ABSTRACT
Ecotourism is often considered one of the fastest growing segments of the global tourism market. Consequently, over the past several decades it has been enthusiastically promoted worldwide as a key component of sustainable development and environmental conservation. Yet in actual practice ecotourism has proven much more difficult to develop effectively than early proponents hoped. This has caused some to become disillusioned with the concept and to argue for discarding it altogether, while others insist instead on the need to work harder to make sure that only operations that meet the standards of sound ecotourism are able to claim the label.
