With the development of the travel industry, a new kind of tourism which is called ecotourism has been established. Bu  does ecotourism actually protect the environment or not? It has a roused a lot of controversy. Some people think it is useful, while some people regard it as a strategy of the tour companies. In my opinion, the ecotourism brings more disadvantages to the environment.

 First of all, the goals of the ecotourism are much very positive. According to the dictionary, ecotourism is a form a form of tourism that appeals to ecologically and socially conscious individuals. However, the actual consequences are not as perfect as the definition of ecotourism describes. According to the author Leroy C. Calstard, the fact that " less effective ecotourism most likely does not rival the damages from mass/recreational tourism, there are some less-than-stellar results to report" cannot be overlooked. For instance, the emissions from automobiles for the ecotourism could bring much pollution to the local environment. And the emissions could probably cause irreversible damage to the wild environment. Besides, the author also asserts that some people who don't respect the environment may do whatever they want and ignore the evironment. For example, they may feel "it is their 'right' to bring home a natural souvenir from their holiday excursion".These behaviours could also disturb the wild habitats' living.

 Another fundamental problem with the ecotourism is that many companies and organizations just use the definition of ecotourism as a marketing strategy to attract the customers. The article "How To Find And Sell To Your Target Market" by Marilyn Guille describes how to attract costumers by the definition of ecotourism. She gives us the example of her own ecotourism company. She has a tourism company and uses her own experience to describe the strategies which they use to attract people. Ecotourism is included in these strategies. From her description, we can find the companies only care about the benefit from the ecotourism and they ignore to teach the costumer how to follow the definition of ecotourism. I can say without a doubt that  these companies also could ignore the damage that the costumers bring to the environment for their own profits. Therefore, I think the ecotourism is just a strategy.

 In sum, it can be concluded that although the definition of the ecotourism is good, it is hard to execute. It should be regarded as a marketing strategy.

Resources:

1.http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Travel-and-Leisure

Ecotourism Packages Can Have a Negative Impact

by Leroy C.Calstard

2.http://www.about.com

How To Find And Sell To Your Target Market

by Marilyn Guille