By Carolyn Wild

It’s hard to believe I’ve been involved in ecotourism development for over 20 years now. I remember when ecotourism was such a new concept that the first articles in the travel pages of magazines and newspapers always went to great lengths to define it. The controversy over what ecotourism is and the debate about whether protecting nature through developing tourism is an oxymoron were prevalent then and they are still with us today.

In the early 1990s ecotourism was in its infancy. The business offering ecotours and the first ecolodges tended to be small scale, and often run by one or two people and perhaps a few staff. The early tour operators and accommodation providers tended to be driven by a passion for the natural environment, protecting it and interpreting it, rather than a pure business bias of seizing an emerging opportunity. There was no such thing as an ecotourism destination.

In 1992 I spoke at one of the early conferences on ecotourism and suggested that the growth in ecotourism was driven by market demand .
That demand led to more businesses starting up and tourism destinations in natural areas re-assessing their strategy and re-branding themselves to align with new ecotourism opportunities. A few countries began developing ecotourism strategies and some national governments offered support for research and development.

Ten years later in the International Year of Tourism, 2002, the market demand was still there and increasing, but growth now had more to do with supply-driven forces . Businesses, big and small, had entered the industry in increasing numbers over the past decade. New nature-based experiences were appearing in every corner of the globe. You could go polar bear watching in the Arctic, swim with dolphins in the Pacific, view life from treetops of the rainforest in Central America, and visit remote and Indigenous communities in many countries. There was also urban ecotourism and the greening of tourism in large cities.

The International Year of Ecotourism brought together governments, business and conservation organizations from around the world. Ecotourism policies and strategies had found their way onto national and international economic and socio-cultural agendas. Ecotourism development was in full swing attracting international investment and the involvement of various United Nations agencies. Acquisitions and business consolidations were already underway. Some of those first ecotourism operations from the early 1990’s had grown to become attractive to larger players in the tourism industry and were taken over by more mainstream tourism businesses.

Today, ecotourism has found its way into tourism marketing campaigns, the media, and society’s consciousness. It has spilled over into other tourism sectors, often as nature tourism, heritage and cultural tourism, Indigenous tourism or community-based tourism and into some aspects of mass tourism. Articles about ecotourism now appear in business and financial pages of national newspapers, not just the travel pages. In the virtual world there is much more to discover. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) even has a project called “ecoDestinations”, and a blog section dedicated to it. The notion of an ecotourism destination has arrived.

Looking forward into the future is not such an easy task. Ecotourism has always offered a great variety of experiences if only because of the incredible diversity of the natural world and the many different cultures on our planet. Gazing into the crystal ball, I see a plethora of nature-based experiences crowding together on a continuum that ranges from adrenalin-filled adventure to opulent luxury When nature is just a backdrop, it’s difficult for me call some of these experiences ecotourism, yet they may well be sustainable, and even contribute to conservation and the well-being of local communities.

Protecting natural heritage, whether tourists see it as a backdrop or an integral part of their experience, is fundamental to ecotourism. When a community, town or region wants to develop as an ecotourism destination it is important not to lose track of the essence of ecotourism and its roots in the natural world. Our link to that natural world is primal.

About the Author: Carolyn Wild is an ecotourism consultant based in Canada. She is a member of TIES board of directors. She is currently working on an ecotourism project with Aboriginal Elders in Manitoba.

Photo Caption: Petroform of turtle and snake in Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba, Canada. Animal and other figures are laid out in stone boulders at a site held sacred by the Anishinaabe Aboriginal people. The ancient meanings of the petroforms integrally link people with the natural world. The challenge at this site as an ecotourism destination is to provide a means for the Anishinaabe to interpret traditional teachings and encourage visitors to live in a harmony with nature.