Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ecotourism practices'

There is a globally acknowledged urgency for mankind to transition toward sustainability. Empowering people to make sound assessments is the basis for desirable transitions. ‘Education for sustainable development’ (ESD) is an interdisciplinary learning process advancing knowledge, understanding and action for sustainability. To encourage sustainability transitions ESD needs to be personal and place-specific. One platform provisioning for such learning is ‘ecotourism’, where participants have a heightened sense of self, others and the environment. Hence a practice incorporating ESD into ecotourism is investigated in this thesis, to determine whether the setting would be propitious for fostering sustainability transitions. The pertinent sustainability concepts are assessed, and ‘social practice theory’ is utilized in a case study. The approach of social practice theory was preferable, as it holds the assumption that people are able to act in relation to collective cultural activities rather than in immediate responses to internal or environmental events. The effect of ESD in ecotourism is analyzed through observations and unstructured interviews conducted in a case-study in Turkey – Narköy, which is a hotel, organic farm and educational facility. The findings imply that through social practice, pro-environmental transitions can be encouraged and strengthened, with the provisions of having freedom for learning, social interaction, connection with nature, tangible activities and inclusive approach.

Ecotourism has emerged as one of the fastest- growing sectors of the tourism market, influenced primarily by public demand for more environmentally responsible tourism. When planned properly, it has been asserted that ecotourism can integrate conservation of biodiversity with socio-economic development of local communities. For this reason, many governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are eager to develop ecotourism in protected areas in order to maximize these benefits. However, ecotourism can have significant negative impacts when poorly planned and managed including severe environmental degradation, negative cultural changes and decreased welfare of individuals or communities. Ecotourism should not be regarded as a panacea for harmonizing rural development with environmental conservation until the industryâ s influence on developing countries has been thoroughly analyzed. This paper shall explore whether ecotourism has proven to be an effective tool for integrating conservation and development. Through the examination of existing literature pertaining to ecotourism, I investigate the environmental, economic and social impacts of 14 ecotourism development projects in seven developing countries: Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nepal and Peru. The case study analysis reveals that local communities adjacent to protected areas are often not fully involved in the tourism development planning process. Ecotourism as a mechanism for achieving local conservation and development goals is more successful when projects prioritize local involvement and control. Through the identification of trends emerging from the case studies, this paper contributes to the ongoing discussion of ecotourism as a development strategy and suggests that local participation should be encouraged in ecotourism development.<br>Master of Urban and Regional Planning

As concern regarding the environmental impact of the regular tourism industry grows, tourists are increasingly seen carrying out activism actions and rallying others to create changes in the industry. A segment of the tourism industry that meets the demand is ecotourism, a more sustainable form of travelling that is seen as environmentalism in and of itself. Despite growing demand and communication efforts, ecotourism bookings remain low. Activism from ecotourists should be able to turn this around, but very little research has been done on this. Interviews show that ecotourists see ecotourism as activism, perform activism actions, but have difficulty with self-identifying as activists. The reasons for this are a negative connotation with activism or an unachievable high set bar. Despite self-identifying as an ecotourist, ecotourists’ ecotourism knowledge is low. According to them, communication regarding ecotourism is too limited and not disseminated sufficiently enough. This makes it difficult for ecotourists to be informed about ecotourism while other topics such as sustainability and activism do not even require an active attitude to be informed. Ecotourists get their information on sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism mainly from online, news and audio-visual sources.

This dissertation explores how the various concepts of Nature, sustainability and ecotourism relate to the design ideology and practice in planning for, implementation of, and management of a case in coastal Queensland, namely Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village. (KBRV describes itself as Queensland's first "ecotourist resort"). The concept of "sustainability" is used as a theoretical framework for relating the similar and compatible concepts of "ecological sustainability", "sustainable tourism", and •ecologically sustainable tourism". In particular, the concept of ecological sustainability is presented as the crux of the principles supporting ecotourism, The characteristics and interpretations of ecotourism are then analysed in terms of their applicability to the concept of an "ecotourism resort", and a comparison is made between "destination resorts" and "environmentally responsible resorts•. The case emerges as an example of the latter. The case is also presented and evaluated in detail according to Bull's (1991) Sustainable Tourism Model, in order to establish any inconsistencies/ conflicts and/or potentials between design ideology and practice in support of the concept of sustainable tourism - the principle underpinning the concept of "ecotourism". In conclusion, the dissertation makes recommendations to design professionals (particularly landscape architects and building architects), developers and managers about practice methodology in the planning, design and management of resort developments in environmentally sensitive locations. These recommendations highlight actions which are required in order to provide a genuinely integrated and sustainable "ecotourism development".

