Ecotourism in Vietnam

There are many critics of ecotourism, who see it as a form of environmental ..... that allows continued exploitation of natural environments by mass tourism: mass tourism cloaked in a green name.

Ecotourism is certainly a buzzword, and is becoming as ..... as the word natural' on the supermarket shelf.

Here is another definition of ecotourism: A form of tourism inspired primarily by the natural history of an area, including its ..... cultures.

The ecotourist practices a non-consumptive use of wildlife and natural resources and contributes to the visited area through labour or financial means aimed at directly benefiting the conservation of the site and the economic ..... of the local residents.

The visit should strengthen the ecotourist's appreciation and dedication to conservation issues in general, and to the specific needs of the ......

Ecotourism also implies a managed approach by the host country or region which commits itself to establishing and maintaining the sites with the participation of local residents and using the ..... of the enterprise to fund the area's land management and community development.

Further, it is important to emphasise that ecotourism does not equal nature tourism; rather it is a distinct ..... of the more general nature tourism sector.

One of the reasons for continued debate on the merits of ecotourism to achieve sustainable development is that there is no blueprint for successful ecotourism development in all of its ......

Sites and potential projects need to be considered on a case by case basis, as many local factors - environmental, human, political, economic, social, cultural etc - will work for the benefit of, or to the ..... of, an ecotourism project.

A big difficulty for countries like Vietnam is the idea that in order to achieve a sustainable ecotourism, planners and policy makers must impose limits, and in a country with a huge domestic population, the concept of limiting numbers appears almost ..... and is certainly controversial.