Protect the Destination

• Small-scale local hotels and lodges are one of ecotourism's attractions.Small polish hotel image by valker from Fotolia.com
  
  In ecotourism, the destination is the "product" that the ecotourist "buys." For sustainability, the product should remain as inviting to the last ecotourist as to the first. Small-scale development of ecolodges or hotels aid in limiting the number of tourists to the actual carrying capacity of the region. Well-run ecotourism operations train and educate local people to work as guides in more remote locations, observe the vegetation and wildlife carefully without damaging either, and provide educational information on local environment and culture.
  
  

Conserve Resources

• Observing wildlife -- as opposed to hunting it -- is a preservation-based use of natural resourcesred necked wallaby image by Vera Kailova from Fotolia.com
  
  While "green washing"-- marketing of an ecotour that does not protect and conserve the local region -- is a constant danger, careful and thoughtful ecotourism encourages low to no consumption of natural resources; it also emphasizes observation and educational modes of interacting with the local people, environment and wildlife. Every effort must be made to conserve and protect the region. Fees to enter protected areas can be charged and the funds funneled into conservation projects. Donations to conservation efforts are encouraged.
  
  

Respect Local Culture

• Local or indigenous people's support and participation is essential to ecotourism.Reed Dance in Swaziland - tribal chiefs image by Elzbieta Sekowska from Fotolia.com
  
  For local peoples to support ecotourism in their area, they must become stakeholders in the tourism project and must benefit from it, economically and culturally. Beneficial and sustainable ecotourism enhances the well-being of the region's people by including them in the overall educational experience of ecotourism. Local people teach visitors the history, culture and traditional skills and activities of the area, providing the ecotourist with an authentic experience of the culture.
  
  

Economic Balance

• While ecotourism can bring many economic benefits to an environmentally pristine area, it is necessary to keep the economy local. Huge thousand-room hotels detract from true enjoyment of the environment and from the local focus of the region, enhancing instead the profits of mostly foreign-owned and operated capital developers. To be truly sustainable, economic benefits should accrue to small local businesses run by local people who have more of a feel for the local character and culture of the place. Keeping this balance is one of the essential tasks of sustainable, well-run ecotourism.