Greetings to all,
While working on sustainable tourism and ecotourism projects and at the
same time
with adventure tourism outfitters in this part of the world
(Canada-Quebec), I often see
that definitions are quite unclear, mostly when it comes to soft and
hard adventure.
Then, when I travel or work on foreign projects with other international
colleagues, I
find that many include alternative tourism (small local hotels, local
transportation, food
on the street type of restaurant, etc.) as also being of ecotourism /
adventure nature.
I find that these definitions often have to do with the various market
segments (let's be
realistic) that will be attracted to one or the other type of tourism.
These markets will
somehow dictate levels of service, levels of understanding when it comes
to ecotourism,
levels of comfort and hygiene, etc. On one of my recent trips, one
young girl was saying
that it was easy to visit a third-world country and ride with the trucks
to get from one
place to the other, and sleep in local inns for next to nothing. What
she left behind was
very little and she being young, traveled with a very limited budget.
which is what
everyone should do at that age, for I find that this kind of traveling
is quite enlightening
when you are in your twenties.
However, once people get older and quite often have a fair income, they
still want to
travel with consciousness and give to the community, but it does not
necessarily mean
that if you use facilities with higher standards that you are not an
ecotourist (and I am
not talking about all-inclusive hotels here). But, let's say that an inn
of a small scale, not
necessarily belonging to the community, will give employment to many,
pay them well
and train them for various job functions, take care of the environment,
organise its
supply of water, electricity and garbage collection, and while keeping
the business going
for many years, will help create other small businesses in the area
because of the
ongoing visitors leaving higher amounts of money behind them, and
finally raise the
economic level of a little village, would not that be considered
ecotouristic somehow ?
And if people have a higher budget for traveling, what do they expect to
get ? Higher
quality of interpretation, authenticity, local businesses where to shop,
meet people,
mingle with the community and ways to understand the way of life of
others and to
communicate with them, maybe even learn the language and yes, do some
soft
adventure excursions that are well organised, while being respectful of
the environment
and the culture they are visiting.
Comments anyone ?
Marie-Andree Delisle
Marie-Andree Delisle et associes
C.P. 563, Succursale Victoria
Westmount, Quebec
H3Z 2Y6
Tel. (514) 483-4223
Telec. (514) 486-9565
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