Ecological tourism

Ecological tourism

   Ecotourism is a form of tourism, which involves travelling to tranquil and unpolluted natural areas. According to the definition and principles of ecotourism established by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) in 1990, ecotourism is “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people”.

   There are a lot of definitions of ecotourism. They are green tourism, natural tourism, severe tourism. The last one means a type of a holiday in wild conditions without any conveniences.

   Also one of the definitions of ecotourism is a quiet tourism, which provides physical and mental rest for big quantity of people through the direct contact to the nature.

   Often ecotourism involves walking tours, skiing trips or bicycle tours.

   One of the goals of ecotourism is offering tourists insight into impact of human beings on the environment and to foster a great appreciation of our natural branch.

   For many countries ecotourism is a major industry of the national economy. For example, in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar ecotourism represents a significant portion of economic activity.

   There is a statistical data, that more than 5 million ecotourists come from The United States of America, Western Europe, Canada and Australia.

   But let’s speak about ecological tourism in Russia, especially about some problems, concerning ecotourism in our country.

   The first problem that is necessary to create associations and chains of ecotourism enterprises and tour agents to form special databases, to extend experience of successful ecotourism projects. The second problem is a low level of services and very expensive transportation because of monopolism of carriers in our country.

   Also it’s necessary to input a rent, whish should be collected from tourists during their trips to ecological sightseeing. This rent should be intended for investment in preservation, restoration and development of recreational resources.

   Another problem is that territories are unequipped for tourists. There is a poor development of ecological infrastructure and ecological technologies in tourism.

   Also ecotourism should be promoted by tour operators and local government.

   It’s necessary to stress to such important things as ecological education, advertising, development of the territories and infrastructure. We shouldn’t forget about nature protection also.