destinations are now evolving into mega tourism destinations.”

(Weaver 2008, xi) Tourism became a major industry after World War II and has expanded ever since. Even outer space has become a destination for tourists who can afford the trip. (Weaver, 2008, xi) Tourism has evolved since the 1700 and 1800s when the Grand Tour of European capitals was an aristocratic pastime. (Hanna, 2009, p. 5) As the Weaver quote above exclaims, mass tourism is growing to the point where it will soon become mega tourism. Experience over the last 60 years has shown that tourism can have both positive and negative impacts on an area. The objective ...

Introduction

Tourism, like any other human activity, has it fair share of positive and negative impacts. Hall & Lew (p.192) provide a myriad of effects of tourism. Among the positives effects are those of cross-cultural interaction, self-fulfillment and monetary gain by the visited place/country. For the negative impacts, these range from pollution of the environment and culture, change in local economies such as market values of housing and rise in vices such as sex tourism. The environmental effects of tourism are more severe as they threaten the very existence of man as a species. Issues such as climate change, pollution, loss of agricultural ...

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Introduction

In the process of managing local community and the surrounding local environment, Ecotourism can be a means of change. Ecotourism forges new relationships between the local environment and the people. Ecotourism is the top growing tourism industry sector worldwide as more travelers demand Ecotourism vacations. It brings along with itself both change and stability. Tourists are always looking for a change from their everyday routine and want to engage in special experiences, available in special places. Entrepreneurs look for avenues for gaining a livelihood and encourage revenue generating means. ...

Assignment 4: Mid-Term Exam

Question 1 - Permafrost Permafrost is a thick sub-layer of ground comprising of soil, rocks, ice, or organic materials, which remains frozen for at least two sequential years. It forms the sub-surface soil layer of Polar Regions such as the arctic region. - Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Hardwood Forest Ecotone An ecotone describes an area of transition that occurs between biomes. An example of such an area occurs in northern Ontario between the Great Lakes- St. Lawrence and the boreal forests (Liu). The Boreal forest changed into the St. Lawrence wood nearly 7,400 years ago (Liu) ...

Introduction

Australian tourism policy is a significant domain for exploration due to its realistic and theoretical significance. It is of sensible importance due to demand of global travels for government assistance in decisions related to the necessities of services and facilities, mutual negotiations with aviation, communications with additional segments, application of govt. possessed reserves including domestic parks for appeal, the culmination of tourist visas, and financing of specific marketing places . The official authorities have the right to procure the political firmness, safety, lawful and the monetary structure which Australian tourism demands and governments deliver necessary services and fundamental infrastructure. The domestic ...

The Galapagos Island: Darwin’s Description

The Galapagos Island is a cluster of volcanic islands situated in the Pacific Ocean. Charles Darwin explored the island after discovering local animal inhabitants. Darwin described the island as fields made up of basaltic lava. According to Darwin, the ground had various cracks or crevices, which led him to describe the island as ‘broken’. At first, Darwin believed the island was uninhabited due to limited vegetation but as he explored the island, he discovered its rich biodiversity (Nagle, 1999). The Galapagos Islands are “famed for their rich biodiversity and unique species of iguana, sharks, blue and red-footed boobies, penguins, giant ...

Paper:

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 ...

Tourism has the capacity of turning local cultures, religious rituals, and traditional ethnic rites to commodities that conform to the expectations of tourists in reconstructed ethnicity. Once an ethnic site becomes a tourist product, people perceive the sacred sites as goods of trade. Tourist manifestation on the unfamiliar destination through cultural expressions and performances lead to stage and loss of authenticity. Tourist demand the cultural manifestations as the natives work hard to satisfy their taste and preferences of the curios this can lead to cultural erosion due to commoditization of cultural goods. Wilson and Ypeji (5) say that Latin ...

Introduction

In the recent periods, Ecotourism has changed to become a bigger type of tourism mostly in developing countries. Ecotourism refers to responsible travel to natural environments with an 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, culturally, environmentally and economically. The niche of ecotourism has become bigger over time due to the impact on conservation and communities. Today ecotourism has taken the form of alternative tourism. This paper presents the case for changes in ecotourism. The ...

