Tourism is a giant and growing industry that has big adverse effects on people and the environment. To counter this, different ways of reforming tourism have been tested, one of these is ecotourism. But what is ecotourism, and is it really so different in the end from regular mass tourism? This thesis will discuss the issue of ecotourism from a post-modern ecofeminist standpoint on a general, national, and local level. More specifically, it will be applied to whale shark ecotourism in Donso, the Philippinesl. I found that ecotourism shared the “soft” values with ecofeminism, such as love, care, and friendship, at least in theory. However, this changes as ecotourism is implemented in a society where other “hard” and mechanistic values, such as profit rules on the basis of power.

Ecotourism is one of the fastest expanding tourism markets. It has received much attention in developing countries and economically impoverished regions around the world. As an agent of change, ecotourism has been linked to sustainable development strategies and initiatives in many places. However, ecotourism can induce a variety of both positive and negative environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts at a destination. Operating in its ideal form (according to some), ecotourism provides the tourist with a quality nature experience, generates funds and support for conservation efforts, has minimal environmental impact and provides socioeconomic benefits to local host communities. While there is evidence that ecotourism's espoused benefits can be realized, there are equally as many, if not more, cases where ecotourism has fallen short of its proposed objectives. Indeed, ecotourism's impact has been highly variable. At the same time, some have criticized that there have been relatively few practical assessments of ecotourism's status at specific destinations. This study sought to assess the current status of ecotourism at two destinations where it is being promoted as a regional development strategy. The existing tourism-park/resource-community relationships and impacts are evaluated at Jianfengling and Diaoluoshan National Forest Parks, in Hainan Province, China. Hainan, although endowed with a wealth of natural resources, is one of China's most economically backward provinces. Ecotourism has been identified as an important provincial strategy for balancing economic growth and conservation. The study is intended to enhance the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits for both the local communities and destinations (the protected areas), and thus contribute to the sustainable development of the region more generally. Given the exploratory nature of the research, qualitative analysis was used. Interviews, observations and secondary sources were the main vehicles of inquiry employed in this study. Basic quantitative analysis was used to aid in the interpretation of interview results. Triangulation, in terms of both data sources (primary and secondary) and methods (document collection, observations, interviews, quantitative analysis), was used wherever possible to limit personal and methodological biases. Similar results were found in both the Jianfengling and Diaoluoshan case studies. Ecotourism development is at an early stage. As such, socioeconomic benefits for the local communities have been very limited. At the same time, residents have had to cope with reduced access to resources since the Parks were established in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, community residents generally support conservation and are optimistic that tourism growth will yield benefits. Both Parks receive relatively few tourists, and neither Park charges a user fee. As a result, (eco)tourism has not, to date, contributed revenues towards conservation efforts. Although the Parks offer spectacular tropical scenery, facilities are basic and educational opportunities for tourists are few. Planning direction and recommendations are offered based on the study findings and the salient ecotourism literature. Identified opportunities, constraints and recommendations are used to provide a potential framework for the development of a park (eco)tourism plan at each study site. Results and recommendations could inform planning and management processes, and thus enhance the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits at the study sites and, more generally, throughout Hainan.

