Ecotourism and nature tourism
Online resources
| General
travel sites |
Destinations: Europe | Ecotourism sites | Gites in France |
| Travel sites fror independent travellers | Travel in Europe & Mediterranean area | Ecotourism and nature tourism | Directory of gites in France |
| Destinations: Rest of world | Destination: France | Services & resources | Gitelink Spain |
| Travel in the rest of the world | French travel sites / liens France | Travellers' services, education | Directory of gites in Spain |
Ecotourism websites directoryEcotourism Organisations:
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What is ecotourism?However, in order to contribute to the regeneration or the conservation of such areas, tourism needs to be conducted in a responsible manner. Mass tourism can lead to the destruction of the very resources that tourists initially came to enjoy; clean beaches, local cultures, beautiful environments, an escape from the rat-race of modern urban living. Just look at the terrible environmental damage that has been inflicted by the tourist industry on much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain - a jungle of motorways, tower-blocks, fast-food outlets and golf courses that are rapidly draining the subterranean water tables on which the region has survived for thousands of years. This is unsustainable tourism at its worst. Ecotourism - also known as green tourism or nature tourism - is not just tourism for bird-watchers or going hiking in a national park; it is tourism designed and managed to ensure that tourists contribute positively to local economies (instead of being of most benefit to big hotel companies and tour operators based in the cities of the industrialsed nations of the world), and that their impact on the local environment is positive or at least neutral, rather than negative. It means hiking, cycling tours, using existing infrastructure, buying products and services locally in the community, helping to conserve rural areas and local heritage; it means respecting natural environments, avoiding waste and damage. |
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