Ecotourism came into prominence in the eighties as a strategy for reconciling conservation with development in ecologically rich areas. Ecotourism could generate economic benefits at local and national levels and thus create incentives to conserve the resources on which it depends. Furthermore, ecotourism is a tool to build public support for conservation, and to encourage the participation of private sector in conservation efforts. Clearly, at a time when traditional conservation through enforced protection of natural areas was being questioned for its effectiveness and social impacts, strategies such as ecotourism offered considerable potential for integrating conservation with development.

Within a decade ecotourism captured the imagination of both the conservation community and the tourism industry. Major ecotourism initiatives took place in the developing world notably in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Ecotourism continues to have potential to make positive contributions to conservation and development, and in a country where this promise is still to be fulfilled, this short discussion paper is designed to encourage wider dissemination and discussion of ideas that will lead to action. 

Since the term was introduced, ecotourism has become a buzzword in the lexicon of practitioners, academics, industry, and the consumer. However, the term ecotourism has different nuances and interpretations depending on the purpose and the user. Thus, under the banner of ecotourism one can find enterprises that are small scale locally owned and managed initiatives to large segments of the tourism industry that just focus on visits to areas of natural and cultural heritage. Community based tourism, rural tourism, village tourism, cultural tours and responsible tourism are some of the other terms that can confound the uninitiated. 

Ecotourism is part of the general growth in tourism and reflects increased environmental awareness and the desire for more authentic natural and cultural experiences. With the advent of better transport facilities and communication, people are traveling farther and taking more risks in the choices for a holiday from staying with local people in developing countries to adventure sports in some of the world's most remote areas. Not surprisingly, various sections of the tourism industry in the region have responded with customised itineraries and ecofriendly accommodation supporting local development efforts. Although the ecotourism market appears to be financially attractive, ecotourism products are characterised by high risk owing to marked seasonality, high staff to client ratios and need for specialised marketing.

There is concern that unplanned and unregulated tourism growth in natural areas can lead to pronounced negative environmental and cultural impacts. Critics argue that visits to environmentally fragile areas, often during sensitive periods, can affect key processes such as breeding and regeneration. Areas and sites opened for ecotourism may eventually lead to mass tourism and a range of negative impacts. In the absence of adequate participation in planning and management, local communities often bear the costs of tourism development and protected area management, gaining little or nothing in the way of income generation opportunities and suffering from restricted access to resources. 

Nonetheless, there is considerable potential for ecotourism to provide positive contributions to conservation and economic development at a variety of scales. It can generate revenues for national governments that can be reinvested in conservation, and at the same time provide income-generating opportunities to traditionally remote and marginal communities. The challenge is in developing strategies that help create enabling policy frameworks, support and link the various scales and types of operation that are necessary for successful ecotourism and create broad-based support for ecotourism objectives and principles.