Ecotourism is one of the fastest expanding tourism markets. It has received much attention in developing countries and economically impoverished regions around the world. As an agent of change, ecotourism has been linked to sustainable development strategies and initiatives in many places. However, ecotourism can induce a variety of both positive and negative environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts at a destination. Operating in its ideal form (according to some), ecotourism provides the tourist with a quality nature experience, generates funds and support for conservation efforts, has minimal environmental impact and provides socioeconomic benefits to local host communities. While there is evidence that ecotourism's espoused benefits can be realized, there are equally as many, if not more, cases where ecotourism has fallen short of its proposed objectives. Indeed, ecotourism's impact has been highly variable. At the same time, some have criticized that there have been relatively few practical assessments of ecotourism's status at specific destinations. This study sought to assess the current status of ecotourism at two destinations where it is being promoted as a regional development strategy. The existing tourism-park/resource-community relationships and impacts are evaluated at Jianfengling and Diaoluoshan National Forest Parks, in Hainan Province, China. Hainan, although endowed with a wealth of natural resources, is one of China's most economically backward provinces. Ecotourism has been identified as an important provincial strategy for balancing economic growth and conservation. The study is intended to enhance the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits for both the local communities and destinations (the protected areas), and thus contribute to the sustainable development of the region more generally. Given the exploratory nature of the research, qualitative analysis was used. Interviews, observations and secondary sources were the main vehicles of inquiry employed in this study. Basic quantitative analysis was used to aid in the interpretation of interview results. Triangulation, in terms of both data sources (primary and secondary) and methods (document collection, observations, interviews, quantitative analysis), was used wherever possible to limit personal and methodological biases. Similar results were found in both the Jianfengling and Diaoluoshan case studies. Ecotourism development is at an early stage. As such, socioeconomic benefits for the local communities have been very limited. At the same time, residents have had to cope with reduced access to resources since the Parks were established in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, community residents generally support conservation and are optimistic that tourism growth will yield benefits. Both Parks receive relatively few tourists, and neither Park charges a user fee. As a result, (eco)tourism has not, to date, contributed revenues towards conservation efforts. Although the Parks offer spectacular tropical scenery, facilities are basic and educational opportunities for tourists are few. Planning direction and recommendations are offered based on the study findings and the salient ecotourism literature. Identified opportunities, constraints and recommendations are used to provide a potential framework for the development of a park (eco)tourism plan at each study site. Results and recommendations could inform planning and management processes, and thus enhance the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits at the study sites and, more generally, throughout Hainan.

With the growth ecotourism and of nature-based tourism, ecolodges are becoming more popular as an accommodation choice by tourists. There is currently no universal certification program ensuring service quality or environmental sustainability for ecolodges. Costa Rica is one of the few countries with a certification program in place that allows ecolodges to join by meeting certain standards. Visitors from three different certified ecolodges in Costa Rica were asked to fill out a questionnaire asking for demographic and trip characteristic information, with a section pertaining to their perception of importance and performance of 42 ecolodge attributes. The information was then applied to an Importance-Performance Analysis to gain a better understanding of how ecolodges are operating based on visitor feedback. The results from this thesis are then compared to the results of a similar study done by Kwan (2008) in Belize, where no certification exists for ecolodges. It is found that certified ecolodges received higher performance scores from their guests than uncertified ecolodges. It was also found that visitors place higher importance on more attributes when visiting a certified ecolodge, compared to uncertified ecolodges. This study also found that certified ecolodges are meeting the expectations of their clientele, by having higher performance scores than importance scores on 41 of 42 attributes. This thesis indicates that the presence of certification programs for ecolodges influences higher performance scores and can help ensure a successful future for this type of accommodation.

This research examines ecotourism outcomes in the context of large-scale tourism development in Nicaragua and focuses on Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge. Since ecotourism involves the imposition of Western constructs of nature, biodiversity, communities and conservation, our attempts to evaluate or certify ecotourism are likewise derived from these constructs. Failing to recognize the context where ecotourism occurs may lead to evaluations that place excessive emphasis on poor performance while overlooking relative successes. Initial evaluations of this ecotourism project revealed deception, exploitation, and minimal dedication to ecotourism principles; however, continuing participant observation and ethnographic interviewing among employees and residents forced re-evaluation. In relation to unchecked tourism development in the region, and given the desperate Nicaraguan socio-economic reality for most rural residents, the project must be considered a moderate success. This dissertation later invokes the dominant literature on local reactions to tourism development coming out of the field of tourism studies that uses stage-based models to show that increasing experience with tourism leads to increasingly negative reactions to tourism. This is contrasted with ecotourism research that has shown how increasing participation in ecotourism leads to more favorable attitudes towards ecotourism projects. This dissertation examines these two seemingly disparate perspectives in the context of an ecotourism project. Three groups representing different levels of involvement with ecotourism are compared. The results support traditional tourism theory, suggesting fruitful opportunities for integration of research on conventional forms of tourism with research specific to ecotourism. Finally, a political ecology approach is adopted to reveal mutually reinforcing cycles of capital accumulation and impoverishment leading to environmental degradation in the region resulting from tourism development in the region, as originally described in the influential book Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America. While that work focuses primarily on agricultural activities, here recent ethnographic research on ecotourism in southwestern Nicaragua is contextualized within rapid tourism development in the region and examined through a political ecological lens to reveal how tourism is responsible for the same destructive cycles revealed above. Despite achieving certain on-site success, even ecotourism contributes to, if not enables, larger processes of environmental exploitation in the Nicaraguan context.

