Ecotourism in Scandinavia lessons in theory and practice

Ecotourism has lately been conceptualized as tourism that is environmentally and socially benign, contributing both to local economies and the conservation of protected areas, while educating the traveller about local nature and culture (e.g. Fennell, 1999; Honey, 1999; Weaver, 2002; Cater, 2004). Definitions such as the one used by the International Ecotourism Society – ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people’ – are commonly found in the literature with some variation, i.e. regarding the educational element or the motivation of ecotourists (Fennell, 1999; Weaver, 2002), leading to distinctions of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ (Weaver and Lawton, 2002) or ‘minimalist’
and ‘comprehensive’ (Weaver, 2005a) ideal forms of ecotourism. Consequently, ecotourists are understood as people with a profound interest in nature-based forms of tourism (see also Wurzinger, Chapter 11, this
volume), and ecotourism has been advertized as a sustainable, ‘positive’ form of tourism (i.e. UN General Assembly, 2003).

Từ khóa: Ecotourism in Scandinavia lessons in theory and practice, du lịch sinh thái, du lịch xanh, du lịch bền vững, natural settings, kinh tế du lịch