Ecotourism Benefits and the Role of Local Guides at Masoala National Park,Madagascar

An investigation of ecotourism at Masoala National Park, a forested coastal area in northeastern Madagascar and the country’s largest national park, focused on ecotourism benefits and the role of local guides in promoting conservation awareness. Interviews, participant observation, and archival research were used to investigate the park’s guide association, resident attitudes toward Masoala National Park, and ecotourism as a method of park and rural development. Many factors make Masoala National Park a prime ecotourist destination, including the possibility of viewing its endemic species, such as red-ruffed lemurs. The park has a strong local guides’ association and currently combines conservation and development through a programme that returns a portion of tourism revenue to local communities. Actual or potential benefits received from the park, including ecotourism revenues, were found to influence the positive and negative perceptions of Masoala National Park held by residents living in the park periphery. However, limitations on ecotourism development include poor infrastructure and difficult access, a challenging climate including a hurricane season, and past national political instability.     

Ecotourism and conservation: factors influencing effective conservation messages

Environmental education and interpretation have largely focused on individual mechanisms (e.g. cognitive processes) leading to intention and behavioural change. Less has been said about the role of the situation and communication processes between tour guides and tourists in ecotourism experiences. This paper examines the role of interpreters and individuals as jointly influencing the effectiveness of communicating conservation messages. A survey of over 1500 visitors was undertaken to ascertain the factors crucial to whether visitors received a conservation message in an ecotourism setting. The results indicate a three-tier effect: individual characteristics, specifically respondent's age, were initially important. The second tier represents the impact of conservation-related information from the tour guide/interpreter. This information acts as a stimulus to the third and most crucial tier of influence – visitor empowerment. The tertiary stage comprises a two-way communication process that influences a positive conservation message. The process involves the interpreter suggesting positive conservation action that translates into what we term “a locus of responsibility” for the visitor and subsequent higher levels of satisfaction. All of these drive effective communication of conservation message comprehension.     

Residents’ perspectives of a newly developed ecotourism project: an assessment of effectiveness through the lens of an importance–performance analysis

Understanding the perceived importance and performance of various components of ecotourism to residents living in the area it is undertaken is crucial to the overall success of an ecotourism development project. This study examines residents’ perceptions of the importance and performance of ecotourism components (i.e. environmental conservation, economic wellbeing, promotion of local arts and culture, local participation, and fair share of resources), including overall ecotourism development, at the Gaurishankar Conservation Area (GCA) – a recently implemented ecotourism development project in Nepal. This study also examines the effect of socio-demographic, economic, and psychological factors on a perceived gap between the importance and the performance of ecotourism components. Findings suggest that the ecotourism development project at the GCA should concentrate on improving the economic wellbeing of residents, and on overall ecotourism development. Findings also suggest that residents’ inclusion in benefit-sharing mechanisms was associated with a reduced perceived gap between the importance and performance of ecotourism components. A comparison among different geographical segments of residents indicated that the perceived gap between importance and performance varies across different locations.     

A geography of ecotourism in Cambodia: regions,patterns, and potentials

Tourism visits to Cambodia have expanded rapidly, with over 5 million visitors arriving in the country by 2016. Angkor Wat remains the primary tourist attraction, but increasing numbers of tourists also visit ecotourism destinations. This study draws on Weaver’s [(2002). Asian ecotourism: Patterns and themes. Tourism Geographies, 4(2), 153–172] spatial and structural analysis of ecotourism in Asia as an organizing framework to develop a geography of ecotourism in Cambodia. In a comprehensive review of academic publications, reports, online ecotourism clearinghouses, and project websites, 30 Cambodian ecotourism sites were identified based on 5 ecotourism criteria. A content analysis of ecotourism project websites was then conducted to group together ecotourism sites with common characteristics in particular geographic regions. Each site was plotted on a Google Terrain map, and local and regional terrain, land cover, transport, and other physical features were analyzed, supplemented by detailed geographical data from Google Panorama, Earth, and Satellite map functions. Three relatively distinct ecotourism regions were identified: the (a) mangrove and rainforest region, (b) highland trekking region, and (c) wetlands and waterways region. For each region, tourism gateways and ecotourism development challenges and potentials are elaborated. The paper concludes with a discussion of study findings and their implications for ecotourism development in Cambodia.     

