What Exactly is Eco Tourism Anyway?

Besides having less of an impact on the planet when you travel, what exactly defines eco tourism?

According to the Centre for Ecotourism, Hector Ceballos-Lascurain created the term “eco tourism” in 1983 to mean “nature-based travel to relatively undisturbed areas with an emphasis on education.”

The term “eco” is a combination of three words environment, culture and oriented travel. The International Ecotourism Society says eco tourism can be defined as “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people”. In short, ecotourism is an insightful, mindful and participatory travel experience to natural and cultural environments, assisting the well-being of the local cultures and environments for future generations. Eco tourism, however, is different from nature tourism because it puts more emphasis on conservation, education, traveler responsibility and active community participation.

Eco Tourism…

Minimizes the negative impacts of the tourism.
Contributes to the efforts to preserve the environment.
Employs local people for any eco tourism work.
Produces viable economic opportunities for the host areas.
Educates visitors about the local environment and culture.
Cooperates with local people to manage natural areas.
Provide a positive experience for visitor and host.

Eco-lodges

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of eco lodges