Abstract This research aimed to apply the theory of environmental benefits valuation to assess the plan of reformation in Tanbian village¡¦s wetland. Environmental change affects economy. Therefore, through people¡¦s feedback and tourists¡¦ participation of ecotourism, this paper discussed the economic benefits in transforming Tanbian village¡¦s wetland into an eco-garden. Thus, the research adopted the Payment-card method of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), categorized under the Non-market Valuation Techniques (NVT), analyzing the economic benefits of eco-tourism¡¦s virtual market at Tanbian village. That is, the amount of people¡¦s Willingness to Pay (WTP) was analyzed to discover the project¡¦s multiple values. Further more, by comparing and contrasting people¡¦s background information, people¡¦s data and differences among other facets were discovered. Finally, in responding to the urgent need in tourism development, this paper integrated tourists and residents¡¦ data to discover the amount of WTP. Such research mode provided a tourism benefits assessment of Tanbian village¡¦s eco-garden project, and its conclusion supplied some suggestions to government control and also future plans of the eco-garden. There are 239 respondents (including 122 residents and 117 tourists) willing to take the questionnaire survey assuming the correspondence among people¡¦s background information (resident or tourist), attitude and other variables and WTP. After analysis, the result demonstrates that sex and age have little effect on many variables. On the other hand, people¡¦s background (resident or tourist), education level, average income do have obvious influence. However, the both results are valid, showing the principle this research applied is reliable. The CVM results included: 1. Up to 91.4% People shows positive attitude toward the ten facets of Tanbian eco-garden tour. 2. The average accommodation rates for visitors willing to pay for Tanbian eco-tour is 1,100 NT dollars. And each year, 250NT dollars donation per person can be expected. 3. The average amount of willingness to pay for people to join in an eco-tour is: 118.2NT dollars for eco-tour; 105.5NT dollars for fishing village experience; 60.8NT dollars for farm life experience, 284NT dollars in total. 4. The potential tourism benefits of Tanbian eco-garden are about: 22,098,000NT/year for tourists and 4,236,000NT/year for residents, that is, 26,334,000NT dollars in sum. 5. The eco-garden is around 20 hectares. And the average annual economic benefits per hectare of the wetland were 1,316,000 NT dollars. The estimated benefits were more than the expected value of 250,000NT dollars that the landowners can gain from the wetland today. Therefore, it is feasible to develop ecotourism at this area. In the end, this research hoped to tribute some advices to Tanbian eco-garden¡¦s management, turning ecological resources into financial sources, for Penghu County to be an ecotourism paradise. Keywords: wetland, eco-garden, ecotourism, benefits assessment, Contingent Valuation Method

Magisterarbeit--München--Universität, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 134-157.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 107 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-64).

