Some Fundamental Truths About Tourism: Understanding Tourism's Social and Environmental Impacts

This paper offers an empirical case study of ecotourism in the island state of Cuba. The paper attempts to gauge the success Cuba has had in establishing eco-tourist practices that could be considered sustainable, and provides analysis of the various political factors that condition this success. Using some well-known benchmarks of sustainable eco-tourist practices, the paper presents the results of numerous interviews with key informants involved with ecological tourism in Cuba, archival research and observations from on-site visits to key ecotourism projects to examine the relative success of ecotourism on the island. Concluding that Cuba has had mixed success in moving to sustainable ecotourism, the paper examines the various political constraints that will likely determine the trajectory of Cuba’s ecotourism in the near and medium term.     

Artificial Reefs as Recreational Scuba Diving Resources: A Critical Review of Research

This paper reports on the increasing practice of developing and promoting artificial reefs as sites for scuba diving tourism and recreation. A comprehensive definition of artificial reefs is presented that encapsulates the diversity of structures used by marine recreationists, particularly scuba divers, followed by a review of existing literature that specifically examines artificial reefs as a resource for the conduct of recreational scuba diving. Three main thematic areas were identified in the existing literature: social dimensions, socioeconomic impacts and environmental engineering. A typology of artificial reefs is offered to better describe and categorise artificial reef structures according to unit characteristics that may influence recreational use such as material used, appearance, complexity and cost. The paper presents a conceptual model that identifies the components of an artificial reef scuba diving experience and discusses the potential of artificial reefs to act as tourism resources and management tools to redistribute scuba diver numbers away from natural reefs. Directions for future research are suggested, emphasising collection of data on aspects of the artificial reef scuba diving experience to better inform marine resource management.     

The Ecotourium Concept and Tourism-Conservation Symbiosis

The credibility of contemporary ecotourism is threatened by the global dominance of a model that minimally fulfils the three core criteria – nature-based attractions, learning opportunities, ecological and sociocultural sustainability – that characterise this sector. A more rigorous ‘comprehensive’ model is better capable of fulfilling ecotourism’s potential to achieve sustainable outcomes, but only if this model embraces both the hard and soft dimensions of the sector. Based on the latter premise and informed by the principles of complexity, knowledge sharing and interdisciplinarity, we propose the development of an international network of protected areas ‘ecotouriums’ that is designed to stimulate positive socioeconomic change within local communities and maintain and improve the ecological health of protected areas. Cornerstone themes that enable the ecotourium concept are research and education, ecological health, community participation and development, and partnerships.     

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 development in Ghana: A postcolonial analysis

Despite growing research on ecotourism in Ghana, it is unclear to what extent colonial approaches to forestry and wildlife conservation still influence ecotourism in the country. This paper examines ecotourism development in Ghana from a postcolonialist perspective. It is based on a thematic assessment of primary data from in-depth interviews with a range of ecotourism actors. The paper shows that ecotourism in Ghana, much like colonial forestry and wildlife conservation, faces challenges such as the marginalisation of the local community, the use of neo-crisis narratives, a dependence on international forces, and the marginalisation of local ecological knowledge. It argues for a holistic approach to the development of ecotourism as a win–win strategy for sustainable development.     

民族生态旅游接待村多维价值的研究--以香格里拉霞给村为例

根据景观生态学的基本原理,将民族生态旅游接待村构建为一个景观生态系统,从系统中的游客、村民和村寨三个方面来审视,发现生态旅游接待村具有不同的多维价值：予游客具有“真品”旅游价值;予村民具有脱贫的经济价值;予村寨具有民族传统文化传承和生态环境保护的社会和生态价值。三个价值的同时实现是民族村寨可持续发展的保证。云南省迪庆藏族自治州香格里拉县霞给藏族家庭接待村的实际案例也证实了这一认识的正确性。     

