Managing ecotourism in Central America Article

Rosales, C. (2012). Managing ecotourism in Central America . International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, 11(5), 1-10. 10.18848/1447-9524/CGP/v11i05/50201

cited authors

  • Rosales, C

abstract

  • Ecotourism is a unique kind of tourism that involves education and interpretation of the natural environment and is managed to be ecologically sustainable. More than any other form of travel, ecotourism is knowledge-based; visitors come seeking to learn from endangered habitats and to witness glimpses of the shrinking wonders of natural ecosystems. The formula for ecotourism is based on the preservation of indigenous habitats and autochthonous cultures while improving socioeconomic conditions with visitor's dollars. Tourism is now the world's largest industry and ecotourism has become a global phenomenon through the advent of affordable jet travel, the enormous popularity of nature travel on television and the Internet, and the political and scientific pressure for environmental stewardship. Scientific research, poverty, underdevelopment, overdevelopment, overvisitation, legal regulations, national boundaries, local vs. foreign, preservation vs. change, etc. converge in managing ecotourism. This paper will explore the complex management challenges of ecotourism in Central America, particularly for organizations in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. © Common Ground, Camilo Rosales, All Rights Reserved.

authors

publication date

  • January 1, 2012

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 10

volume

  • 11

issue

  • 5