Abstract:
Summary
Tourism, one of the world’s largest industries, is a frequently cited tool of development for developing economies. Economic benefits to destination countries however often turn out to be below expectations due to structural deficiencies such as poor planning, profit leakage and foreign ownership. Ecotourism, the fastest growing sector of tourism, is a form of tourism that addresses some of the adverse outcomes of conventional tourism. Ecotourism strives to benefit the local economy and the host communities and minimizes detrimental impacts on the local culture and environment. The concept of ecotourism further assumes that support for tourism and conservation is high among communities that benefit from tourism. The goals of the present study correspond with these principles. On the one hand, the present study aims at assessing the socio-economic impact of ecotourism on the regional economy and on local communities and livelihoods. On the other hand, conservation attitudes among stakeholders are investigated to discover potential conflicts of stakes. A combination of these two areas of investigation can provide evidence on the hypothesis between benefits from tourism and conservation support.
