Geotourism: A Tool for Sustainable Development of Geoheritage Resources

Abstract

The theoretical understanding suggests that geotourism relates tourism and geology in such a way that the public can experience the earth’s geological wonders with environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation, and conservation through formal and informal education. With proper enforcement emplaced, this idea of protection through usage should lead to an increase in ecological and socio-cultural awareness and behaviour among geotourists and local guardians of geological heritage. In the prospect of geotourism, geotourists and local public are related in a way that the former play its part in geoheritage conservation through visiting geological heritages while expenditures spent by geotourists contributed to the gross income of the latter and partially to the nation through various tax structures. These economic benefit as well as environmental incentives of geotourism would encourage local public to embrace into geotourism industry and geoheritage conservation. Thus, when these mechanisms work perfectly, geotourism will offer one realistic key solution to the apparent conflict between environmental and cultural protection, and economic growth.