ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the evolution of the paradigm of sustainable development; its ambiguities and varying interpretations; and how it has manifested itself within the tourism system. There is a subsequent need for sustainable tourism policies to be integrated within an overall sustainable development framework of economic, social and environmental policy considerations. An alternative approach to understanding the ecotourism market is to ask why people choose to consider themselves as ecotourists. The dangers of ecotourism are elaborated by Shackley who suggests that the introduction of visitors into ecosystems that we barely understand can instigate long-term changes that are difficult to predict and control. One such scheme is the National Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP), an industry initiative of the Ecotourism of Australia, which accredits products of program participants according to criteria of natural area focus, interpretation, and ecological sustainability, contributions to conservation, work with local communities, client satisfaction and responsible marketing.
