Ecotourism has been the travel buzz word for many years. Ecotourism (also known as ecological tourism) is travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and (often) small scale.Since the publication of her excellent book "Ecotourism and Sustainable Development" Martha Honey's definition is quickly becoming the standard. Most serious studies of ecotourism including several University programs now use this as the working definition.(the following links help further define ecotourism) http://www.untamedpath.com/Ecotourism/defining.html#definingtop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotourism#cite_note-1
Agritourism, the next tourism buzz, (although pick-your-own fruits and vegetables has been around since the 60's), includes any farm open to the public at least part of the year. Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, ride horses, taste honey, learn about wine or coffee, shop in farm gift shops and farm stands for local and regional produce or hand-crafted gifts. Other terms associated with agritourism are "farm direct marketing", "sustainable agriculture" and "agritainment". (Taken from Wikipedia definition of agritourism) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agritourism
Now we have Geotourism as defined by National Geographic; National Geographic defines geotourism as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents.” The DubaiChronicle (http://www.dubaichronicle.com/business/hospitality/intercontinental-hotels-resorts-and-national-geographic-extend-partnership-to-include-global-geotourism-initiatives-12582 recently announced a partnership between National Geographic, using their definition of geotourism, and the InterContinental Hotel Chain around the world. Jonathan Tourtellot, Director of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD) and creator of the geotourism concept, said: “CSD is dedicated to protecting the world’s distinctive places through wisely managed tourism and enlightened destination stewardship. We work closely with many allied organizations to develop and disseminate information on how tourism businesses, destination communities and travellers can help protect the character of these great places — their culture, natural habitats, architecture, scenery, even local cuisine. We look forward to working with InterContinental to create actionable tools that do that — locally, regionally and globally.” There are two InterContinental Hotels in Panama that will be part of this initiative to perserve and raise awareness of the Panamanian heritage and history. http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/intercontinental-hotel-directory
(Photo Jonathan Tourtellot-National Geographic) http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/gallery/geotourism_community-benefit-csd.html
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