Chapter Two

Key Strategies of Ecotourism Development

• These management strategies are the backbone
of an Ecotourism Management Plan (EMP).
• These strategies ensure that tourism activities
contribute to the conservation goals of a
protected area.
• However, most of them also have application
for ecotourism development in any context,
including in those areas that are not formally
protected.
• These strategies include the following:
 Cont’d…
Zoning for Visitor Use
• The appropriate zoning of an ecotourism site is fundamental to
all other management strategies.
• Zoning is the division of a site into a number of different
sectors, or zones, for the purpose of distributing different types
of use or non-use (i.e., protection) in the most appropriate
places.
• Each zone is managed to maintain or achieve a particular natural
setting within which ecotourism and other activities take place,
and thus, each zone has its own set of rules and regulations for
activities carried out within its boundaries.
 Cont’d…
• Generally speaking, most protected areas provide for two
or more types of public use zones.
• Intensive Use Zones are where most of the high impact,
concentrated visitor use takes place.
• Extensive Use Zones are where more low impact,
generally trail-oriented visitor use occurs.
• Other zones usually set aside parts of the protected area as
“untouchable” zones where very little or no public use
occurs, either due to remoteness or resource fragility.
 Cont’d…
• Intensive Use Zones are usually quite small in
area, representing less than one percent of a
protected area’s territory.
• Extensive Use Zones are generally larger but still
represent only a minor part of the site’s overall
territory.
• Other zones may permit some ecotourism
activities on a highly limited and controlled basis,
frequently requiring a permit.
 Cont’d…
• Generally, a carefully planned zoning system for
tourism in a protected area is a powerful tool for
ensuring that visitation occurs in places and in ways
that are within the capacity of an area’s management.
• Through the zoning system, an area’s management
authority, whether a community or a national park
director, can ensure that tourism activities take place
at a sustainable level that maximizes benefits and
limits negative impacts.
 Cont’d…
Visitor Site Planning and Design
• At most ecotourism sites, visitor use is concentrated in
only a few locations, or “visitor sites,” both to facilitate
its management and to limit its impact upon the natural
environment.
• Because of the concentration of people and infrastructure,
it is important that these visitor sites be well planned.
• Site planning is the process of strategically arranging
structures, utilities, and infrastructure on a plot of land to
optimize functionality, aesthetics, and environmental
impact.
• It typically includes the existing and proposed structures,
landscaping features, parking areas, walkways, and other
site elements.
 Cont’d…
• The main goals in good visitor site planning are:
 Efficient use of the space by locating infrastructure in
places where it will be most easily, safely and effectively
used by the visitors, employees, and site managers;
 Minimal impact of visitor use and infrastructure
development upon the surrounding environment; and
 Planning infrastructure in accordance with the determined
capacity of the natural area to receive a defined number of
visitors.
 Cont’d…
• Site planning requires the preparation of an actual plan and
topographic map on which all existing and planned
ecotourism infrastructure is placed, be it an ecolodge, a trail,
a campsite or a latrine.
• All infrastructure should be located to establish the
geographical relationship with the significant natural and
cultural features before any construction begins.
• Site planning also means that “best practices” for
ecotourism activities and infrastructure must be followed.
 Cont’d…
• The EMP should make recommendations about the type(s)
of infrastructure (e.g., trails, campgrounds, ecolodge, etc.)
for the site without being specific about exact locations.
• The site planning process determines exact locations of
infrastructure, taking into account the site’s ecological
sensitivity and positioning the infrastructure from a visitor
management perspective (e.g., location of trails in relation
to a campground or attraction).
 Cont’d…
Specific Considerations
Capacity: as difficult as it may be to determine, every
site has a limit for development and human activity.
Slopes: steep slopes predominate in many park and
recreational environments.
Siting infrastructure on slopes can cause
erosion problems and should be avoided.
Vegetation: it is important to retain as much existing
native vegetation as possible to secure the integrity of
the site.
 Cont’d…
 Wildlife: avoid the disruption of movement, nesting patterns, feeding
and roosting sites of threatened, endangered or focal wildlife species by
sensitive siting of development and by limits set on construction
activity and facility operation.
 Views: views are critical and reinforce a visitor’s experience.
 Site design should maximize views of natural features and minimize
views of visitor and support facilities.
 Natural Hazards: development should be located with consideration of
natural hazards such as precipitous slopes, dangerous animals and
plants, and hazardous water areas.
 Conflicting Uses: if the site provides for different types of visitor use,
for example ecolodge and campground, make sure these uses are
sufficiently separated geographically so that they do not conflict.
 Cont’d…
Sustainable Infrastructure Design
• Sustainable infrastructure is infrastructure that delivers long-
term economic, social, and environmental benefits.
• Sustainable infrastructure involves developing roads, buildings,
energy and water infrastructure with due consideration to
economic, social and environmental implications.
• Sustainable design is the idea that sustainability should be built
into the design phase of products, services and buildings.
• The three components of sustainable design are reduce, reuse
and recycle.
• Reduce: sustainable designs reduce the amount of new material
and energy consumption required for production.
• Reuse: a reusable product or material is designed to be used
again or repurposed into something else.
• Recycle: at the end of its lifecycle, a recyclable product or
material can be turned into a new product or biodegrade.
 Cont’d…
• Ecotourism implementation requires infrastructure
different from that of a conventional tourism setting,
particularly if visitor lodging or food service is involved.
• In natural areas, ecotourism infrastructure must blend in
with the surroundings, use predominantly renewable
energy sources and manage sewage and food waste
without damaging the surrounding environment.
• Several organizations have developed effective “best
practice” guidelines for ecotourism architectural design
and development.
 Cont’d…
Revenue-Generating Mechanisms
• The major goals of ecotourism are to generate
income for conservation and to benefit local
communities and other stakeholders that are also
participating in the ecotourism program in or near a
protected area.
• The degree to which a visitor site produces income
depends in large part upon its importance as a
tourism destination and, secondarily, upon its
management and marketing capabilities.
 Cont’d…