Ecotourism Visitor Experiences in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Challenging the Environmental Values of Visitors in Pursuit of Pro-environmental Behaviour

This paper reports on a research project that examined ecotourism visitor experiences in Aotearoa/New Zealand and whether or not those experiences challenged visitors to consider environmental issues. Twelve study sites in three nationwide geographical clusters were drawn from a comprehensive database of 479 eco/nature tourism operations based on each operation fulfilling 14 selection criteria. The operations offer maximum variation in the ecotourism experiences that they provide. The qualitative research methods implemented at these sites are described. Observational and interview data were employed to critically assess the visitor experiences reported at the study sites. Five important aspects of the visitor experience emerged from data analysis. These were considered to be effective in drawing visitor attention to environmental issues of relevance. The results indicate that ecotourism visitor experiences may be an effective medium via which environmental values may be influenced.     

Assessing the Role of Ecotourism Training in Changing Participants' Pro-Environmental Knowledge,Attitude and Behaviour

Ecotourism training is usually considered to be undertaken only by tourism practitioners for professional development. However, ecotourism training has a more important role to play, as it could be adopted as a long-term strategy for environmental conservation by altering people's attitudes and behaviours towards greater environmental responsibility. In this study, the role of ecotourism training with respect to pro-environmental knowledge enhancement as well as attitude and behavioural changes is investigated. A questionnaire survey was conducted on participants of an ecotourism training programme. Participants' environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours were evaluated using a pre- and post-test method. The results indicated that participants demonstrated a significant increase in environmental knowledge after the training. Moreover, participants' demographic characteristics such as age group, occupation and salary are significantly associated with the improvement in knowledge, change in pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Participants tend to adopt environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviours after completion of ecotourism training.     

The community participation process in ecotourism development: a case study of the community of Sogoog,Bayan-Ulgii,Mongolia

Theories on community participation in ecotourism development advocate obtaining maximum levels of both community control and benefit to achieve sustainable tourism. This paper explores issues in community-based ecotourism development in a small, remote community in western Mongolia. It assesses the community's desire to develop ecotourism, their understanding of the issues involved and the feasibility of the process in a poor herding community, where 63% are herdsmen, frequently absent with their herds. Using responses from 100 participants together with interviews with key stakeholders, it describes and analyzes the difficulties in establishing community participation and ecotourism implementation. Findings revealed that long-term viable community-based ecotourism development in remote areas requires close collaboration and sustained support from trusted community leaders and from knowledgeable and committed outside stakeholders. Approaches need to be carefully tailored to local circumstances, not “one size fits all”. Key areas of concern were environmental and cultural, including fears that their tradition of hospitality might be compromised, perceptions of the local NGO's benefits to the community and local, often naïve, expectations of ecotourism development. Despite fears, over 90% of those interviewed were willing to participate in an ecotourism project in this high-risk, unforgiving economic and climatic setting.     

Alternative Tourism and Sustainable Development in Kenya

This article examines alternative tourism and especially the form dubbed ecotourism and assesses its prospects for sustainable development in Kenya. It also considers community participation in ecotourism, the Kenya government policy on ecotourism, and the initiatives to yield sustainable development in the country. The findings show that biodiversity conservation encourages and supports tourism which, in turn, provides money for conservation efforts and local development programmes. However, ecotourism has not necessarily led to small scale, locally owned tourism enterprises expected in the ecotourism model. The analysis shows nevertheless that alternative tourism development has drawn attention to the role of local people in biodiversity conservation, the basis of ecotourism. Hopefully, this will lead to greater local participation in the ownership, management and control of ecotourism enterprises.     

Marketing Ecotourism Through the Internet: A Case of Ecotourism Business in Thailand

The advance of Internet technology is having a profound impact on the traditional modes of selling tourism products and contributing to the growing importance of online marketing of the travel and tourism industry. In the case of ecotourism, studies examining Internet-based ecotourism marketing are still limited. This study aims to examine how ecotourism business is marketed through the Internet by focusing on Thai ecotourism business. Subjects investigated are travel business members listed on the website of the Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA). Data are qualitatively analyzed using content analysis to examine marketing and ecotourism web-based context promoted through the Internet. The results indicate that the travel companies examined in this study provide a variety of products and services to meet the diverse travel needs and preferences of tourists. When examining the web-based ecotourism marketing, most businesses provide insufficient marketing and ecotourism information to promote ecotourism experience. In particular, ecotourism messages they provide are only partially aligned with ecotourism principles. Recommendations are given for improving online ecotourism marketing to better satisfy tourists' needs and expectations.     

