The Spread Of Eco-Tourism Worldwide

In the modern scenario, tourism becomes one of the most overrating industries in the world. People temporarily move from one place to another to explore the world. When people travel to different places, they always have the destination. Different types of people have different targets. People travel for different reasons.

Depending upon these reasons there are different types of tourism and one specific tourism in any field is known as niche tourism. Mainly there are 20 types of niche tourism. The most common are Agri-tourism, Cultural tourism, Wildlife tourism, and Ecotourism. In the Agri-tourism people visits the farms and factories. In cultural tourism people especially travels to know about the culture of any specific place. Eco-tourism is one of the most interesting types of tourism field. In this category, people travel the world for the flora.

This research paper discusses the different dimensions of eco-tourism and relationship with sustainable development, eco-tourism as religious tourism, the role of sustainable development to conserve the environment.

The term eco-tourism is initially used in the 1970s. Later, different authors give different definitions of eco-tourism. Bjork (2000) gave the definition of eco-tourism based on four common dimensions

1. characteristics of the area
2. what the tourists do
3. what the tourists are interested in
4. the effects of the tourist’s behavior.

Bjork(2000) stated, “The area the Eco tourists are visiting is (or should be) undisturbed, and nature and culture are in focus”. According to him the visiting sites for which tourists travel to that place should be kept in a good manner. Like, there should not be any kind of environmental and cultural disturbance. Cultural values and environment should be the priority. Furthermore, Donohoe and Needham (2006) found the six common dimensions of eco-tourism

1. nature-based
2. preservation/conservation
3. environmental education
4. sustainability
5. distribution of benefits
6. ethics/responsibility.

Eco-tourism is based upon the natural environment. The concept of sustainable development came into action in the 1980s and most of the authors believed that sustainable development boosts the economic growth of the nation and it is beneficial to environmental conservation. With the passage of time, sustainable development provided help both in the development and to the protection of nature. Ceballos-Lascurain (1996) pointed out the different characteristics of eco-tourism as it conserves the environment and socio-economic benefits for local communities as goals of eco-tourism. These goals made the eco-tourism ‘responsible tourism’.

There is the strong connection between eco-tourism and religious tourism as most of the eco-tourism destinations are like sacred spaces. These places are devoted to a specific religion. Sometimes Eco tourists motivated from these places and they viewed eco-tourism as a form of religion. Jarkko Saarinen (2004) stated, “Nature has become a product, a general trademark with certain qualities attached to particular places, which can be wild, untouched, untamed, scenic, beautiful, rough and the like”. Nature is treated as a product and it can be of any type depending upon the place. John Gatta (2004) stated “Making nature sacred”. Which means people are making nature sacred through their rituals and imagination. People visit different destinations and enjoy the different colors of nature. Every destination has some particular values.

Vivanco (2006) argues, “Tropical nature is inherently separate from human domains, it is threatened, it is a space of mystery whose secrets can be unlocked through science, and the very act of touring the forests is helping save them”. Due to the different mysteries, tropical nature is threatened by the humans and it creates the huge difference between nature and humans. It is the only power of science that can protect the nature.

People are harming the nature through various activities. Deforestation is one of the main threat to nature. People cut the trees for their profit. Another factor that is harming the nature is pollution. The knowledge of science is the only option that helps the modern world to protect from the upcoming worst future. With the help of advanced technology and science, people in the modern world have mobile phones that predict the weather of next days. But people do not care and continuing harming the nature. The main threats to biodiversity are due to the industrial development and urbanization. Preece and van oosterzee (1995) stated, “In a positive light, the relationship between biodiversity and ecotourism can and should be mutually reinforcing”. Protection of natural features, ecosystems, and biodiversity acts as a strong attractor for the development of national economies. On the other hand, there are many opportunities for the tourism trade to promote and contribute to biodiversity conservation. Biodiversity is an attraction for most of the people who visit some specific sites.

Sustainable tourism works as a protector which saves the environment from the human activities. It preserves the beauty of forests and attracting areas. There are different policies of sustainable tourism. Government is involved in the policy. People who try to destroy the natural resources have suffered from many problems. Sometimes they are sent to the prison with the huge amount of fine.

Sustainable development becomes the important part of the conservation of the environment. For Example, Dajt National Park is one of the most important protected areas. Soteriou and Coccossis (2010) in their analysis, found the different factors in tourism planning. They pinpointed the lack of statistical data as the most important factor among all other. In this criteria, all the activities are written down on the records and have documentary information about every task in the field.

The second factor given by them is pressures exerted through influences or private sectors demand. Both the factors monitor the progress towards the established goals. It measures the pace of the work and efficiency of the strategies. Generalitat de Catalunya (2006) stated “Sustainability as one of the key leitmotifs”. He also did the survey and gave the report on European experiences in sustainable tourism applicable in Catalonia in 2007. The most recent strategy for sustainable development in Catalonia document is drawn up between 2008 and 2010 and it is also approved by the Catalan government on 31 August 2010.

In conclusion, Eco-tourism becomes one of the biggest sectors which are gaining the attention of the common people. It also helps in sustainable development. People invest a lot of money in this field to know about the different varieties of plants. Government earns a good amount of tax from the tourists who visit different parks and natural beauty. Also, the tourism industry helps in the economic growth of the country. The government should have to invest more money in the tourism industry so that it remains the good source of income.