En Tunisie, au lendemain de la Révolution de 2011, de nombreuses aires de nature protégées comme les parcs nationaux et les parcs urbains subissent de graves dégradations et actes de vandalisme. Parallèlement, en 2014, la nature devient un droit constitutionnel, et au même moment, dans le secteur du tourisme, s’affirme l’émergence d’une offre touristique plus proche des espaces naturels. Que nous disent ces comportements si contradictoires des relations homme/nature de la société tunisienne post-révolution ? C’est au travers de l’analyse des représentations sociales de la nature que notre recherche se concentre, en s’intéressant en particulier, aux images « iconiques », anciennes et récentes, de la nature (partie 1), aux ambitions des politiques publiques en matière de protection de l’environnement qui se sont succédées depuis l’Indépendance, aux thématiques environnementales portées par les acteurs du débat public post-révolution (politique, associatif, médias) (partie 2), ainsi qu’aux tendances récentes du tourisme tunisien et aux nouvelles pratiques de pleine nature des Tunisiens (partie 3)<br>In Tunisia, in the aftermath of the 2011 Revolution, many protected natural areas such as national and urban parks were severely degraded and vandalized. In parallel, in 2014, nature became a constitutional right and at the same time in the tourism sector, touristic offers more attuned to natural areas emerged. What do these contradictory behaviours tell us about Mankind/Nature relations in post-revolution Tunisian society? Our research focuses on the analysis of the social representations of nature, in particular "iconic" images, old and new, of nature (Part 1), the ambitions of public policies in terms of environmental protection that have followed one another since Independence, the environmental themes promoted by the actors of the post- revolution public debate (political, associative, media) (Part 2), as well as recent trends in Tunisian tourism and the new outdoor activities of the Tunisian people (Part 3)<br>En Túnez, después de la Révolution de 2011, muchas áreas de naturaleza protegida como los parques nacionales y los parques urbanos enfrentan graves degradaciones y actos de vandalismo. En paralelo, en 2014, la naturaleza se vuelve un derecho constitucional, y al mismo tiempo, en el sector del turismo, se nota la aparición de una oferta turística más cerca de los espacios naturales. ¿ Que nos enseñan estos comportamientos tan contradictorios de las relaciones entre humano/naturaleza en la sociedad tunecina post-revolución ? Es a través del estudio de las representaciones sociales que nuestra investigación se centra, prestando más interés, a las imágenes « icónicas », antiguas y recientes, de la naturaleza (parte 1), a las ambiciones de las políticas públicas en el sector de la protección del medio ambiente que se produjeron desde la independencia, a las temáticas ambientales apoyadas por los actores del debate público post-revolución (político, asociativo, prensa) (parte 2), así como las recientes tendencias del turismo tunecino y las nuevas prácticas en plena naturaleza de los tunecinos (parte 3)

碩士<br>國立臺灣大學<br>森林環境暨資源學研究所<br>94<br>This study explored the executed result of Taiwan Forestry Bureau ecotourism policy. For my project, to select the famous recreation area at the Northern Taiwan-Dongyanshan national forest recreation area basis on personal experience and professional work need. Dongyanshan national forest recreation area is located at Fusing Township, Taoyuan county, is a important spot of North CI Highway Scenic Route. Although Dongyanshan national forest recreation area was development later than other, however, it is next to the Taipei metropolis (Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu ),it has rich and diversity natural resources was attract great quantity tourist, that cause the quality of tourism drop down，income recession. The manager department has to improve this situation. Fortunately, the Economic and social Council proclamation of 2002 as the international year of Ecotourism(IYE) in1998. The Taiwan government has proclamation of 2002 as the tour year of Ecotourism in Taiwan. Taiwan Forestry Bureau has began to conduct the ecotourism and environmental education in the same time, flow the development goal of forest recreation area. The study is want to figure out how the ecotourism program driving, including the travel process, goal, result, and solve the manage problem. We interview the manager and agency owner, collect data, and design the consumer experience satisfaction and aware of ecotourism questionnaire to investigate tourist. The research methods are literature review, participant observation, in-depth interviews and questionnaire survey. We have find in travel active arrangement, was cooperate with travel agency and individual nature education studio. To rely on the agency to design program of tourism, the government department is focus on the principles of ecotourism：to maintain environmental ecological, respect local culture, improve local economical, improve consumer experience satisfaction, ecological interpretation, environmental ethics education. The result can not be quantification, because there is not set up the capacity. The other thing, there is no measure standard of environmental education and ecological interpretation, but in tourist view they consider the programs are connected both of ecological and recreation, and they acceptance highly. Finally, National forest recreation area will be to transform nature education center, for the ecotourism products marketing, tourist manage and the national forest recreation area sustainable management, the most important is doing the environmental monitoring and measure the ecological capacity.

