Quality Assurance And Certification In Ecotourism

Genuine ecotourism can have many positve impacts, particularly the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. While promoting these, it aims to eleminate negative impacts such as environmental degradation, cultural commoditisation and playground effects. Unfortunately, the concept is broadly misunderstood and its true definition is widely debated. It is often used as a marketing tool, with some operators taking advantage of the ecotourism label to attract more business while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. This book considers the important topic of quality control and accreditation in ecotourism, describing the mechanisms that can be implemented to ensure quality in all aspects of the industry, namely protected areas, businesses, producs and tour guides.

Endorsed by The International Ecotourism Society, Sustainable Tourism & The Millennium Development Goals: Effecting Positive Change demonstrates how ecotourism and sustainable tourism can assist in supporting and meeting the goals set forward by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and how it can foster a global partnership for development. The text discusses how ecotourism and sustainable tourism can assist in supporting and meeting the MDG by drawing on case studies and examples. The final summary chapter discusses how ecotourism and sustainable tourism can assist in supporting and meeting the MDG by 2015 and identifies the challenges and goals that need to be considered in the future. In this edition you will find: - Historical perspective of the development of ecotourism and sustainable tourism - The Millennium Development Goals defined - Overview of how ecotourism and sustainable tourism can assist in meeting the goals of the MDG - Engaging case studies and examples to reinforce the concept

Intended as a guide for wildlife managers and ecotourism operators, as well as interested ecotourists, this book addresses the biological principles governing how ecotourism affects wildlife. The introductory chapters focus on four key responses to human visitation—behavioral, physiological, ecological, and evolutionary. Readers will discover ecotourism’s effects on biodiversity in connection with various industries that are habitat or taxonomically specific: fish tourism (including both freshwater and marine), marine mammal tourism, the huge industry centered on terrestrial animals, and the well-studied industry of penguin tourism. Given that the costs and benefits of ecotourism cannot be meaningfully assessed without understanding the human context, particular attention is given to how ecotourism has been used as part of community development. In closing, the book synthesizes the current state of knowledge regarding best practices for reducing human impacts on wildlife. The final chapter highlights key research questions that must be addressed to provide more evidence-based guidelines and policy.

The book is a landmark volume which examines perplexing tourism debates such as the relevance of mass tourism, climate change, authenticity, tourism and poverty and slow tourism. Multidisciplinary in content, it covers applied aspects of sociology, anthropology, humanities and biosciences. The book is unique in its presentation and style and will be an essential resource for scholars, academics and practitioners.

This handbook explores and critically evaluates the debates and controversies inherent to tourism's relationship with nature, especially pertinent at a time of major re-evaluation of our relationship with the environment as a consequence of the environmental problems we now face.

Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations, and Management lays out a road map to launching and building a business in one of today’s most exciting industries. It simplifies the process and outlines real-life requirements while clearing the path to new business success in the cultural, heritage, nature, and adventure fields. Written by an eco-development pioneer, the book offers guidance on developing and implementing a comprehensive sustainable-business plan. From analyzing the market all the way through hiring and training the right people, the text focuses on the principles of both tourism and business. It prepares those embarking on new careers to tackle the complexity of sustainability issues by thinking like entrepreneurs and acting like business owners. Students and professionals can rely on this text as both a start-up and ongoing implementation reference that will stack the odds of success in their favor. Sustainable Tourism provides an overview of exciting developments in the sustainable-tourism industry. It helps new entrepreneurs assess the viability of ideas and products against sustainable criteria. Through sequential chapters, it delivers step-by-step instructions for minimizing environmental impact, establishing sustainability practices, obtaining financing, and marketing to and reaching customers. The standards-based text also examines how the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Sustainability Guidelines shape sustainable tourism, providing a global framework from which to build the skills needed for success. Key features include the following: • 13 online video case studies of sustainable tourism destinations from around the world give students a global text from which to build their own businesses and provide a model for how sustainable tourism works. • An online workbook guides learners through the completion of a business plan by the end of the term. • An online image bank presents photos, figures, and tables from the book that may be downloaded for use in presentations. • Forms and worksheets from the book are available for download. • A professional development workbook, “Creating a Tourism Career from Scratch” (appendix B), is a reference for entrepreneurs starting or advancing in their careers. Loaded with case studies, the book illustrates what works and what doesn’t when starting a sustainable tourism business. It describes how to integrate sustainability practices into daily operations, maximize the use of the web and social media in marketing, and overcome challenges in sustainable tourism. The text covers every important topic in a business start-up, including financial forecasting and analysis, customer service systems, hiring, training, and managing turnover. Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations and Management is the starting point for all who want to develop an eco-friendly product, integrate sustainability principles into their businesses, and turn their dreams into a business reality.

Annotation. There is currently immense interest in measuring the sustainability of tourism in general, and of ecotourism in particular. Until this time, it has been difficult for consumers to know whether claims of tourism destinations and products being "ecological and sustainable" are based on hard evidence. The tourism industry has therefore been developing methods to measure these objectively in the form of ecolabels. This book is the first substantial one to review this subject. Emphasis is placed on the criteria used in ecolabels to determine sustainability, the marketing of ecologically labelled tourism products, and the management of current ecolabels and awards.

This volume highlights a broad selection of valuable research work by renowned professionals and scientists from academia and the travel industry, bridging academic perspectives and research with practical applications. It provides a wide-ranging vision of a multitude of trends in the global travel and tourism industry today and in the future. Adopting an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, the contributors examine a diverse selection of topics and share their research and exploratory investigations to frame their implications and outcomes. The volume reflects upon the wide-ranging conceptual approaches to the subject of tourism and includes varying paradigms and perspectives on the core elements of the tourism sector. The overall thrust of the book is to provide a required critical depth to tourism studies and to guide the reader through the fundamental themes of tourism, destination marketing, branding, and management.