2734 Serenade Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89100

Memorandum In response to a request made to my department, I have prepared an extensive list of options, alternatives, procedures and new ecologically sound methods to improve the performance of our hotel at Las Vegas. Many of similar hotels have assimilated the green concept, and implementation of these measures will help us maintain a competitive edge. The concept is broad and since the rolling all of them will require proper environmental assessment program. In this regard, I have highlighted only the important concepts that have a higher return on investment. I will start my introducing the genesis ...

Potential for Eco-tourism Development in the Lake Bosumtwi Basin, Ghana

As a social entrepreneur, the sky is the limit to bring about changes for the good. But, I have always believed that a revolution is only worth the effort if the change brought about is sustainable. For any change to be self-sustaining, immaculate planning that results from an in-depth study of all the resources available and the feasibility of the idea. Opportunities for social entrepreneurship were immense but to decide on one that is worth the effort and would leave a mark by bringing a long-lasting change was not easy. Helping communities to develop their existing natural gifts into a tourist attraction is ...

Contemporary Issues in Travel and Tourism

Introduction Traveling away from one’s home for the point of pleasure, leisure, business, or religious obligation has progressed from ancient times to its contemporary form. This diverse industry generates income and jobs all around the world, for both less economically developed nations and the world’s super powers in Europe, North America, and across Asia. In the US alone, tourism generated 1.4 billion US dollars in the year 2013 with the most popular tourism spots being New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2014). These places have a high level of ...

Introduction

The Chalalan Ecolodge in Bolivia is located in the heart of Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon. It is a 300,000 hectare region which is rich in diverse ecosystems and biodiversity. The lodge is said to be home for over1, 370 species of vertebrates, 4, 700 plant species and 860 tropical birds (Chalalan, 2013). As a result of the many species and variety found in the area the lodge is considered to be the biologically riches protected area on earth. The lodge is a joint ecotourism initiative of the native San José community and the Conservational International (CI) (CI, 2013). ...

Change of indigenous values and identity

Conventionally, tourism can result in a loss or a change of values among the local residents can generate a number of closely related influences including;

Local culture is transformed into a commercial activity

Tourism in New York has turned the indigenous culture into a commodity. This happened when local customs, festivals and traditions are reinvented to meet the expectations of the tourists and leading to a reconstructed ethnicity. (Buckley, 2010, p86).

Standardization

New York remains at a risk of standardization in the course of fulfilling the desires of the tourists: whereas, accommodation, food and drinks, and landscape must conform to the desires of the tourists, especially for the unfamiliar and the new visitors. However, ...

Introduction

There has been a renewed interest with the indigenous tourism recently. In Australia, it is one of the most thriving tourism sector and attraction at present. This is because Australia is home to one of the world’s historic living cultures and so, it is well placed to develop this global tourism sector (ONT, 1998, p. 2). Indigenous tourism is a general term formerly used to pertain to “all tourism services or products, managed by either the Indigenous or the non-indigenous entities but focuses on an indigenous motif such as cultural tours, festivals, arts and crafts making, interpretation of indigenous heritage, ...

Ethno and eco-tourism is a growing segment in the global tourism industry, which are making significant positive contributions to social, cultural, economic well being of regions as well as local communities, and to the environment. Eco-tourism refers to the practice of bringing sustainable travel practices together aimed at promotion, protection and conservation of natural areas (NOEL, 2004). Fundamentally, eco-tourism making the slightest environmental impact as possible while assisting in sustaining the indigenous populace. This encourages wildlife and habitat preservation. Eco-tourism provides an effective economic incentive for enhancing and conserving of bio-cultural diversities. It plays a crucial role in protection of natural ...

The tourism industry is a vast sector that encompasses both the economic, social and other aspects of humanity. Since tourism involves the interaction of people from different parts of the world, it can be referred to as a social practice. There are very many factors and issues that make tourism a social practice. This is because of the potential the industry has. There are myriads of social activities, innovative practices and contributions and cultural activities that make tourism a social practice. Tourism involves lots of travelling to places all over the world to explore and interact with people one has never met. ...

“Top spots for Southeast Asian ecotourism; combine altruism with adventurous travel in these emerging vacation spots,” By Rebecca Ruiz

Asia is one of the continents endowed with fascinating natural features such as mountains, rivers and fresh water lakes coupled with nascent biodiversity. The continent hosts some of the natural wonders of the world namely; the Himalayas Mountains; which are regarded the tallest, the Indus Delta, and Baykal Lake; one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world. Asia’s geographical location, unique and fascinating natural features coupled with diverse biodiversity make it a lucrative destination for millions of tourists. Rebecca points out that many tourists prefer Asia as their prime destination because the continent is enriched with ...