Increasingly popular methods for managing impacts of tourism in nature-based settings include collaborative and voluntary codes of conduct. In southeast Alaska, for example, the Tourism Best Management Practices (TBMP) in Juneau and Wilderness Best Management Practices (WBMP) in Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness have been created to address shore and marine based tourism (e.g., cruise ships). This thesis contains three articles examining stakeholder: (a) definitions of wilderness and their influence on perceptions of the WBMP process, (b) motivations for collaboration in the WBMP and effects of this process on stakeholder relations, and (c) perceptions of indicators in the WBMP and motivations for compliance. Data were obtained from 28 interviews with tour operators, cruise industry representatives, US Forest Service personnel, and local residents. Findings in the first article showed that most respondents had some degree of purism in their definitions of wilderness (e.g., solitude, minimal impact), although cruise industry personnel had less purist definitions. With the exception of cruise representatives, most respondents felt that the wilderness character of this wilderness area was being threatened by vessel traffic, especially cruise ships. Most interviewees supported the WBMP as an alternative to regulations because it allowed for personal freedom and input into rulemaking, but many felt that the WBMP may be unable to address some future effects of tourism in the area. Many of the smaller and more purist operators felt that if the pristine character of this area was threatened, they might support regulations. Most stakeholders, however, displayed a type of cognitive dissonance by expressing concern over threats to the wilderness character of this area, yet rejecting formal regulations that may be needed for protecting the wilderness experiences they value most. Results from the second article demonstrated that the WBMP has enhanced stakeholder relations by improving communication and dialogue, and instilling an ethic of compromise and sharing. Lack of trust, however, was a concern, especially between smaller tour operators and cruise lines due to a perception that cruise lines are not following all of the WBMP guidelines. There was concern regarding how inclusive the WBMP should be, as many cruise representatives felt that local residents should not participate. Respondents also stated some concerns with Juneau's TBMP that could be used as lessons for improving the WBMP (e.g., noncompliance, incentives, monitoring). Findings covered in the third article showed that stakeholders considered the most contentious guideline in the WBMP to be the preservation of solitude, but they felt that the most important guidelines involved environmental factors such as impacts of tourism on seals. Compliance with the WBMP guidelines was motivated by altruism, peer pressure, and self-interest. Noncompliance was attributed to a lack of awareness of the WBMP and effects of noncompliant behavior, and perceptions that the WBMP was an example of government interference in private business operations. These findings may help agencies continue facilitating the WBMP and similar collaborative processes in other locales.<br>Graduation date: 2012

碩士<br>國立中山大學<br>社會學系碩士班<br>104<br>Government since 2000, officially eco-tourism as an important direction for future development of tourism industry, began to promote the concept of sustainable tourism and the implementation of related work. Hualien was selected as one of the regions to promote eco-tourism, because there have rich natural landscape and cultural resources. Experience of fifteen years (2000-2015) of the eco-tourism development process, there have been many advertised "eco-tourism" development cases.However, in this symbolizes the sustainable development of green tourism framework, actors for ecological tourism imagine actually not the same. From the local tourism market competition and social pressures felt by the actors are not the same. Resulting in significant differences in the practice of ecotourism variety of actors.Therefore, this article through the literature analysis, in-depth interviews and participant observation approach, classification ecotourism development actors in Hualien, and marked its position in the spectrum of eco-tourism. Answer what actors practice cases are more close to the normative concern with local eco-tourism and sustainable development. First, through the study of the development of eco-tourism and Taiwan tourism plan, discuss what role the country played in ecotourism forward the work, and what institutional arrangements and policies through, affecting the practice of eco-tourism. Via the central level and regional-level discussions Hualien two directions, each eco-tourism promotion process. Although the Government use of many institutional arrangements and relevant units to assist. But regulatory and incentive mechanism is not clear and perfect, encouragement and advocacy resulting effect is not obvious cause. Look like a supplement as well. In addition, the more serious problem is that the government&apos;&apos;s tourism development goals, still emphasize large-scale tourism development model and tourist trips ascribed to imagination. This problem affect the development of eco-tourism resources and the environment. Secondly, by "environmental sustainability", "Environmental Education", "economic prosperity in the ground," the three directions, view the "ideal " and " tourism " two types of actors in eco-tourism, and how they respond to the ecological Tourism ideal. The paper found that "ideal" action because they have the right to social care, it is close to the ideal for eco-tourism. "Tourism" in the pursuit of profit, change the way the promotion of eco-tourism, caused it to deviate from the ideal for eco-tourism. In addition, the practice of various types of actors still faced many from market competitionn, challenge of the national tourism development model as well as issues such as how to cooperate with the local community. Because the actors own considerations, eco-tourism model will be very pluralistic, and the gap between the ideal eco-tourism. Finally, the study found that there are many eco-tourism itineraries in Hualien. The "ideal" than "tourism" closer to the ideal eco-tourism. Regardless of what type of players will be faced with those challenges. Therefore, the state how to play a coordinating role in solving problems with this being. "Ideal" how to survive in the market, will be a follow-up study can be more thorough discussion. Keywords: sustainable development, eco-tourism, sightseeing imagine, Hualien.

