At first, ecotourism and sustainable tourism may seem like synonyms. But synonyms are not homonyms. Similar is not the same. Just as a wave is more than a ripple, and a tsunami is more than a wave, ecotourism is more than sustainable tourism. So, what is the difference?
Sustainable tourism aims at minimizing the impact of tourism. You might have heard of “reducing your carbon footprint.” That is sustainable tourism. Ecotourism is more than that.
We heard a little about ecotourism from the mooc by Universite de Toulouse “Cap sur l’ecotourisme.” (#MoocEcotourisme) While France has long been a destination for tourists (and expats) the French have not always been thought of tourists. It is hard for some older people, encombered by old stereotypes, to imagine French people leaving their country to enjoy the sights in another.
As an Australian newspaper said in the 19th century, “Just now France is anything but interested in ordinary tourism,” meaning France is not interested in tourism at all. “When Macmahon officially voyaged he was greeted with Vivas for Gambetta,” it continued. Even though he was a royalist at heart, Macmahon was the president of France (he started in the military and worked his way up.) And “vivas for Gambetta” means people saying, “Viva Gambetta!” Who was Gambetta? Macmahon’s political rival.
It was like Macron going abroad and hearing people shout, “Long live Le Penn!” Or manchester United hearing people say, “Long live Manchester city!” Everton fans hearing “Long live Liverpool FC!” But a more powerful rivalry. Oh wait, we should have used more French analogies. “Long live your opponent!”
The Australians did not imagine the Frenchman enjoyed his trip abroad. “How the President must be delighted that the tour is over.”
Now, many people think ecotourism started in a similar way. It is often assumed (by who? I hear you ask… by me, I guess) that ecotourism started when people were frustrated with the litter left by tourists or hotels, the way development competes with natural resources, or some other events of tourism. You might think ecotourists were frustrated that tourism seemed to be the opponent of everything that was good and sacred. But no, that wasn’t it. Not at all.
In fact, however, ecotourism was started in the early 1980s when a Mexican architect, Hector Ceballos-Lascurainm saw the way people appreciated the tranquil pink flamingos at the side of a lake. He thought to himself, what if tourism could help nature and inspire people to preserve it? What if it could be a force for good? Can the economic and environmental, appreciation and protection, coincide? Of course they can!
The idea of ecotourism is not just to minimize the impact of tourism, but it reaches into a deeper philosophy of tourism that helps the enviornment, having a positive impact. For instance, tourists who go to watch a species can help scientists track that species. Instead of simply not dropping trash, tourists might help clean a location of trash (maybe that’s not a good idea, some might say. If you run out of trash, you will lose tourists. Well, show me a location that has run out of trash, and then we can talk.)
Ecotourism will do something that will involve tourists in not only appreciating natural beauty of a place, but helping to preserve it. The place will be better off for them coming.
Sustainable tourism, on the other hand, simply tries to stop the location from getting ruined too quickly. It doesn’t go nearly as far. Sustainable tourism (like “responsible” tourism) might try to reduce a tsunami to a smaller tsunami, but it won’t always build barriers to protect against that tsunami. Ecotourism can have the power to reduce a tsunami to a wave, or even a ripple, or even replace it with nourishing rainfall. Ecotourism aims to be a force that doesn’t only bring less destruction, but that may bring healing, regeneration, and growth to the local traditions and ecosystems of a place.
It was Francois Huet who called Ecotourism “more than a simple label, ecotourism is a true philosophy of travel.” His suggestions for ecotourism is not just to stand as an idle observer, but to be an active preserver of the natural and cultural richness of a location. You might use or help create its local instruments, learn its local language… The term “ecotourism” is a bit confusing, the concept of ecotourism seems to go beyond simple environmental preservation. Rather than simply “visiting a place,” the ecotourists “sense its heart” and bring back much of the good of a place with them.
It is like what Owen Feltman said about travel during the times of the Cromwellian Republic. A traveller should experience a place to bring back the best of that place, and be enriched by its virtues.
This wasn’t new. A lot of people think travel makes people better. Anthony Bourdain said that “travel is education for life.” Feltman was more realistic. He said that some men are made better by travel, and others worse. Feltman warned that men can pick up bad habits from travelling, and counselled that they should choose to pick the best to take back with them. We might not agree with everything that Feltman said (he only thought a few places were worth visiting), but he was more refreshing than those who think that everyone who travels is better for it. No, we must make a conscious effort to improve, personal improvement won’t happen on its own. Even in the 17th century, Feltman knew some well-travelled “Karens” who seemed worse than people who never left the country.
Feltman, and many others, spoke of the benefits (or dangers) of tourism for the tourist. Ecotourism, on the other hand, looks at the benefits that tourism can have for locals. The philosophy is ambitious: Rather than just learning to adapt to tourism, rather than just learning to mitigate its supposed evils, tourism can have a positive impact on a place. Tourism, as ecotourism, can be positive not just for the environment and culture, but for the people who live there as well.
Ecotourism is not “greenwashing” it is not simply sounding environmental to get money. It is about “regenerative tourism” or “leaving a place better than you found it.”
But the alternative to ecotourism is not just garbage on the beach. It is not just “overtourism” that brings up rent prices. The cultural danger exists as well. The danger is “museification” where a local economy is replaced with a giant museum. Local jobs, even farms, are replaced with tourist traps (if there are local craftsmen, they are doing their craft to entertain tourists.) In museification, the jobs people had before become unsustainable because the economy replaces them with bellboys, waitresses, and if you’re lucky, tour guides. Locals end up having to look abroad for work. This is something ecotourism is fighting against. Ecotourism is not just about protecting the environment, it is about protecting jobs as well.
In fact, ecotourism, according to the Mooc, puts locals before tourists. That doesn’t mean tourists have a bad experience, rather the basis for the project is thinking of how it will impact local people, local customs, and local environment in a good way. The local economy is built in such a way that it helps the locals live a better quality of life.
It might sound like ecotourism is tourism that puts the environment first, but instead, it recognises how the environment can help people. Ecotourism is tourism that puts people first.
Sources: Our Paris Letter, written 6 May 1888, in The Week (Brisbane), published 30 June 1888, pg 29.
Of Travel, in Resolves, by Owen Feltman, about 1620.
The Mooc on FUN about Ecotourism (in French) https://lms.fun-mooc.fr/courses/course-v1:univ-toulouse+101024+session01
See also: permentreprise (in French. In English, there is a Taiwan organisation that has nothing to do with the concept.) https://www.permaentreprise.fr
The Darwin project in Bordeaux: https://www.france.fr/en/article/discover-darwin-in-bordeaux/#capital-of-street-art-2