Ecotourism

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Ecotourism connects conservation, sustainable travel, and communities. It involves responsible travel to natural environments that empowers the local communities while supporting conservation efforts and provides interpretation and education. This summer consider taking a trip to a National Park1 or Monument, a World Heritage Site2, or an exotic trip to one of many ecotourism destinations around the world.
If you are booking an ecotourism excursion with a professional outfitter, make sure the outfitter participates in follow the ecotourism principles as described by the International Ecotourism Society3.
  • Minimize impacts to the environment and community
  • Establishes environmental and cultural mindfulness
  • Arranges for a positive experience for both visitor and host
  • Delivers direct financial benefits for conservation
  • Creates financial benefits for local people and private industry
  • Provides memorable interpretative experiences that help raise awareness to the regions political, natural, and social environments
  • Operates a low-impact facility
  • Works in partnership with Indigenous People to respect their rights and spiritual beliefs
Whether you’re traveling aboard or locally, your ecotourism experience will stimulate the local community’s economy. In 2012, the Outdoor Industry Association noted that recreation contributed $1.6 trillion to the US Gross Domestic Product4. In 2013, in the United States, 7.6 million American jobs were supported by consumers spending $887 billion on recreational activities5.
The tourism industry consumes and wastes natural resources, which makes ecotourism a “greener” alternative. Not only will you be reducing your carbon footprint, yet the carbon footprint of the tourism industry at large. For instance, in 2013, it was found that on the Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii, the tourism industry accounted for 44.7% of the island’s water consumption and 21.7% of the island’s energy consumption6.
Ecotourism is more than an experience – it’s an ethic. Ecotourism reduces environmental impacts, reduces natural resource consumption, improves economic conditions for local communities, and educates the participant. So, when you’re making plans for your next vacation or holiday, consider ecotourism.
2 World Heritage List for the USA http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/us
3 International Ecotourism Society http://www.ecotourism.org/
4, 5 Moore, Larry, U.S. Forest Service Office of Communication in Forestry (2017) Your next trip to the great outdoors helps the economy, USDA, https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/07/05/your-next-trip-great-outdoors-helps-economy
6 Osamu Saito (2007) Resource Use and Waste Generation by the Tourism Industry on the Big Island of Hawaii, DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12007, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.12007

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