Ecotourism in Madagascar - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 19

Domestic
10%

Business
5%

Special Interest
45%

Sun and Beach
40%

Source :Tourism masterplan (GATO, 2005, p131).

Figure 2.1 Types of tourism projected for Madagascar until 2012

knowledge of how to implement it, as well as the lack of capacity of the former
Ministry for Culture and Tourism to convince donors to finance the plan's
activities. The masterplan reports a mix of tourism types, as illustrated in Figure
2.1.

The special interest category includes ecotourism, culture and landscape
tourism, sports and adventure tourism, and cruise trips. These types of tourism
are seen as having a high growth potential. It was suggested that ecotourism
should remain as a niche in order not to endanger the ecologically sensitive areas
visited (GATO, 2005, p129ff.). In Madagascar, this does not seem to interfere
with the establishment of the critical mass needed to make it a profit-earning
industry, especially for the local population.
Ecotourism development started its upward movement in 2005 with the initi-
ation of PIC Project by the World Bank. The PIC Project focuses on
infrastructure development, administrative facilitation and lobbying among inter-
national investors. The project also tries to deal with different banks to minimize
credit costs for tourism investors, as expensive finance hinders nationals wishing
to invest in or enlarge their businesses. This project considered sustainable
tourism development for two 'poles': the island of Nosy Be (EDSA et al, Plan
D'amenagement Touristique Durable de Nosy Be, 2005a) in the north-west and
the region around 'Taolagnaro' (EDSA et al, Plan D'amenagement Touristique
Durable de Taolagnaro, 2005b) in the south.
The Nosy Be and Taolagnaro Sustainable Tourism Development Plans
addressed the quadruple bottom line of sustainable development: economic,
environmental, social and spiritual sustainability. The main philosophy of these
plans was that all types of tourism are important to the creation of a successful
sustainable destination as long as they adhere to environmental and social guide-
lines and respect the spiritual beliefs of the local people. In particular, the plans
identified specific sustainable tourism and ecotourism projects in both locations
which would act as a catalyst for sustained growth. These plans, like the GATO
masterplan have unfortunately not been fully implemented, mainly due to a
restructuring of the PIC in the direction of more mass tourism development.
However, some of the specific projects that were identified in these plans have
been taken to the next stage (Nirina Ratsimbazafy, PIC, email 30 June 2008):