• In order to generate revenue, the following

questions must be answered:
 Which mechanisms are needed to generate
revenues?
 How should revenues be managed?
 How should income be spent?
 Cont’d…

• It is important to recognize that income

generation should never become an end in itself.
• The ultimate goal is site conservation.
• If adding another ecotourism activity to increase
funding for a site is going to interfere with
effective long-term site conservation, then it
should probably not be carried out.
 Cont’d…
• A number of relatively simple market-based mechanisms exist to generate
tourism revenues for conservation.

Entrance Fees
• This is a fee charged to visitors in order to enter a protected area or other
ecotourism site.
• Differential fees are common.
• In developing countries, citizens are typically charged less than foreign visitors.
• This is to be encouraged for several reasons:
 Residents of a destination country (i.e., country of site location) are already
paying through taxes for protected area conservation;
 Environmental education and recreation objectives of protected areas normally
seek to encourage visitation by local people; and
 Foreigners from developed countries are generally willing to pay more for
access to protected areas.
 Cont’d…

• Normally, the objective of charging an entrance

fee is to increase the funding available for the
area’s maintenance and development activities.
• However, the amount of entrance fee can also be
a mechanism for facilitating or limiting visitor
access, depending upon the site’s particular
situation.
 Cont’d…

Determining Entrance Fee Levels

• Ideally, an ecotourism site should have as its
objective the generation of enough income to
cover its operating expenses plus a surplus to
invest in conservation and community
development priorities.
• Achieving this will depend upon a site’s
importance as a tourism destination and the
management and marketing capabilities of the
administration and tourism managers.
 Cont’d…

• There are three principal considerations in

determining entrance fee levels:
Willingness to pay for access to a managed area
by the visitor (visitor survey).
Comparison of fees charged at other similar sites
in similar circumstances.
Cover costs associated with provision and
maintenance of recreational opportunities.
 Cont’d…

Concessions
• This is a mechanism by which third persons provide a
service to visitors within an ecotourism site.
• The most common examples of this are providing lodging
and food services to visitors within the site.
• In some ecotourism sites, the administration may choose to carry
out all of these services in-house without involving concessions.
• On the other hand, most ecotourism site managers find that they
either do not have the expertise or the investment capital needed
to provide these services in a professional manner.
 Cont’d…
• Selection of the concessionaires is usually carried out via a bidding

process in which the ecotourism site’s administration develops the

terms of reference and interested parties offer their services,

including the amount they are willing to pay for the opportunity to

provide the services.

• This is an excellent way to involve local people as either owners of
the concession, co-concessionaires with a more experienced tour
operator or employees of the concessionaire.
 Cont’d…
• A concession may not be a viable alternative for some
sites, particularly if there is not much demand for the
service.
• On the other hand, there may be demand but not the
entrepreneurs with sufficient capital or interest in taking
on the risk of a situation with uncertain results.
• In any case, a concession should not be undertaken unless
a marketing study, business plan and full-scale site plan
are prepared.
 Cont’d…
• Concession income can be charged in different
ways:
 according to the number of people a concession serves
during a given year;
 as a percentage of the gross or net income of the
concessionaire;
 as an annual fixed fee; or
 a combination of the above.
 Cont’d…

• In many situations, it is very difficult to calculate profits,

income and number of people served by a concession.
• An annual fee is of course one simple way to charge a
concessionaire, but it does not have much flexibility.
• The concession may annually increase its business while
the annual fee stays the same.
• It is not unusual for concessionaires to make huge profits
while site administrations receive very little.
• It is important to be creative at keeping concession fees
appropriate for all but easily calculated.
 Categories of fees and charges for
nature based Tourism
Fee type Observation
General Entrance Fee ‘Gate fees’ allow free or priced access to facilities beyond the entry point.
Fees for use Example:- fees for visitor centers, parking, campsites, guide services, boat use,
trail/follow shelters, emergency rescue/free, etc

Concession fees Charges (or revenue shares) are assessed on individuals and businesses which sell
food, accommodation, transportation & guide services, souvenirs and other
goods and services to NBT visitors (NBT=Nature Based Tourism)

Royalties and profit Can be charged on sale of guide books, postcards, T-shirts, souvenirs, books,
shares films, photo, etc

Licenses and permits For tour operators, guides, researchers, wildlife collectors, mountain climbers,
river rafters, etc. The concept can be extended to individual campers, bikers, etc.

