The Paradox of the Ultimate Ecotourist
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a kind of tourism that involves traveling to different areas of natural or ecological interesting in order to observe and learn about the environment and wildlife. Ecotourists make responsible travels to natural areas that conserve the environment and improve the well being of local people. Thus, ecotourism is a very important form of tourism, and, it is one of the governments’ sources of revenue. The following are the positive and negative impacts of ultimate ecotourism in terms of access to distance destination and on site impact.
The positive impacts of ultimate ecotourism
Combating ecotourism and urban development problems
Ecotourism occurring in urban places is a perception of ultimate ecotourism. It is worth noting that big urban centers keep on developing so as to accommodate the burgeoning urban populace. City councils and local administrative try to balance the growth of the urban environments with the conservation of natural resources. This progressive tendency results to substantial and gradually more treasured natural regions being situated on the urban areas or on the urban outskirts. Ultimate ecotourism can tackle the predicament associated with ecotourism and growth of urban areas.
Restoring Natural Areas
Impacts on the natural environment can be reduced because it reduces the need to tour to and go to isolated areas. Urban dwellers and tourists are provided with good transport network and service. Ultimate ecotourism can help restore natural regions or create the need to make use of unused industrial areas.
Arousing the need for conservation
Ultimate ecotourism leads to the need for conservation and betterment of thee quality of an urban place. Conservational values can result to the creation of habitation for endangered fauna and flora, and offering the opportunity to reintroduce the species wiped out in a specific region (Higham, 2007).
The negative impacts of ultimate ecotourism
Vagueness of the prefix “eco”
It is still unclear whether the operators and attractions involved in the ecotourism sector can be termed as “eco.” Without doubt, majority of those involved in ecotour operations and eco-attractions abide by a number of the ecotourism prerequisites. However, their compliance to those prerequisites notwithstanding, their practices eventually damage the setting on which they operate their businesS. To sum it up, ecotourism, regardless of the rhetoric, makes a considerable contribution to the dilapidation of the natural environment. The prefix “eco” is a misconception.
Visitation to sensitive areas
It is widely accepted that ecotourists are driven by a desire to conserve the environment. Thus, it might be falsely concluded that ecotourists pose minimal or no negative impact on the environment that they are visiting (Buckley, 2004).. This is often not the case for the following reasons. Ecotourism knows no borders. Therefore, ecotourists might get a desire to visit areas that might be fragile or sensitive, for instance, alpine and arid regions. Ecotourism visitations maybe bad-timed, for instance, visiting during sensitive time such as when the fauna and flora is breeding or hatching. Ecotourists may visit a location in large numbers, leading to a bigger ultimate impact compared to the initial impact.
References
Buckley, R. (2004). Environmental Impacts of Ecotourism. Wallingford: CABI Publ.
Higham, J. (2007). Critical Issues in Ecotourism. London: Routledge.
