Tourism and the Environment - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 385

requires the transformation of energy and transportation systems
worldwide, with implications for the cost of travel and tourist mobility. Climate change also has the
potential to have an adverse effect on the global economy and poses a security risk in some regions.
Consequently, climate change is anticipated to have profound implications that could fundamentally
transform aspects of the global tourism sector.
The unmistakable conclusion of studies in the field have shown that the signi cance of climate
change to tourism is not in some distant and remote future. Climate change is already in uencing
decision making within the tourism sector, including that of tourists, forward-looking tourism
businesses and investors, and international tourism organizations. The next generation of tourism
professionals will need to contend with virtually all of the broad range of impacts of climate change.
This is the time for the tourism community to collectively formulate a strategy to address what
must be considered the greatest challenge to the sustainability of tourism in the twenty- rst century.

Climate change mitigation

The Concept of Ecotourism and Its Role
in Sustainable Tourism

Acknowledgment and acceptance of the importance of achieving sustainable tourism has given rise to
the concept of

. Indeed, in the tourismworld, the terms sustainable tourism and ecotourism
tend to be used interchangeably. While they certainly are strongly related, each contains a particular
nuance that many regard as signi cant. In our view, the concept of ecotourism conveys a greater
concern for the fundamental obligation of all travelers to avoid harming, and indeed to protect, all
sites that they visit. As such, ecotourism is highly value-laden in an intrinsic sense; that is, individual
travelers must accept responsibility for their behavior and its impact. In contrast, the term sustainable
tourism conveys a more functional societal obligation to ensure the conditions necessary to maintain
the physical environment in a

ecotourism

for future generations. These conditions are not
simply economic and political factors; they include a recognition that desirable values and good
intentions must be supported by hard cash and tough decisions.

'' preserved state ''

View of Triplet Falls in Australia. It is this kind of pristine beauty that those responsible for tourism must
constantly seek to preserve for the enjoyment of future generations. CourtesyofDigitalVision.