Description
Genuine ecotourism can have many positve impacts, particularly the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. While promoting these, it aims to eleminate negative impacts such as environmental degradation, cultural commoditisation and playground effects. Unfortunately, the concept is broadly misunderstood and its true definition is widely debated. It is often used as a marketing tool, with some operators taking advantage of the ecotourism label to attract more business while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. This book considers the important topic of quality control and accreditation in ecotourism, describing the mechanisms that can be implemented to ensure quality in all aspects of the industry, namely protected areas, businesses, producs and tour guides.
Chapter
TIES Organizational Description
1 Setting the Context: Quality in Ecotourism
PART ONE: SPECTRUM OF QUALITY ASSURANCE TOOLS
2 Achieving Quality in Ecotourism: Tools in the Toolbox
3 Green and Gold? Awards for Excellence in Australian Tourism: Promoting Quality and Sustainability to the Tourism Industry
4 ‘No Better than a Band-Aid for a Bullet Wound!’: the Effectiveness of Tourism Codes of Conduct
5 SmartVoyager: Protecting the Galápagos Islands
6 Green Globe: a Global Environmental Certification Programme for Travel and Tourism
7 Sustainability Indicators for Ecotourism Destinations and Operations
8 Adapting the Indicator Approach – Practical Applications in the South Pacific
PART TWO: STAKEHOLDERS’ PERSPECTIVES
9 Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Quality in Ecotourism
Tourist and Consumer Perspectives
10 Sustainable Tourism Certification Marketing and its Contribution to SME Market Access
11 Consumer Demand for Quality in Ecotourism
12 Quality in Ecotourism: the Community Perspective
13 The Prospects and Dilemmas of Indigenous Tourism Standards and Certifications
14 Assuring Community Benefit in South Africa through Fair Trade in Tourism Certification
Protected Area Managers’ Perspectives
15 Certification in Protected Areas: a Western Australian Case Study
16 Certification of Protected Areas: the Case of PAN Parks in Europe
Ecotour Guides’ Perspectives
17 Professional Certification: a Mechanism to Enhance Ecotour Guide Performance
18 Putting the Ecotour Guide Back into Context: Using Systems Thinking to Develop Quality Guides
19 Towards Developing Tour Guides as Interpreters of Cultural Heritage: the Case of Cusco, Peru
Ecotourism Industry’s Perspectives
20 Ecotourism Certification in New Zealand: Operator and Industry Perspectives
21 Towards an Internationally Recognized Ecolodge Certification
22 The Australian EcoCertification Programme (NEAP): Blazing a Trail for Ecotourism Certification, but Keeping on Track?
23 Creating Regional Networks of Sustainable Tourism Stakeholders: Europe’s Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism (VISIT) and the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas
24 Conclusion: Challenges and Issues for Quality in Ecotourism