黄山风景区生态旅游实践研究

生态旅游对于优化产业结构、促进区域可持续发展、推动生态文明建设具有重要意义。本文选取山地型生态旅游地黄山风景区为案例开展实践研究,主要研究内容包括：（1）首先摸清了黄山风景区野生动植物、古树名木、地貌、气候、水体等丰富的生态旅游资源;（2）梳理了黄山风景区在生态旅游者、资源、企业与环境等方面采取的促进生态旅游发展的措施,包括确定合理的景区承载量、封闭轮休精华景点、规范保护古树名木、有效防控松材线虫灾害、严防森林火灾、生态旅游企业改革和科学治理“三废”等;（3）论述了黄山风景区生态旅游发展所取得的经济、社会和生态效益,其效益具有时间和空间的溢出性,对国内外旅游目的地可持续发展起到推动作用。黄山风景区是生态旅游发展的范例地,其区域发展、法规标准和多主体参与等一系列生态旅游保护与利用实践为国内外风景名胜区发展生态旅游提供了宝贵经验。     

Motivational and Behavioral Profiling of Visitors to Forest-based Recreational Destinations in Sri Lanka

The tourism industry plays a key role in regional and destination development. As negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts of mass tourism become more common, the appeal of alternative forms of tourism, especially ecotourism, continues to increase. With rising demand, ecotourism operators are facing the task of meeting expectations of diverse consumers of ecotourism products. Accordingly, the need to define and distinguish ecotourists from other types of tourists has become important. The importance of using a behavioral approach to distinguish ecotourists from other types of tourists is emphasized by tourism scholars. This study developed distinct motivational and behavioral profiles of visitors to forest-based ecotourism sites in Sri Lanka. Results identified four different types of tourists based on their behavioral and motivational characteristics: ecotourists, picnickers, egoistic tourists, and adventure tourists. Broad implications of visitor profiling are also discussed. This approach can help ecotourism operators to better tailor marketing strategies and increase visitor satisfaction.     

The Effects of Ecotourism in Developing Nations: An Analysis of Case Studies

One class of tourism that attempts to minimise the negative effects of traditional tourism is ecotourism. Much of the current ecotourism planning is only guesswork because few studies on the various impacts of ecotourism have been undertaken. This review collected data from ecotourism articles and scored each on seven separate ecotourism effect criteria to be used for analysis. Of the factors analysed, geographic location had a significant effect on tourism impacts while date and ownership of the conservation area did not. Ecotourism projects would benefit by using these criteria to quantitatively measure the state of their area. The results of this review illustrate that while ecotourism planning is in its infancy, ecotourism projects have the potential to be tools for sustainable development.     

国家公园生态旅游的本土化路径研究

中国生态旅游资源丰富,生态旅游发展潜力巨大,但实践的泛化造成生态旅游发展陷入困境,生态旅游形象受损。如何利用国家公园建设契机塑造有影响力的生态旅游品牌,是一个亟待研究的课题。在梳理中外生态旅游实践的基础上,本文认为,基于文化观念、生态资源与实践环境等差异,中国国家公园开展生态旅游需立足国情,建议重点从5个方面探索本土化路径：一是明确开展生态旅游的现实目标是生态资源的安全,价值目标是人与自然和谐相处;二是明晰生态旅游的内涵与外延,以此严格界定生态旅游实践内容与形式;三是重点从良性互动的社区参与和科学的自然解说系统两个方面,加强生态旅游科学实践,重塑生态旅游形象;四是利用研学旅行和自然教育等生态产品消费契机,提升公众生态文明素养;五是加强生态旅游制度建设,推动国家公园成为生态旅游和生态文明建设的示范基地。     

Ecosystem Tourism: A Resource-based Philosophy for Ecotourism

Ecotourism has become a popular form of tourism development and marketing in the past ten years, often harnessing the growth in public concern over the wise use of natural resources. In most cases, however, impacts on the ecosystems that are the resource base for ecotourism products are either externalised or their consequences incorporated into the natural evolution of tourism products. This paper is an attempt to stimulate debate on the role that more holistic resource management should play in ecotourism developments. We contend that this can only be achieved through an understanding of ecological science. Credible ecotourism must be firmly based in scientific ecological principles that define ecosystem integrity, especially the resilience of ecosystem processes to disturbance. Such tolerance should be the fundamental measurement against which ecotourism products are monitored.We introduce the term 'ecosystem tourism' to summarise this agenda to define truly sustainable ecotourism development.     