In this thesis, I contemplate the ecotourism in theory and in practice. I use the case study of a solid waste crisis (2002-2004) in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, a turtle tourism destination, to explore: the consumptive nature of ecotourism, tourist perceptions of the environment, ecotourism aesthetics, local resistance to ecotourism development, local perceptions of ecotourism's environmental impacts, and the future of ecotourism. I used mixed methods including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and on-site surveys to collect data. I conducted mainly qualitative analysis (thematic coding; adapted grounded theory) influenced by political ecology, environmental justice, resistance studies, tourism studies, and the geography of tourism. My use of environmental justice concepts to frame the solid waste crisis in Tortuguero, and the application of key concepts from Scott's (1981) Weapons of the Weak to local behavior and narratives both represent fairly novel applications in an ecotourism context. I attempted to move beyond a restricted case study by emphasizing characteristics shared between Tortuguero and other sites, in the hopes of contributing towards efforts to inject new theoretical applications into tourism studies. This case study reveals the consumptive side of ecotourism, and the analysis of tourist survey responses highlights the central role of aesthetics in ecotourism. This project challenges simplistic portrayals of ecotourism as 'benevolent and benign' (e.g. by highlighting its consumptive impacts and related injustices), and of ecotourists as more aware and altruistic than mass tourists (e.g. by presenting a heterogeneous group of respondents who none the less, stress aesthetics). It updates existing literature on Tortuguero by presenting data on tourist and local perceptions of Tortuguero, and by suggesting explanations for divergent perceptions of the park's role in ecotourism, for example. The evidence that I present of local resistance and waste-related injustices suggest that despite its high profile reputation, multimillion dollar annual revenues, improved local standards of living, and green turtle conservation successes, critical details and key voices have largely been 'left out of the story of ecotourism in Tortuguero'. I hope that his study contributes to encouraging the culture of 'greater ecotourism realism' that is needed in order to move forward.<br>Dissertation

Within ecotourism there is a built in assumption that tourists are the only ones who gain knowledge from an interpretive service. I sought to fill in that gap by looking at the ways the experiences of providing nature interpretation influenced interpreters’ professional practice. To accomplish this, semi-structured interviews involving 5 Ontario-based nature interpreters were conducted. Their narratives were analysed and coded using the method known as template analysis, the results of which were then used to make a comparative analysis. The results of this study indicate that there are two avenues through which nature interpreters learned from their experiences: through reflection initiated by emotions and through a realisation made from the experience. For the four participants who reported a change to their professional practice, that change came in the form of more inclusive practices being incorporated.<br>Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2014-06-20 15:06:09.83

碩士<br>國立雲林科技大學<br>文化資產維護系<br>103<br>Abstract Chimei Township resident on the ground to observe the status of the tourism industry, We think Chimei Township tour is not fully understood, making it impossible to attract tourists stop time increases; Chimei Township tourism industry and small-scale, also caused much tourism and recreation facilities, to offer accommodation capacity of tourists is obviously insufficient, and these factors also lead to tourism only visitors who arrange travel two to three hours of time on the Chimei Township, perform cursory trip Mass Tourism. And this Mass Tourism mode and can not increase the tourism revenue Chimei Township of local residents, but added more trash and destroyed, so Chimei Township residents dislike for tourists; navigation service personnel arranged by tour operators quality is uneven, visitors can not in-depth understanding Chimei Township culture, but also because tourists do not understand the local culture and likely to cause culture shock. In this study, in order to solve the Chimei Township Mass Tourism mode faced problems, so this research will Chimei Township Double-Heart Stone Trap regarded as the core of ecomuseum and ecotourism, the use of internal Fowler. Rivard formula ecological museum Territory, Heritage, Memory, Population to import the four elements, combined with the integration of community strength Chimei unique local culture, coastal landscape , local industries, and other recreational resources, to achieve sustainable development Chimei Double-Heart Stone Trap ecotourism. In this study, the feasibility of developing ecotourism in Chimei Township Double-Heart Stone Trap for the proposition, try to ecotourism definitions into environmental Conservation, Communities, Interpretation three concepts Chimei Township thereby mitigate the impact of the local environment, local residents and visitors to develop a culture of respect, respect for the natural environment of attitude, so that local residents can form a good interaction with visitors, and ultimately enhance the local residents quality of life, prosperity and the core values of the local economy.