13 Comments
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Jen's avatar

Interesting, I hadn't heard of this. We are low grid/off grid campers and do a lot of this already but it gave me some areas I can improve, thanks!

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Emma Schneck's avatar

Glad it could be of interest to you! Thanks for reading along :)

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Vanlife Ruminations's avatar

It’s all just marketing. Perhaps it’s a bit more respectful of nature but id rather people just stay put, I mean people with no respect for nature. They destroy everything

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Emma Schneck's avatar

Yes, so much about rethinking the tourism industry relies on people actually caring about the places they visit. While things like ecotourism or regenerative tourism are great concepts, they won't work at all for the subsect of people that are truly selfish and just do not care. That's why all of these projects need to have an educational element to give people the chance to learn, and hopefully inspire that sense of care.

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Datu Kidlat's avatar

Huh, I’ve never actually considered that there might not be a universally accepted definition of ecotourism. Especially in Southeast Asia, there are definitely attractions that take on an ecotourism angle to attract visitors but the sites take on far more than they can handle. I know it’s happened in Thailand with Maya Bay to where they restrict how many can visit and Boracay was closed off for half a year to clean up the island, but im wondering where else this can potentially happen.

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Emma Schneck's avatar

It's definitely happened around my home state of Hawai'i...we have such a delicate ecosystem and yet our whole economy is based on tourism and people paying to come see our nature. Unfortunately, we just have too many tourists for ecotourism to function property. The Maya Bay and Boracay examples are really interesting to hear, and hopefully these limits will have a positive effect on both the local environment and community

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Kirsten Amor's avatar

Great post! I've often wondered about the definition of "ecotourism", especially as it has been applied so elastically as you've said.

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Emma Schneck's avatar

Thank you! Yes, it's definitely a confusing topic...I've even worked in ecotourism and didn't even know the real definition until I started researching the article

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Lois T's avatar

These are great tips! Really good article. I love the first photo, especially!

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Emma Schneck's avatar

Thanks so much! I took that pic in a gorgeous forest in Scotland and thought it would be very fitting for the piece

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

This is right up my street. Subscribed!

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Emma Schneck's avatar

Thanks so much! Really appreciate the support :)

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Namrata Gohain's avatar

Hi Emma

That was a really good read.

I am a travel storyteller, figuring out the best ways to tell a story without contributing to overtourism but creating the required awareness that can be beneficial for local communities. It’s tricky but I believe not undoable.

I loved your tips and also agree to the defining pointers you mentioned.

My favourite line is “Imperfect climate action is better than no climate action at all.”

Looking forward to reading your other posts too.

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