Editor: David Fennell (Brock University)
Reviews Editor David Weaver (University of South California, USA)
|
Volume: 2 Number: 1 Page: 17–32
|
|
|
|
|
Defining Ecotourism in New Zealand: Differentiating Between the Defining Parameters within a National/Regional Context
|
|
James Higham and Anna Carr
|
|
The merits of different definitions of ecotourism and, indeed, the need to actually define ecotourism, have been widely debated (Fennell, 1999; 2001). From this debate emerges the requirement that definitions
account for the differing environmental, social, economic, and cultural contexts of ecotourism, and diverse political contexts established through relevant national/local government policy. This paper critically
considers the relevance of different definitions drawn from the international literature on ecotourism against the context for ecotourism in New Zealand. Eighteen criteria most commonly used for defining
ecotourism are identified and then assessed. These criteria are organised into three categories reflecting that, while some apply widely others demonstrate varying degrees of relevance to ecotourism in
New Zealand. This exercise confirms the importance of weighting and in some cases rejecting defining parameters of ecotourism, as determined by the national or regional context within which ecotourism takes
place.
© Multilingual Matters 2003
Full text PDF
|
