What is Ecotourism?
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Conservation
Offering market-linked long-term solutions, ecotourism provides effective economic incentives for conserving and enhancing bio-cultural diversity and helps protect the natural and cultural heritage of our beautiful planet.
| Communities
By increasing local capacity building and employment opportunities, ecotourism is an effective vehicle for empowering local communities around the world to fight against poverty and to achieve sustainable development.
| Interpretation
With an emphasis on enriching personal experiences and environmental awareness through interpretation, ecotourism promotes greater understanding and appreciation for nature, local society, and culture.
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The Definition
Ecotourism is now defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education" (TIES, 2015). Education is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests.
TIES Announces Ecotourism Principles Revision
WASHINGTON, DC -- Effective January 1, 2015, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) has revised itsDefinition and Principles, created by the founding members in 1990. Leading up to the 25 year anniversary celebration in 2015, ecotourism experts from around the world connected to re-evaluate TIES principles of ecotourism as an initiative led by Hitesh Mehta, Judy Kepher-Gona, and Dr. Kelly Bricker. TIES has implemented small changes and additions to both the principles and the definition to provide more clarity, eliminate the ambiguity, and therefore reduce the greenwashing and wrongful interpretations being practiced by in the tourism industry.
ECOTOURISM DEFINITION:
As the TIES existing definition included only two (Conservation and Local Communities) of the three pillars of ecotourism, the inclusion Interpretation now holds a place. Therefore, TIES revised definition is "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education" with the specification that education is to staff and guests.
PRINCIPLES:
It has been 25 years since TIES was started, it was important to re-visit three principles found in the literature – that ecotourism:
• is NON-CONSUMPTIVE / NON-EXTRACTIVE
• creates an ecological CONSCIENCE
• holds eco-centric values and ETHICS in relation to nature
TIES hopes this gives clarity to those activities that are considered CONSUMPTIVE / EXTRACTIVE and which cause behavioral and psychological impacts on non-human species.
TIES considers non-consumptive and non-extractive use of resources for and by tourists and minimized impact to the environment and people as major characteristics ofauthentic ecotourism.
With respect to the TIES Principles, since 1990, when TIES first created the principles, we now know much more about the tourism industry through scientific and design related research, and we are also better informed about environmental degradation and impacts on local cultures and non-human species. It is important that this knowledge is reflected by these principles.
Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement, participate in, and market ecotourism activities should adopt the following ecotourism principles:
- Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
- Build environmental and cultural awareness, and respect.
- Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
- Produce direct financial benefits for conservation.
- Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
- Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climates.
- Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
- Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People in your community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
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