ECOTOURISM.

✓Ecotourism, in a very broad sense, means venturing into and enjoying nature in such a way as to assure that negative impacts on the cultural and natural environments are minimized and mitigated.

✓It is therefore a responsible tourism to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strive to be low impact and small scale (as an alternative to mass tourism). 

✓ Its purpose are:

1. To educate the traveler.

2. Provide funds for ecological conservation.

3. Directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities.

4. Foster respect for different cultures and for human rights.

✓The concept of ecotourism first came into existence in 1980s and since then it is a worldwide concept that is developing faster.

✓ It has in its ambit the environment, the wildlife and forest reserves other than the social connotations.

✓ Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. 

✓One of the goals of ecotourism is to offer tourists insight into the impact of human

evaluating environmental and cultural factors.

✓ An integral parts of ecotourism are:

1. The promotion of recycling.

2. Energy efficiency.

3. Water conservation.

4. Creation of economic opportunities for local communities.

✓For these reasons, ecotourism often appeals to environmental and social responsibility advocates.

✓Ecotourism must contain three basic elements for it to be complete:

1. It must provide for environmental conservation.

2. It must include meaningful local community participation.

3. It must be viable profitably to enable it to sustain itself.