While conceptually sound, the practical realities are such that Essay

While conceptually sound, the practical realities are such that ecotourism remains a fundamentally flawed product. Discuss - Essay Example s a means of novelty to satisfy the hunger of hunger of the tourists with a view to growing awareness of the drastic environmental changes caused by global warming. But if the concept of ecotourism is compared with the ecotourism in reality, it appears, to a great extent, to be the manipulation of the consumerism of the industrial society to trap the foreign currency at home and abroad. Indeed it was initiated with the increasing concern about the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and ecology. But in order to mitigate the pressure of the scholars and the environmentalists regarding the harmful impacts of tourism on the environment, the concept of tourism ironically includes its ecological apparel that is supposed to grow the awareness of the tourists about the environmental change. Since then the concept of ecotourism is facing the dilemma of its true outline in reality, as in this regard Anja Touhino and Anne Hynoenen (2001: 1) say, â€Å"The tourism industry still feels that these definitions are unclear and that they confuse both consumers and tourism entrepreneurs. Terms related to ecotourism are often used without adequate definition and thus cause confusion, even in research† (Touhino & Hynoenen, 2001: 1). Various scholars have defined tourism in different ways. But all these definitions are stitched together with a common thread that appears to be approach of these definitions to nature and environment. The concept of ecotourism evolved in order to mitigate the negative impact mass tourism on Environment. Therefore the evolution of the concept of ecotourism is closely related to the definition of mass tourism and tourism in general. In this regard Fennel (2003: 30) says, â€Å"Ecotourism has grown as a consequence of the dissatisfaction with conventional forms of tourism†. For Fennell (2003: 16), â€Å"ecotourism is distinct from mass tourism and various other forms of AT [alternative tourism]†. In the beginning the most accepted definitions of