Introduction

Tourism connotes the visitation of places. Tourism can be in two levels; domestic and international tourism. Domestic tourism involves the leisure activities that citizens of a given nation may engage in within the boundaries of their country whereas international tourism involves travelling to another country. Modern tourism advocates for responsible tourism and conservation of the environment. Consequently, various concepts of tourism have emerged aimed at environmental conversation. One such concept, that this paper seeks to address, is eco-tourism. Ecotourism Ecotourism is in many ways a special form of tourism. It involves visitation to undisturbed natural places often considered pristine ...

My job as a travel counselor has taught me the benefits and ill-effects of tourism. Though my job involves helping people in their personal and business travel arrangements, I even look after the ways to preserve the environment while arranging the transportation. There is always an environmental impact because of tourism and the impact can only be reduced by minimizing the visits to the nature friendly places. Tourists travel for enjoyment and spend leisure time. Tourism can be beneficial for a country’s economy and the local people, but at the same time it can cause shortage of the natural resources ...

The use of off-road vehicles is associated with roads and tracks which frequently involves driving across untracked areas where there are no roads, as in the case of viewing animals in savanna environment or beach driving. Off-road vehicles allow people to penetrate remoter areas or sites which many other people cannot access. This creates potential for camping impacts, wildlife disturbance and pollution to occur at more remote and relatively unused sites. The use of off-road vehicles has been found to impact on soils, vegetation, wild-life and social conditions. This leads to the degradation of the environment which destroys and ...

Tourism is one of the most productive economic activities that earn several countries all over the world foreign and domestic income. There are many types of tourism. The type of tourism is determined by the kind of issues focused on and the expected outcomes out of the tourism activities. There are 6 major types of tourism; adventure, luxury, independent, organized or group and eco tourism. These forms of tourism have different benefits to the host country. Therefore, a country chooses to practice a type of tourism that would best suit its objectives and bring maximum benefits. There are two best examples ...

Introduction

This paper aims at fulfilling the requirements of the assignment to compare and contrasts two forms of tourism. For the purpose of this paper, I have will compare and contrast Ecotourism and Cultural Tourism in Australia and Kenya.

Ecotourism can be defined as exotic tourism mainly to threatened, natural areas in support of their preservation and protection and further to observe wildlife in their natural habitats. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) defines Ecotourism as an environmentally accountable tour to natural places that brings take pleasure to the tourist and encourages them to value nature. It emphasizes that such tourism ...

Before we proceed any further let us first understand what the definition of tourism is. As per Guyer Feuler “Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising of transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups travelling away from home”. As per UNWTO definition “Tourism comprises of the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. For tourism to happen people must travel i.e. there ...

Sustainable development has been a key concern not only to world leaders but also to the citizens. This is because the recent projections show that if development is not controlled, then there is a risk of catastrophic events occurring in various places around the world. The receding of the polar ice caps has been an example of what uncontrolled development can result in. The main agenda that has been adapted to ensure that developmental activities and the environment co-exist harmoniously has been to guide stakeholders in each sector to emphasize sustainable development values. The tourism sector has hence been tasked with ...

Executive Summary

These two business proposals bring the concept of corporate social responsibility and technological utilization in the rapidly growing global travel and leisure market. It sees a bright prospect in setting up an 1.) online travel agency, specifically in Victoria, Australia or New South Wales and 2.) eco lodge site in any part of Australia.

For the first business proposal, it caters to a greater portion of major businesses and corporations in New South Wales or Victoria, two Australian states that have the biggest number of travel agencies and travelers. It also has the head offices of a large number of international airlines.

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Introduction

This paper will explore existing literature on the topic of eco-tourism as a form of sustainable business. It is argued that eco-tourism has been around for 20 years however during this time it has been hard to define, this is due to the complex nature of eco-tourism. This paper will provide annotated bibliography based on the form of eco-tourism to discuss the link between eco-tourism and business. The annotated bibliography will look at cultural variations and different eco-tourism products to identify any common patterns.

The research identified the use of a holistic approach to eco-tourism which is in alignment with the ...