生态旅游概念识别及其比较研究--对中外40个生态旅游概念的定量分析

伴随着生态旅游的快速发展而涌现出的大量生态旅游概念使旅游研究者和旅游利益相关者对生态旅游概念产生了困惑.这种困惑使生态旅游的核心标准和规则在实际的应用中被扭曲和误用.本文运用内容分析的方法,通过对中外当代近10-15年内40个有影响力的生态旅游概念的分析,提炼出生态旅游概念架构所遵循的8个标准规则,它们是:以自然为基础、对保护的贡献、当地社区受益、环境教育、道德规范与责任、可持续性、旅游享受体验和文化.并以这些标准规则为基础,对中外生态旅游的概念进行比较,得出中国未来的生态旅游研究应更加关注旅游目的地管理的结论.     

居民对生态旅游认知与态度之研究--以澎湖列岛为例

本文旨在了解澎湖列岛居民生态旅游的认知与发展生态旅游的态度，并探讨居民基本资料与其对生态旅游认知和发展生态旅游态度之间的关系。经统计分析后发现：居民基本资料的不同会造成生态旅游认知与发展生态旅游态度的差异。最后透过典型相关分析发现，居民生态旅游的5个认知因素与发展生态旅游的6个态度因素间都具有相关性；居民对生态旅游的认知程度愈低者，在发展生态旅游态度上则愈不积极。     

国外基于社区的生态旅游研究进展

基于社区的生态旅游(community-based ecotourism,CBET)是国外生态旅游研究的一个新趋势,从理论和实践上都有一定深度的探索,而国内尚处于起步阶段.国外对CBET的研究主要包括可行性分析、内容和发展模式、利益相关者、市场研究、评估等方面.针对目前国内生态旅游概念泛化的现象,笔者建议引入国外相对成熟的研究成果,以促进我国生态旅游事业的健康发展.     

Ecotourism impacts in the Nicoya Peninsula,Costa Rica

Ecotourism promotes responsible travel to natural areas, environmental conservation and the well‐being of local communities. Eco‐lodges are an important component of ecotourism ventures but an infrequently researched component of this field. Considering their influence on the natural environment (design and operation) and local communities (employment practices and purchases), the success of ecotourism depends, in part, on the performance of eco‐lodges. This project studies the effects of the Punta Islita (PI) eco‐lodge on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. An interdisciplinary nested‐scale analysis, combining guest and household interviews with multi‐temporal remote sensing analysis of forest cover change of the lodge and surrounding areas, is used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social impacts of ecotourism in the region. Our results show significant positive contributions of the PI eco‐lodge on forest cover, environmental conservation, and local economic incomes within the surrounding communities. For local livelihoods, the PI eco‐lodge was seen as having positive social, cultural and economic impacts for nearly all societal variables for both employees and their neighbours. The PI eco‐lodge was also perceived as reducing alcoholism, drug addiction and prostitution, where conventional tourism on the Peninsula was shown to increase these ‘societal ills’. Land value and product pricing were the few variables believed to have increased as a result of tourism on the Peninsula. For conservation, the PI eco‐lodge property had the highest rates of reforestation within the Nicoya Peninsula and remains the scale most reforested in both forest cover change and total forest cover. In fact, at the landscape scale, we find that the Pacific coast of the Nicoya, where the bulk of ecotourism occurs, has undergone reforestation, whereas forest interiors have been deforested. Historically, reforestation occurred as cattle ranching credit programs were halted by the government and households in the area left to find better job opportunities. The PI eco‐lodge, as a source of good employment, resulted in worker migration back to the surrounding area, resulting, in some cases, in increased deforestation. Overall, we feel that the PI eco‐lodge serves as an example of successful ecotourism. However, increasing development in the region, in particular by standard hotel operations and large condo developments, seeks to capitalise on the region's natural beauty and may reverse land cover trends if they are not accompanied by adequate forest conservation strategies and stresses the importance of monitoring and assessing the impacts of accommodations tied to nature‐based tourism operations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.