1. Definition
   1. “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.
   2. Adventure
   3. Trekking
   4. Nature tourism
2. The International Ecotourism Society
   1. Tourism
      1. In over 150 countries (four out of five), tourism is one of five top export earners. In 60 countries, tourism is the number one export.v
      2. Tourism is a principle “export” (foreign exchange earner) for 83% of developing countries, and the leading export for 1/3 of poorest countries.ix
      3. For the world’s 40 poorest countries, tourism is the second most important source of foreign exchange, after oil.x
      4. There are 109 countries with coral reefs. In 90 of them reefs are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.xiv
      5. An average 18-hole golf course soaks up at least 525,000 gallons of water a day - enough to supply the irrigation needs of 100 Malaysian farmers.xvi
   2. Ecotourism
      1. ....In 2004, ecotourism/nature tourism was growing
      2. .... is growing at 10%-12% per annum
      3. .....indicated that most of tourism’s expansion is occurring in and around the world’s remaining natural
      4. e...ecotourism could grow to 25% of
      5. .... predict a growth in eco-resorts and hotels,
      6. The daily expenditure of cultural tourists (over €70/US$90) is higher than visitors on a touring holiday (€52/US$67), beach holiday (€48/US$62), city break (€42/$US$54) or rural trip.
3. The ecotourism-lies
   1. Environmental friendly
      1. So what about the flight to the destination?
   2. providing jobs
      1. Small lodge vs. casino: who offers more jobs?
   3. local food
      1. nobody wants to eat that stuff
   4. sustainable
      1. no proof of sustainabilty except the eco-tourism consultants salaries
   5. growing market
      1. so what if anyone wants to go eco: how to handle millions of eco-divers on the coral reefs?
   6. authentic
      1. that actually means no service and quality at all
   7. healthy
      1. untrained tourists on a 6 hours mountain tour
4. What travellers want
   1. Convenient transportation
      1. not 20 hours drive in an old unsafe bus
   2. Safe food
      1. diarrhea isnt something you really like to have in a remote area
   3. Clean accomodations
      1. why people should pay for a dirty room?
   4. Entertaining
      1. rivercruise in Asia is nice, but after one hour it is just boring. so is transport by car.
      2. it does not mean 14 days of canoeing, mountain biking, rock climbing and birding
   5. Relaxing
      1. ecotourism keeps people busy, even if they dont want to be busy in their holidays
5. the real, better ecotourism
   1. action first, label after
      1. improve destinations first, then sell them
   2. forget rural areas as long as there is nothing to do.
   3. develop products for the market, not for NGOs and governments
   4. start marketing campaigns by businesses, not by associations
   5. local food is nice, as long as it is levelled up to a higher standard
   6. Train people on the job
   7. start joint-ventures with local hotels and guesthouses to improve quality
   8. Admit its a niche, not the next big thing!
   9. stop wasting money for NGOs in ecotourism