Article Courtesy from
Business Panama
Conditions for the
sustainable development and management of Ecotourism
World Tourism Organization, March 2002
Distributed at the IV Annual AmCham Tourism Forum, Panama, September 2004
To ensure maximising benefits from ecotourism and minimising negative impacts
on natural environments and surrounding communities, all stakeholders must
commit themselves to following some principles and guidelines in their
operations, in a concerted effort. WTO has identified the following principles
and guidelines for ecotourism development and management, which need to be
adapted to suit the special conditions of each country, region and local
destination:
1. Ecotourism must contribute to the conservation and improvement of natural
areas and to the sustainable development of adjacent areas and communities.
2. Ecotourism requires specific policies, strategies and programmes for each
particular destination; it cannot be sustainability developed by simply
copying what has been done elsewhere, let alone be left to grow in a
disorderly and anarchic manner.
3. Ecotourism needs practical and effective systems of coordination between
all the players involved, including governments, private enterprises and the
local community.
4. The planning of ecotourism must include strict criteria for territorial
zoning, including in surrounding seas, designating reserves, low- and
medium-impact areas. These criteria should be strictly enforced and respected
by all parties.
5. The physical planning and design of eco-tourist facilities –especially
hotels and other means of accommodation, restaurants, information centres in
national parks and the like- should be carried out in a manner to avoid or
minimise any negative impact they may have upon the natural and cultural
environment. Building materials, architectural styles, furniture and decor
should ideally be local, while low pollution energy sources should be used.
6. Similarly, the means of transport and communications to access ecotourism
areas should be low contaminating. Sports involving noisy or highly polluting
means of transport should definitely be prohibited in these areas.
7. The practice of ecotourism in national parks and protected areas should
strictly comply with the management rules governing such areas.
8. Reciprocally, these management plans should take into account the fact that
they will be used by tourists, and make suitable provisions for a sustainable
use and visitation.
9. The carrying capacity of island systems in relation to tourism is
all-important, and integrated long-term strategies and plans must take into
account these carrying capacities.
10. Appropriate legal and institutional mechanisms should be established to
facilitate and make effective the orderly participation of the local island
community in the entire ecotourism process, including policy definition,
planning, management and monitoring. Awareness raising and capacity building
are essential ingredients for this.
11. In line with this, institutional, financial, fiscal or other mechanisms
should also be established to ensure that a significant proportion of the
income generated from ecotourism remains with the local community or serves
conservation purposes.
12. It is however important to ensure that ecotourism is a good, economically
sustainable business and that profits are generated from it. If there are no
prospects for profit, then private entrepreneurs will not invest and there
will be no benefits to distribute for local communities or conservation
purposes.
13. All those concerned with the ecotourism business must be aware of the
costs of mitigating any possible negative impacts, and such costs must be
incorporated in the pre-investment cost-benefit analyses of any ecotourism
project.
14. Compliance with general tourism regulations and codes should be stricter
in the case of ecotourism in small islands, combining supervision and
monitoring, with awareness raising campaigns among business people and
tourists, training of service suppliers, and eventually sanctions against
those who do not comply. Self-regulation and voluntary initiatives related to
the environmental and socio-cultural sustainability of ecotourism should be
encouraged but duly checked.
15. Consideration should be given to the prospects of establishing the
obligation of certification systems for ecotourism facilities and operations,
to guarantee that their quality is consistent with the principles of
sustainability. Accreditation of existing local certification systems should
also be considered, as a means to give them higher credibility in the eyes of
consumers and foreign tour operators.
16. Education and training are prerequisites for sustainable ecotourism
development and management. Company managers and employees, as well as the
local population need training on general and specific aspects of ecotourism,
tailored to the needs of each. In particular, ecotourism needs highly
qualified guides, who should ideally be natives from the island.
17. Ecotourists need detailed and specialised information, both before and
during the trip. The provision of complete information is precisely one of the
elements that differentiate the ecotourism experience from traditional
tourism, and it can take various forms, such as brochures, guide-books,
leaflets, maps, interpretation centres, ecomuseums, signposted nature trails,
and, of course the guides themselves.
18. Promotional material for ecotourism should contain substantial information
on the experience to which potential tourists are invited, including details
on flora, fauna, geology and in general on the ecosystem to be visited. It
should also include truthful information about the accommodation and catering
services, as well as recommendations on what may and may not be done at the
destination. All this information before the purchase will help the potential
clients to discriminate between genuine ecotourism operators and others that
only seek to take advantage of a fashion.
19. Both the marketing channels and the promotional means for ecotourism
products should be consistent with the type of tourism the consumer is being
offered and with the typology of ecotourists.
