Ecotourism

Abstract

Abstract This chapter situates the history of ecotourism in the longer history of nature tourism. The chapter begins by identifying ecotourism’s origins in the 1970s and then makes the case for historical continuities between ecotourism and earlier forms of tourism, considering the themes of economic development, class, and environmentalism. The chapter then discusses historical works that highlight how neoliberalism shaped ecotourism after 1965. While neoliberal and postcolonial aspects of ecotourism cannot be ignored, the chapter argues that comparisons with older traditions of nature tourism can be beneficial, especially for thinking about ecotourism destinations as sites of cultural and social contestation. Beginning in the 1800s, nature tourism has led to economic and political exploitation, but the practice (and work) of tourism can contribute as well to identity formation, which can be essential to resisting or coopting tourism for other purposes.