Ecotourism Development International, community, and site perspectives

1
Ecotourism Development International, community,
and site perspectives

• Chapter 4
• Fennell

2
International Issues

• Ecotourism is often touted as a tool for economic
  development.
• Development Theory
• Tourism in the underdeveloped world
• Core-periphery concept

3
(International) Development Theory

• It explores the economic and psychological link
  that exists between rich and poor countries.
• Tourism perpetuates the division between those
  who have access to resources and those who do
  not.
• To measure development, past research have used
  many different factors (e.g. daily intake of
  calories, death rate, aid per capita).

4
Development theory

• Resources have also been used to gauge the
  development status of nations.
• New approach to look at the development status of
  a nation. It emphasizes the basic needs of the
  poor, and advocates a sensitivity for development
  at the ground level.
• Mountjoy (1971) stipulates that the most
  important factor are people.

5
Tourism in the underdeveloped world

• Less Developed Countries (LDCs) suffer from a
  history of colonial domination.
• Domination of the tourism sector in an LDC is
  most outwardly represented by the foreign
  ownership of airlines and hotels.

6
Tourism in the underdeveloped world

• Future research should look at the need to
  document whether or not developing countries
  undergo the same social, ecological and economic
  dysfunctions from ecotourism as that from mass
  tourism.

7
Core-periphery concept

• It is characterized by a dynamic, growing central
  region, and a slower-growing or stagnating
  periphery.
• It is one of the main approaches used to explain
  development.
• (Eco)Tourism avoids central places and is drawn
  to the periphery, reaching the natural resource
  base not found in the cities.

8
Core-periphery concept

• It has also been applied to the analysis of
  adventure travel regions from a spatial context.
• There is a movement from a semi-periphery, to a
  periphery and periphery frontier.
• As frontier regions succumbs to further
  intrusion, the uniqueness of these areas
  diminishes, as does the potential for travel to
  untouched areas in the future as these areas
  become fewer in number.

9
Core-periphery concept

• It has also a psychological component.
• The following factors contribute to the mind-set
  of the traveler
• familiarity with destination,
• unscheduled change,
• psychological and/or physical change,
• distance from amenities,
• adaptation,
• population density,
• authenticity,
• symbolism,
• scale of attraction,
• distance from home.

10
Core-periphery concept

• With the inability and lack of resources to fully
  plan and implement ecotourism on their own, the
  cycle of tourism dependency continues for
  peripheral regions.
• Various Scales
• Cape Breton Highlands Industrial Cape Breton
• Cape Breton Island to Mainland Nova Scotia
• Nova Scotia Lower and Upper Canada
• Canada and Mexico to the USA

11
Core-periphery and Eco-tourism

• Where will eco-tourism generally be situated?
• Why
• What is attractive about ecotourism that fits
  this situation?
• How is it suited to this situation?

12
Community Development

• Top down community development
• Bottom up community development

13

• Community development is based primarily on
  local initiatives.
• It is the process by which efforts of the people
  themselves are combined with those of
  governmental authorities to improve economic,
  social, and cultural conditions of communities.
• It focuses on the best quality of life possible
  for its members.

14
2 types of community development

• Conventional community development
• Focuses on the attraction of new businesses to
  the community (outward directed development
  approach).

• Community economic development
• Focuses on being small, green and social, and
  is more inward in its orientation through the
  principles of ecological sustainability,
  community control, etc.

15

• Tourism was increasingly seen as a key community
  development tool in the 1990s.
• Christensen proposes a quality of life framework.
• MacKinnon suggests that the traditional mass
  tourism development model perpetuates the
  widening gap between rich and poor.
• On the other hand, community based tourism lends
  itself to being environmentally sustainable.

16

• William feels that all factions within the
  community need to cooperate effectively to ensure
  that a high quality-product is delivered without
  diminishing the ecology of the resource base and
  where the entire community is involved.
• Drake defines local participation
• as an ability of local communities to influence
  the outcome of development projects such as
  ecotourism that have an impact on them.

17
Model of local participation

• 1)Determine the role of local participation in
  the project
• 2)Choose research team
• 3)Conduct preliminary studies
• 4)Determine the level of local involvement.
• 5)Determine an appropriate participation mechanism

18
Model of local participation

• 6)Initiating dialogue and educational efforts
• 7)Collective decision-making
• 8)Development of an action plan and
  implementation
• 9)Monitoring and implementation

19

• Residents individual values need to be
  recognized by tourism developers in order for
  their projects to be successful
• The attached resident
• The resource user
• The environmentalist
• A newer leadership paradigm involves
  collaboration and partnerships between community
  individuals, groups, and organizations.

20
Partnerships
21
What is a partnership?

• In the tourism industry, partnerships must be
  struck to ensure that a high-quality product is
  delivered, and is based on the notion that
  tourism experiences rely on all aspects of the
  community.

22
Potential partners in ecotourism

• 1)organizations within the established tourism
  industry (tour operators)
• 2)Government tourism bureaus and natural resource
  agencies
• 3)NGOs
• 4)Universities and other research organizations
• 5)Other communities
• 6)Other international organizations

23
The key to success in ecotourism partnership

• 1)Build on the foundations of local culture
• 2)Give responsibility to local people
• 3)Consider returning ownership of at least some
  protected areas to indigenous people
• 4)Hire local people
• 5)Link government development programs with
  protected areas

24
The key to ecotourism partnership success

• 6)Give priority to small-scale local development
• 7)Involve local people in preparing management
  plans
• 8)Have the courage to enforce restrictions
• 9)Build conservation into the evolving new
  national cultures
• 10)Support diversity as a value

25
Aboriginal interests

• The relationship between aboriginal people and
  parks has often been one based on conflict.
• In Canada, a revision must be made to the
  preservation mandate that currently exists in
  some types of parks, changing it to one that is
  conservation oriented.

26
Aboriginal interests

• In order to develop a successful relationship,
  the following factors must be considered
• 1)Community involvement
• 2)Community benefits
• 3)Scale
• 4)Land ownership
• 5)Sensitivity to needs of area residents and
  visitors

27

• Experiential education and training are crucial
  in allowing such communities to develop
  ecotourism.
• Training and skills enables aboriginal people to
  better understand their role within the parks and
  protected areas settings.
• Aboriginal people can contribute equally to park
  management by applying Aboriginal ecological
  knowledge.
• Government needs to take the lead in providing
  financial development and operational support,
  and training programs to develop appropriate
  marketing and business skills for this population.

28
Ecotourists Code
29
Site development

• In the mid-1980s, a mega-resort boom began.
• But today, there is an emergence of a trend
  towards more responsible travel and development.
• This changing focus is more noticeable on a
  small-scale (urban, rural, and backcountry)
  setting.

30
Sustainable design and ecolodges

• The ecotourism and ecolodge concept have been
  misused by resort advertisers in the past
• From the perspective of the Aesculapia principle
  (place of healing),
• nature is respected for its restorative
  qualities.
• The human experience is set in harmony with the
  environment, and
• an opportunity is created to allow a reconnection
  of human needs to the natural systems on which
  all life is based.

31

• Ecolodge
• -a nature dependent tourist lodge that meets the
  philosophy and principles of ecotourism.
• -provides educational and experiential
  experiences for tourists.
• -it is the philosophical tie with ecological
  sensitivity that must define these operations.
• -it is being developed and managed in regard to
  the local environment in which it exists.

32
Table 7.2 p.236