Although believed to be existed long ago in practice, the notion of ecotourism has received widespread recognition in the academia only after 1980s. In recent years, scholars have strongly advocated ecotourism as a tool to achieve socio-economic development vis-a-vis environmental conservation in the developing countries, such as Nepal. Unlike traditional forms of tourism, it has been theoretically portrayed as an ethically responsible travel that could minimize negative impacts, generates funds for conservation, benefits local communities, and educates visitors. However, in practice, there are also the cases where ecotourism has fallen short of its proposed objectives, and caused environmental and socio-cultural problems in the destination communities. To maximize and materialize its potential benefits and promote sustainability, there has been a growing emphasis on the appropriate planning of ecotourism development. However research in this area in the less developed countries is limited. Existing literatures reveal that contemporary researchers have not focused their attention to the critical areas of ecotourism planning, and therefore it is still in an adolescence stage (Weaver and Lawton, 2007). More specifically, relationship between ecotourism planning and its contribution towards sustainable community development in the protected areas (PAs) of developing countries such as Nepal is rarely studied. In this context, this study aims to critically explore the local issues, impacts and dynamics of ecotourism planning and its relationship with and contribution towards sustainable community development in the PAs of Nepal. By employing a theoretical lens of Community-oriented Collaborative (Co-C) ecotourism planning, the key research question of the study was investigated empirically in the case of Annapurna Sanctuary (AST) Trail of the Annapurna Conservation Area and the Everest Trail (ET) of the Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park in Nepal. Combination of multiple data collection approaches such as structured questionnaire survey with the households, semi-structured interview with the key informants, informal discussion with stakeholders including porters and trek guides, participant observation, and archival research have been adopted. A qualitative-interpretative approach was used in the analysis of different qualitative and quantitative data. Empirical findings arguably suggest that the key objectives of ecotourism are not truly achieved in both destinations; although (eco)tourism in the AST has performed comparatively better than ET. It revealed that context of community participation and stakeholder’s collaboration in the AST is fairly more effective and efficient than ET. It also indicated that community-based planning approach in the AST is more appropriate than the planning approach adopted in ET which is normally controlled by the PA authority and its defacto Buffer Zone Management Committee. The survey findings on community impacts of (eco)tourism, and the context of participation and collaboration in the AST and ET have supported the key proposition of “Co-C” ecotourism planning i.e. “more inclusive and effective the community participation and collaboration in ecotourism development, more effectively it will contribute to maximize socio-economic benefits to local communities; protect local environment, resources, and heritage; and promote sustainable community development in the PAs”. This study indicated that perceived benefits and costs of (eco)tourism largely depend on the level of community participation in (eco)tourism activities and decision-making process; capacity to influence decisions; capacity to collaborate with stakeholders; availability of resources, skills, knowledge and education; proximity to the major trail; and networking and communication skills. By using their skills, knowledge and resources, residents usually tend to participate and influence (eco)tourism development process. In both the study areas, residents in OT, usually the low-caste minorities, porters, farmers, and non-entrepreneurs are found relatively less empowered and less capable to integrate into tourism industry and decision-making process than the residents in MT. Based on the research findings, this study has suggested planning and policy recommendations to empower the poor and marginalized section of community; enhance local economy; protect local resources; and promote sustainable community development in the PA settlements of Nepal. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Οι περιοχές του ευρωπαϊκού οικολογικού Δικτύου Natura 2000 είναι περιοχές πρόσφορες για την ανάπτυξη πολλαπλών ήπιων τουριστικών δραστηριοτήτων, που έχουν σκοπό την ηρεμία, την απομόνωση, την αισθητική απόλαυση του τοπίου καθώς και τη γνωριμία με το φυσικό περιβάλλον. Η πολύτιμη αξία και η αναγκαιότητα προστασίας και ανάδειξης του φυσικού πλούτου που τις διακρίνει, απαιτούν την υιοθέτηση και εφαρμογή μίας πολυεπίπεδης στρατηγικής, αποτελούμενης από εξειδικευμένα έργα, μέτρα και δράσεις, με σκοπό τη συστηματικότερη διαφύλαξη και διαχείριση των εν λόγω περιοχών και κατ’ επέκταση την εξασφάλιση της βιώσιμης τουριστικής τους ανάπτυξής. Στην παρούσα εργασία, εξετάζονται δύο περιοχές της Οροσειράς Ροδόπης που ανήκουν στο δίκτυο Natura 2000, το Δάσος της Ελατιάς και του Φρακτού, οι οποίες αποτελούν τους κύριους άξονες της τουριστικής ανάπτυξης για την ευρύτερη περιοχή, αλλά και για το σύνολο του Νομού Δράμας. Η έρευνα, με τη βοήθεια ενός κατάλληλα διαμορφωμένου ερωτηματολογίου, εξετάζει τα ατομικά χαρακτηριστικά των επισκεπτών, τις δραστηριότητες που αυτοί ασκούν κατά την επίσκεψής τους, τις προτιμήσεις τους, καθώς και τις απόψεις και παρατηρήσεις τους για τα όσα η περιοχή διαθέτει και προσφέρει. Από την ανάλυση και επεξεργασία των απαντήσεων που δόθηκαν, εξάγονται χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα για την εκτίμηση της παρούσας κατάστασης, με απώτερο σκοπό την γενικότερη αναβάθμιση των εν λόγω περιοχών και την επίτευξη μίας ορθολογικής και αποτελεσματικής διαχείρισης, μέσω της ουσιαστικής βελτίωσης της ποιότητας των υπαρχουσών εγκαταστάσεων, υποδομών και παρεχόμενων υπηρεσιών, έτσι ώστε να είναι ανταγωνιστικές και πιο ελκυστικές για όσους επιλέγουν τέτοιους είδους προορισμούς. / -