生态旅游英文文献

Gee Journal 31.4457-465457©1993 (Dec) by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Ecotoufism in the Small Island Caribbean

Weave~ David B., Prof. Dl:, UniversiO, of Regina, Luther College, Regina,

Saskatchewan $4S OA2, Canada

ABSTRACT: Ecotourism-related strategies can serve to enhance the tourism

industries of small Caribbean islands, which are presently dominated by a 3S (sea,

sand, sun) product. In the first place, the principles of Alternative Tourism can be

applied to 3S tourism in order to minimize negative environmental impacts. Secondly,

diversionary ecotourism opportunities can be promoted to diversify the tourism

product, thus providing a nature-oriented alternative to resort-based tourists. Thirdly,

regional ecotourism, catering to ecotourists, can be fostered in mountainous interiors,

peripheral islands, undeveloped coastlines, rural agricultural areas and in offshore

reefs. A fourth strategy, exemplified by Dominica, entails a comprehensive

ecotourism approach for destinations in which 3S tourism is undesired or unsuited.

Introdactien

The concept of ecotourism has attracted a considerable amount of interest among both academics and non-academics since the term was first introduced in the mid-1980s (see for example Boo t990; Goriup 1991; Lindberg 1991; Nelson, Butler and Wall 1993; Whelan 1991; Ziffer 1989). In a frequently cited definition, Ceballos-Lascurain (1988) characterizes ecotourism as

Tourism that involves travelling to relatively undisturbed

or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific object of

studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild

plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects

(both past and present) found in these areas.

While this definition is useful in stressing the environmental orientation of ecotourism, it is clear that the term has also come to be associated with a range o f characteristics which collectively define an "alternative tourism" (AT) paradigm (Dernoi 1981; Krippendorf 1987; Singh, Theuns and Go 1989). This paradigm has emerged as an alternative to "conventional mass tourism" (CMT), which has been criticized as an often inappropriate form of tourism, especially for smaller destinations. CMT characteristics, outlined and contrasted in Tab 1 with the AT model, tend to appear during the middle and later stages of a destination's cycle of evolution (Butler 1980; Christaller 1963; Stansfield 1978). With respect to accommodations, attractions, market and economic impact, the argument can be made that ecotourism and AT are merely other names for the early "exploration" stage of the resort cycle, when relatively unspoiled areas are opened up to further tourist incursions by a few pioneer travellers. However, as pointed out by Weaver (1991), what distinguishes this "circumstantial" AT from "deliberate" AT is the lack of regulations and policies which attempt to ensure that the activity is maintained at environmentally, economically and socially sustainable levels. "Deliberate" ecotourism, the subject of this paper, is therefore very" much associated with intentions of identifying and working within the carrying capacities of a particular area, and o f discouraging the emergence of a CM T product where it is deeme d to be undesirable or inappropriate.

The recent proliferation of ecotourism case studies, based largely in the underdeveloped world, is not surprising in light of deliberate ecotourism's status as the fastest growing form o f tourism (Whelan 1991). For example, Dearden (1989) and Zurick (1992) examined the p h e n o m e n o n of mountain trekking in Nepal and northern Thailand respectively, while Boo (1990), and Fennell and