Responsible Tourism Critical Issues for Conservation and Development
Conservation efforts are often seen to be in conflict with local livelihoods and resource use – the ‘park versus people’ debate. ‘Responsible tourism’ or ‘Eco-tourism’ is often invoked as a third way that serves both ends. Yet does it actually work in practice?
This volume delves deep into practice in southern Africa, the hotbed of innovation on the issue, and provides a comprehensive, evidence based examination of what works and what fails. It opens with an overview of the issues, looks at what sustainable and responsible tourism are in practice and how they may contribute to conservation, poverty alleviation and local economic development. Part one examines policies and institutions in responsible tourism by governments, donor agencies and NGOs. Part two considers wildlife tourism and ecotourism, looking at local economic development, supply and demand for responsible tourism, certification and fair trade, the economics of wildlife tourism, transfrontier conservation areas, ecological impacts of tourism and other issues. Part three looks at more detailed case studies of community based tourism projects. The book concludes with a synthesis of the key findings with implications for policy, management and the business side of tourism.
Published by Eathscan with the Southern African Sustainable Use Specialist Group (SASUSG) of IUCN
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=26778