Applying the resilience principles for sustainable ecotourism development: A case study of the Nakdong Estuary,South Korea

When studying sustainable ecotourism, the ecotourism system can be better understood as a complex association of various elements that affects the local society and wildlife habitats. The purpose of this study is to plan an ecotourism system for the wise ecotourism resource management of estuary wetlands by using a resilience principle-based systems thinking approach. This study suggests an integrated management plan that considers diversity, connectivity, learning, participation, and polycentric governance to solve universal and important issues, such as estuary dam removal, urbanization, and natural resource use in the estuary's social-ecological system. The ecotourism system plans suggested in this study include minimizing ecological conflict and load through an improved sense of responsibility among stakeholders and strengthened protective activities. The results of this study suggest appropriate roles for various stakeholders in the management of tourism resources that can be used to establish new guidelines for ecotourism destination planning.     

Barriers to Ecotourism Supplier Success: A Comparison of Agency and Business Perspectives

Many small businesses catering to ecotourists' needs have emerged in response to an increasingly important ecotourism sector, but high turnover rates reduce benefits to owners, communities and visitors. The objective of this study was to compare agency and business perspectives on barriers affecting ecotourism suppliers. Understanding the similarities and differences between the views of agencies and businesses on ecotourism supplier success can help identify some fundamental steps needed to strengthen the ecotourism sector and to more effectively manage the natural resource base. Data were collected through key informant interviews of stakeholders associated with the ecotourism sector in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States. Key informants were business owners, tour operators and outfitters, state and local government personnel, natural resource managers working on public lands, and conservation leaders. Forty-five interviews were conducted. Data were qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. Qualitative Solutions and Research, Non-numerical Unstructured Data – Indexing, Searching and Theorising (QSR NUD*IST), a computer-based tool, was used to facilitate the content analysis. Results show that while agency and business interviewees agree on some barriers associated with the success of ecotourism suppliers, differences exist on their perspectives of providers' needs and ecotourism's role in the local economy.     

基于游客视角的生态旅游认证支付意愿实证分析

生态旅游认证产品能否取得商业上的成功取决于旅游消费者对它的接受程度,本文通过对浙江省4个景区的实地调查,分析了旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的认知和态度,并运用假设评价方法评估了旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的支付意愿.研究结果表明,旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的选择意愿受性别、教育程度、月收入、旅游频率、旅游方式、过去一年旅游花费、对生态旅游进行专门的认证并授予生态资格证书的赞同程度,以及未认证生态旅游产品的价格等因素的影响而差别显著;计算所得的支付意原表明,平均而言,旅游消费者愿意支付比未认证的生态旅游产品高35.1%的价格来购买通过认证的生态旅游产品.     

A Decommodified Experience? Exploring Aesthetic,Economic and Ethical Values for Volunteer Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Volunteer ecotourism has been described as an ‘ideal’ form of decommodified ecotourism that overcomes problems associated with tourism in general, and ecotourism specifically. Using a case study of volunteer ecotourism and sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica, this paper interrogates this ideal. Perceptions of volunteer ecotourism were explored through in-depth interviews with 36 stakeholders, including hosts, NGO staff, government employees, local ‘cabineros’ (families who provide accommodation) and guests (volunteers). Results show that while all stakeholder groups share similarly positive views of volunteer ecotourism, subtle but important differences exist. We analyse these differences in terms of aesthetic, economic, and ethical values, and situate the results in existing theories about the moralisation and decommodification of ecotourism.     

导游服务质量问题的根源分析与对策研究——基于利益相关者理论和游客感知视角

本文借鉴管理学的利益相关者理论,从游客感知视角探讨了我国的导游服务质量问题,提出导游服务质量管理是一个系统工程,把矛头单一地指向导游有失公允;导游服务质量问题的根源在于导游与其利益相关者间的利益失衡,而调整失衡关系的根本在于改革管理体制.完善制度保障.     

A natural capital model of influences for ecotourism intentions and the buffering effects of emotional values

This study develops and tests the model of natural-capital-moderated mediation in which emotional value serves as an intervening mechanism in the associations between natural capital and ecotourism. The results of a study of 662 visitors provide support for this model across the different dimensions of natural capital. Somewhat unexpectedly, the mediating effect of the sociocultural and economic dimensions is a positive link between the ecological dimension and ecotourism intentions. Alternatively, the moderating effect of emotional value is found to be contingent on the ecological benefits conferred by the economic benefits. Emotional value fosters a positive moderating effect of economic benefits on ecotourism intentions because it strengthens the positive link between intrinsic motivation and the value perceptions of ecotourism.