Ecotourism and Sustainability: An Analysis of Strategies, Practices and Problems

Abstract

Tourism has been playing a critical role in the overall development of century's world over. It is evident that many economies of the world are largely based on tourism in the post war period. Several countries of the world are developing tourism on a large scale to attract tourist towards their shores. And for many, tourism is the only source of reliable national income in the absence of rich resource and strong manufacturing base. These countries are harvesting on the multiple opportunities and benefits tourism offers, particularly to set off balance -- of payment problems. However the flipside of this is that many tourist destinations today are facing numerous problems because of improper tourism planning and practice. The ill-conceived tourism development agenda in these countries has a huge bearing o the environment, ecological balance, cultural entertainment, and sustainability. In this paper, therefore the authors have attempted to identify the core issues and problems in practicing sustainable ecotourism and also to suggest some pragmatic strategies for planning and developing sustainable tourism