ABSTRACT
This chapter describes opportunities for rural communities to generate a more consistent income, without destroying their natural resources, thereby ensuring their children and grandchildren will also be able to provide for themselves. Tourism is the form of income generation that has the potential to provide multilevel wealth generation, as locals can offer accommodation, run restaurants, work as tour guides, sell souvenirs and handicrafts, to name but a few of the associated businesses that can be generated by tourism. Transport and energy generation will be the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for most tourism ventures and efforts must be made to reduce GHG emissions from both of them. The chapter explores examples of ecotourism are discussed in more detail, including ways it can be implemented to promote more sustainable development of rural communities. It discusses innovative models for finance provision.
