Ecotourism Research Research Articles

Interdisciplinary Ecotourism Research: Insights and Issues for Conservation Biology

A continuing interest in interdisciplinary research characterizes conservation biology. This interest is a re- sponse in large part to the increasingly complex problems facing society. Analysis of recent ecotourism research, as an in- terdisciplinary enterprise, offers insights. As such, this paper analyses two projects - the social and ecological impacts of visitors to the south-western Australian forests, and of interactions between visitors and sea lions off the west coast of Australia. Analysis centers on issues of central concern for interdisciplinary research in conservation biology: poorly de- fined terms, lack of common goals, unclear or missing conceptual framework, insufficiently explained methods, and a lack of new knowledge achieved through integration. From the reviewed studies, interdisciplinary research appeared pos- sible because the researchers used strategies from more than one discipline while adopting the paradigmatic position of ecology. Unresolved issues were how to work with potentially conflicting epistemologies and methodologies, and reward- ing interdisciplinary research.

Bringing ecotourism into focus: applying a hierarchical perspective to ecotourism research

Ecotourism is a complex phenomenon that has grown rapidly in the last three decades. The emerging field of inquiry based on this phenomenon has followed a similar trajectory of growth. Understanding the dimensions of its impacts can pose great challenges to researchers. As a result, ecotourism literature is characterised by continued debates of definitions, bias towards small-scale, one-shot case studies, and overall lack of coherence, and a dearth of explanatory theory. We discuss how hierarchy theory may be used to address these issues. Hierarchy theory has been applied in other disciplines to organise research inquiries, characterise the conclusions drawn from them, and reconcile competing definitions and theories. We explain how key concepts from hierarchy theory are of relevance to levels of analyses of ecotourism whether conducted on individual people or destinations or on the global phenomenon as a whole.

A Critical Review of Ecotourism Studies in Thailand

Ecotourism has emerged as a key foundation of sustainable tourism development. During the past decade, the study of ecotourism in Thailand has increased considerably. Yet, proper guidelines and research directions for ecotourism research in Thailand are still limited. The purpose of this study is to survey and overview ecotourism studies in Thailand during the past decade (1995–2005). The study examines 334 ecotourism-related studies and provides suggestions for ecotourism research direction in Thailand, particularly in the area of limited knowledge or unexplored research areas.

Representing protection action in an ecotourism setting: a critical discourse analysis of visitors' books at a Greek reserve

The implementation of a protection scheme is central to ecotourism. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis, the present study accounts for the way protection action is represented in visitors' books at a Greek reserve (Dadia forest). Specifically, proceeding to content analysis and considering a wide range of linguistic features (vocabulary, syntax, ergativity, aspect, and temporal and illocutionary indices), we study whether visitors, through the way they construct protection acts in their texts, display knowledge about and concern for environmental issues within an ecotourism context. The analysis suggests that visitors seem not to be particularly concerned or informed about the protection action undertaken for Dadia forest. With the green aspect of ecotourism rather neglected, this research empirically verifies that ecotourism conceals a consumerist essence under a green wrapping, functioning ideologically. Moreover, the present study offers qualitative insights into ecotourism research, disclosing how the ideological function of ecotourism is evident in the way visitors represent protection acts, since the version of protection action they construct diffuses their responsibilities for the environment.

Twenty years on: The state of contemporary ecotourism research

The ecotourism literature is focused on market segmentation, ecological impacts of wildlife viewing, and community-based ecotourism, but there has been minimal attention to critical areas such as quality control, the industry, external environments or institutions even as the components and parameters of ecotourism are being extended. This imbalance, combined with the fragmentation and lack of integration within the literature, suggest that ecotourism, as a field of academic inquiry, is still in a state of adolescence.

Social Trends and Ecotourism: Adventure Recreation and Amenity Migration

Ecotourism is a convenient term for a particular class of human behaviours, real as well as idealised. One critical component of ecotourism research is hence the continual re-examination of what tourists and tourism providers actually do in regard to the defining criteria of ecotourism. And since in practice, people rarely divide their lifestyles into neat packages, social trends outside the ecotourism sector itself maybe as significant as those within it. Whilst the largest-scale megatrends (Buckley, 1998) have not changed significantly over the past decade, there are two medium-scale social trends in developed nations which seem likely to exert strong influences on the development of ecotourism during the next decade.

Birdwatching Tourism in Australia

DR DARRYL JONES graduated from the University of New England. He is a senior lecturer in ecology at Griffith Univesity. Prof. Ralf Buckley is Chair in Ecotourism and Director of the International Centre for Ecotourism Research at Griffith University.

The Concept of Ecotourism: Evolution and Trends

The research within the area of ecotourism still appears to be at its infancy stage. The definitional perspective of the concept is lacking both in terms of scope and criteria used, as well as in aspects of its planning and operationalisation. There are a variety of ecotourism definitions all reflecting a range of paradigms and perspectives. The view that this article has taken is that the definition of ecotourism is not really necessary if the discussion focuses on the concepts rather than the issues implied by ecotourism. Hence, it seems that ecotourism definitions could range from passive to active stances incorporating the three common concepts in the form of trade-off scenarios. The three common concepts within ecotourism are natural-based, educational, and sustainable (which includes economic and social criteria). Within these components, both benefits and costs exist, and in some circumstances there is disequilibrium towards greater costs. Fundamentally, ecotourism could merit wider credibility, but only when the different actors involved avoid overmarketing, and control the overuse of its products by consumers. In light of these pitfalls, this paper focuses on the three components of ecotourism and includes a review of ecotourism’s definitions followed by an examination of its natural-based, sustainability and educational components. It concludes with the future state of ecotourism research in light of the changes in trends in the tourism industry.

Ecotourism research and promotion on the Web: experiences and insights

There is a great need for detailed information about environmental tourism projects in Latin America and many are using the Internet as a library. However, institutional Websites from environmental groups (World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International) are often filled with outdated material. This paper will examine how Websites can assist local communities, students, policy‐makers and travellers in assessing ecotourism projects on the Web. We will examine some case studies and outline a process of improving Websites.