Voluntary Donations Include cash and in-kind gifts often through friends of the park organizations.
 Cont’d…
Guiding principles for fee policy in Nature
based Tourism
Fees supplement by but do not replace general
sources of revenue.
At least a proportion of fee revenues should be
set aside (earmarked) for sites that generate them
Fees should be set on site-specific basis.
Fee collection is not justified/fitted at all sites.
Fee systems work best when supported by
reliable accounting and management system.
 Cont’d…
Conditions for Collecting Revenues
1. Cost/benefit
• Just because there is an opportunity to charge visitors for
something does not mean that it would be economically
justifiable.
• How much will it cost in order to charge a particular fee?
• Do you have the personnel available to do this?
• Do you have the infrastructure (e.g., entrance stations)
needed to charge the fee?
• Are there enough visitors to make it worthwhile?
 Cont’d…

2. Quality

• Visitors will be quick to notice if they are being

charged for an inferior product.
• Before establishing an entrance fee or other fee,
be sure that you are offering a product
commensurate with the amount of the fee.
 Cont’d…

3. Safety
• Because of the location of many ecotourism sites
in isolated situations, the safety of the personnel
in charge of collecting revenue could be an issue.
• The safety of the money after being collected
could also be a consideration if there is no bank
or other secure location for it to be placed until it
can be safely deposited in a bank account.
 Cont’d…
Visitor Impact Monitoring and Management
• This tool covers a range of processes and techniques for
managing visitors, their activities, and their impacts, in specific
areas.
• Every time a visitor sets foot in an ecotourism site, he/she
causes a negative impact.
• This is an unavoidable fact.
• The job of ecotourism managers is to minimize those impacts
and ensure that, via ecotourism management strategies, the
positive impacts outweigh the negative ones.
• Monitoring and managing visitor impacts are fundamental
ecotourism management strategies; unfortunately, they are also
ones most frequently left unattended.
 Cont’d…

• The first methods developed to address tourism

impacts evolved from the concept of carrying
capacity.
• Researchers have now begun to realize that looking
only at numbers of visitors was not sufficient.
• They demonstrated that what visitors did, when they
did it and a number of other circumstances were
frequently more important in determining visitor
impacts than simply the number of visitors.
 Cont’d…

• The degree of impact depends upon many

variables in addition to the amount of use:
the degree of site hardening (making site trails,
landings, overlooks resistant to erosion);
the motivations and behaviors of visitors;
the mode of visitor transport and lodging;
the effectiveness of guides; and
the season(s) in which most use occurs.
 Cont’d…
Naturalist Guides – the Heart of Ecotourism
• Most ecotourism takes place in remote natural areas
where it is typically not feasible for visitors to fully
experience the attractions without the
accompaniment of trained, knowledgeable guides.
• Even in more easily accessible areas, the success of
ecotourism depends in large part on the abilities of
naturalist guides to interpret the environment in
ways that inspire and educate visitors.
• Guides can also help to monitor the impact of
tourists when accompanying them.
 Cont’d…
• It is crucial for protected area managers to establish a guide licensing system
because naturalist guides can:
❖ significantly enrich the visitor experience through education and consequently
a) create new supporters of the site’s conservation goals and
b) generate additional demand for tourism in the area;
 ensure that the negative impacts of visitation are minimized and that positive
impacts are maximized;
 generate income for themselves and for others in local communities;
 strengthen links between conservation and community development goals;
 increase the safety of visitors; and
 be additional eyes and ears for protected area administrations and proxies for
protected area management.
 Cont’d…

• Because the role of naturalist guides is very important to

an ecotourism program, a site’s administrators need to
effectively manage guides’ involvement with the site to
ensure that their activities conform to ecotourism
standards.
• There are two basic mechanisms to accomplish this:
I. provide mandatory training of all naturalist guides who
work within a site; and
[Link] all naturalist guides who work in the site, thus
maintaining control over their activity.
 Cont’d…

The Roles of Naturalist Guides

• Naturalist guides truly play a multifaceted role.
• They have responsibilities to their tour operator
employers, to their clients- the visitors, and to the
protected areas and communities where they
work.
 Cont’d…
Local vs. non-local guides
• It is common for organized tours to arrive at an
ecotourism site with a guide who works with the
tour company and comes from the capital city, or
even another country.
• Sometimes these guides are very knowledgeable
about the site, but many are not.
• However, local community members should be
given priority for positions as naturalist guides.
Thank You!!!