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Q. Who was, and who was not at the World Ecotourism Summit (WES)? A. More than 130 countries from around the world and over 1100 delegates attended the IYE summit in Quebec City, May 19-22. Those who attended included: over 40 Tourism ministries, Federal, Provincial and Municipal government agents and bodies, Ministries of the Environment, Sport and culture, worldwide tourism and ecotourism consultants, DMO’s, academics, ecolodge operators, conservation organizations, and students attended the world summit. There was, however, little representation from the private sector with only a few tour operators, no travel agents or large hotels, transportation carriers or mainstream tourism players. Q. What were the main questions debated at the WES? A. The IYE summit was held to present the findings and conclusions from conferences held around the world by WTO/UN and The International Ecotourism Society over the past 12 months. Conferences included Brazil, Maldives, Africa, the Arctic, India, Thailand etc.. The main four themes that were debated at the preparatory conferences and also at the summit included: § Ecotourism Policy and Planning: The Sustainability Challenge § Regulation of Ecotourism: Institutional Responsibilities and Frameworks § Product Development, Marketing and Promotion of Ecotourism: Fostering Sustainable Products and Consumers § Monitoring Costs and Benefits of Ecotourism: Ensuring Equitable Distribution Among all Stakeholder The objectives of the conference was to exchange information, open a wide review of the potential contribution of ecotourism to sustainable development, advance the knowledge of economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism, review experiences and lessons learned, and to find ways to encourage a more responsible behavior by all those acting in the field of ecotourism. I believe some of the objectives were obtained and it was a wonderful forum to present and discuss ideas, however, the substantial platform that a wonderful idea will not go anywhere without a fundamental business proposal and funding or that a great product will not be noticed if not marketed seemed to be omitted from many presentations. Q. What were the main answers offered at the end? A. The presentation of an Ecotourism Declaration was the answer to this designated year. The Ecotourism Declaration’s purpose is to bring forth a declaration for the RIO + 10 summit in Johannesburg on Sustainable Development and to present a declaration that governments, industries and NGO’s can move forward with. The declaration was hotly debated and many amendments were added to the preliminary draft including the need for aboriginal or indigenous participation and that the customer (the actual consumer of ecotourism products) needed to be included in the declaration. Q. What next for World Ecotourism? Can the WES lead to international Practical agreements, coordination and implementation of those on the ground, or will it go down in history as an interesting talking shop? A. The conference was great forum for the discussion of ideas and networking. I believe that there was a general realization that ecotourism must be incorporated into the larger picture of sustainable tourism and that many developed nations no longer use the term due to green washing and misunderstandings, therefore sustainable tourism is more widely understood on a global level. Although there was not very much private sector or mainstream tourism representation, there was some great positive movement in terms of government. Many Ministries, including Environmental ministries will consider ecotourism principals and mandates in their future agendas and/or re-evaluate current procedures and considerations. There was also positive collaborations between tourism and conservation agencies understanding that a balance between education, tourism development and conservation is possible and achievable. The key to moving forward is to apply the lessons learned, realize that small businesses, NGO’s and governments need to work together, and understand that tourism is a business and that a return on investment for all stakeholders is needed to define successful ecotourism. Ecotourism principals must be applied to the tourism industry in general for tourism to be more sustainable and to preserve the industry and worldwide hotspots. Q. Critics allege that a World Summit on Ecotourism, with delegates traveling from all over the world by plane is by itself a contradiction in terms. How green was the Summit in your view? A. I believe that Canada had an opportunity to promote itself and its sustainable practices for the world to see and therefore I was very disappointed that a ‘ecotourism’ summit, one of which objectives, was to ‘find ways to encourage a more responsible behavior by all those acting in the field of ecotourism” acted poorly. Small group management is a key of ecotourism – this did not exist. While it is difficult to manage 1100 delegates, it was surprising that the city tour was done on buses of 48 people capacity rather than walking/eco tours. Large multinational hotel chains were promoted as the mainstay rather than offering the option of B&B’s or smaller managed operations. To ‘minimise negative impacts upon the natural and socio-cultural environment is another key principal of ecotourism’. There was no environmental management evident (ie: no recycling capabilities in the conference center, paper doilies on all lunch plates, plastic water containers (very disturbing since Canada is one of the few countries in the world that has potable water). This conference could have been a wonderful showcase to the world that environmental and social tourism management can exist on all levels, including conferences. I hope that the Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg takes the matter more seriously. Q. Is there anything else you would like to add? A. It is exciting to see that there has been an international interest in this form of tourism and I hope that there will be continued capacity building and communication of ecotourism principals. I think that members of this ecotourism community can make positive changes to the ways of the world not only in terms of tourism development but preservation, education and ethics too. Copyright © 1999-2002 ECOCLUB
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Ms.
Rachel Dodds is a freelance
tourism consultant in the field of tourism marketing and eco/sustainable tourism
and has worked on world-wide consulting projects over the past four years. She
graduated with a Master of Tourism Management from Griffith University in
Australia and also holds two degrees from Canadian institutes. Rachel has also
taught part-time in the field of ecotourism/adventure recreation and has
furthered her knowledge of culture, tourism and education through her travels
and now has visited 6 continents and over 48 countries. For the past three
years, Rachel was the Manager of Marketing and Business Development for the
Green Tourism Association in Toronto, Canada. Rachel directed and managed all
communication and promotion of the association and its concepts and developed
partnerships with organizations worldwide. Rachel has co-authored and edited
newsletters and articles about sustainable tourism and urban ecotourism
development and marketing and was also a key player in the research, writing and
editing of the first urban ecotourism guide. Rachel is currently constructing
her website but can be reached at