Synopses & Reviews
Around the world, ecotourism has been hailed as a panacea: a way to fund conservation and scientific research, protect fragile ecosystems, benefit communities, promote development in poor countries, instill environmental awareness and a social conscience in the travel industry, satisfy and educate discriminating tourists, and, some claim, foster world peace. Although andldquo;greenandrdquo; travel is being aggressively marketed as a andldquo;win-winandrdquo; solution for the Third World, the environment, the tourist, and the travel industry, the reality is far more complex, as Martha Honey reports in this extraordinarily enlightening book.
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Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, originally published in 1998, was among the first books on the subject. For years it has defined the debate on ecotourism: Is it possible for developing nations to benefit economically from tourism while simultaneously helping to preserve pristine environments? This long-awaited second edition provides new answers to this vital question.
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Ecotourism and Sustainable Development is the most comprehensive overview of worldwide ecotourism available today, showing how both the concept and the reality have evolved over more than twenty-five years. Here Honey revisits six nations she profiled in the first editionandmdash;the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, and South Africaandmdash;and adds a fascinating new chapter on the United States. She examines the growth of ecotourism within each countryandrsquo;s tourism strategy, its political system, and its changing economic policies. Her useful case studies highlight the economic and cultural impacts of expanding tourism on indigenous populations as well as on ecosystems.
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Honey is not a andldquo;travel writer.andrdquo; She is an award-winning journalist and reporter who lived in East Africa and Central America for nearly twenty years. Since writing the first edition of this book, she has led the International Ecotourism Society and founded a new center to lead the way to responsible ecotourism. Her experience and her expertise resonate throughout this beautifully written and highly informative book.
Review
"Honey's definition of ecotourism is ambitious."
Review
"Highly acclaimed as the most comprehensive study of both the theory and practice of ecotourism...The new edition...marks a major rewrite of the original book."
Synopsis
Ecotourism and Sustainable Development is the most comprehensive overview of worldwide ecotourism available today, showing how both the concept and the reality have evolved over more than twenty-five years. Here Martha Honey revisits six nations she profiled in the first editionand#8212;the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, and South Africaand#8212;and adds a fascinating new chapter on the United States. She examines the growth of ecotourism within each countryand#8217;s tourism strategy, its political system, and its changing economic policies. Her useful case studies highlight the economic and cultural impacts of expanding tourism on indigenous populations as well as on ecosystems.
About the Author
Martha Honey is codirector of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development and editor of Ecotourism and Certification: Setting Standards in Practice (Island Press, 2002). Previously she worked as a freelance journalist in Latin America and Africa for The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, ABC-TV, and the BBC. She has received numerous awards for her investigative journalism.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
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PART I. What Is Ecotourism?
Chapter 1. In Search of the Golden Toad
Chapter 2. The World Travel Industry: Going "Green"?
Chapter 3. Ecotourism Today
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PART II.and#160;Nation Studies
Chapter 4. The Galapagos Islands: Test Site for Theories of Evolution and Ecotourism
Chapter 5. Costa Rica: On the Beaten Path
Chapter 6. Tanzania: Whose Eden Is It?
Chapter 7.and#160;Ecotourism on a Muslim Island Zanzibarand#160;
Chapter 8. Kenya: The Ups and Downs of Africa's Ecotourism "Mzee"
Chapter 9. South Africa: People and Parks under Majority Rule
Chapter 10. Ecotourism in the United States
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Conclusion: The Road Less Traveled
Notes
Index