How eco is nature-based tourism?

Eijgelaar, Eke

Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences

2006

Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences

Eke Eijgelaar, Profile at Breda University of Applied Sciences

The ‘natural branch’ of tourism – including ecotourism, nature-, adventure- and rural tourism – has one of the highest growth rates within the ever-growing industry (Honey 1999, Eagles et al. 2002, Epler Wood 2002). Ecotourism itself has become a multi-million dollar sector of tourism and is often hailed as a foreign exchange earner by many developing countries (Cater 1994, Honey 1999) or a last resort for poor-developed rural areas. The original idea of ecotourism being “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people”, as the Ecotourism Society put it in 1991, has thereby been significantly reduced. Governments, operators and tourists seem to use the term at will, as long as there is some form of natural element involved – so called ‘green washing’ (Honey 2002) – thus causing confusion on what ecotourism is (Strasdas 2001, Epler Wood 2002).

This has lead to ample discussion and scepticism among scientists and conservationists, with many warning for negative impacts similar to those of mass tourism and some now distinguishing between ecotourism and ‘sustainable’ ecotourism (Swarbrooke 2002) or ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ ecotourism (Fennell and Weaver 2005). It seems that the inadvertent practical use of the previously relatively undisputed scientific definition and principles of ecotourism will lead to new ecotourism models (e.g. Fennell and Weaver 2005), though Strasdas (2001) stresses the novelty of the concept which needs time for proper realisation.

Whereas mainly developing countries are directly associated with ecotourism (e.g. Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador), there are others that also promote or have a green image. One country that comes synonymous with nature-based, ‘green’ tourism is New Zealand. Its unique natural attractions and vast network of protected areas provide the basis for both national and international tourism, reflected for example by the 100% Pure New Zealand tourism marketing campaign. With the discussion on ecotourism in mind, this paper tries to identify how ‘eco’ tourism in New Zealand really is, i.e. how sustainable its nature-based tourism is.

Germany has been defined as one of the main source markets for ecotourism operations in New Zealand (Higham et al. 2001). The World Tourism Organisation estimates Germany’s market potential for ecotourism at 14.5 million travellers (WTO 2001 in Font et al. 2004). In the context of this paper and the shortage of ecotourism impact research (Buckley 2004), German tourism to New Zealand’s natural heritage is described and an impact analysis of nature-based tourism activities is made. This is not meant to be a complete analysis of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of all nature-based tourism activities in New Zealand, but rather an overview, thereby giving thought on the concept of ecotourism.

First, ecotourism is defined, followed by a description of nature-based tourism in New Zealand and the German market. Main destinations and activities of nature tourism are identified and analysed for impacts, which are then briefly discussed.

Keywords:

Tourism, Ecotourism, Environment, Conservation, Outdoors, National Parks, Heritage

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Evaluation

National

Outdoor Recreation

Tourists

Outdoors

National Parks

Impacts - economic, Impacts - environmental, Impacts- social, Tourism

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July 13, 2012