Ecotourism is a kind of tour that involves visiting natural environments, often to most threatened areas that are near extinction in support of preserving it and observing the nature of wildlife. This also improves the well being of the people that are living in the area who are responsible in preserving the natural resources. The concept of ecotourism emerged around the 1970s and has becoming a fast growing sector during the 1990s and still has grown its demand during these years. It attracts to travelers that desire to minimize negative impacts with their visit. They are also people that take interests with local culture, tradition and its nature. Enterprises about ecotourism are all managed and planned in the local level in which its community members stay actively involved with all the processes that empowers the locals and at the same time encouraging travelers from around the world to their areas.
The benefits that both the traveler and the local people get from ecotourism include:
- Creating more jobs locally in which it reduces the number of the youth leaving the city or country in order to find a more profitable work. Anyone in the local area can become involved through work such as selling crafts, providing accommodation and food, guides for travelers or becoming part of cultural performances.
- Brings better living standards for the locals with more improved facilities like sources for drinkable water, new electricity and better roads.
- It helps people to appreciate the natural resources of the world in a better view like the coral reefs, wildlife and natural landscapes. It simulates people in wanting to protect natural environments through creating establishments such as national parks, marine parks and wildlife preserves. The funding of such projects comes from tourists that visit these places through safari tours, local taxes, camping fees and entrance fees, among the few.
- Travelers get to experience a different kind of tourism compared to other tourists that only stay inside westernized hotels and barely even go out in the open. Eco-lodges and home stays allow tourists in experiencing the lifestyles and customs of the locals first hand which helps in preserving the heritage of the region.
It is a perfect choice for travelers wanting a different kind of trip and wants to focus more on nature and there are hundreds of ecotourism spots around the world which are mostly from developing countries.