the positives and negatives of ecotourism

• ecotourism: an environmentally responsible way of travel with the intent of visiting natural areas and wonders

• positive impacts

  • educate tourists about local conservation efforts and research developments in fragile natural areas

  • travelers can acquire firsthand experiences with these places

  • gain knowledge on ecosystems, biology and geology of environments

  • money spent on ecotourism can aid conservation efforts

    • eg. repopulating endangered species, reforestation initiatives

  • many natural sites are located in less-developed countries (eg. Ecuador, Nepal, Madagascar), so tourism helps boost their economies fairly significantly

• negative impacts

  • tourism → development → increased popularity of natural areas as tourist destinations → demand for hotels and other construction in the area → pollution, destruction of the natural environment, and displacement of indigenous peoples

    • this decreases the integrity of local communities and depletes community benefits from the economic gain from ecotourism

    • not all “ecotourist” organizations are actually environmentally friendly

• advantages of ecotourism

  • can educate travelers and provide jobs to local residents, but may negatively impact the environment

  • ecotourism lets countries profit from natural wonders rather than destroying them for land

    • builds economies from the preservation rather than destruction of the environment

  • ensure genuine ecotourist intentions by checking website for waste management, recycling, renewable energy use, and energy efficiency policies

  • economic benefits include increased employment for local population and increased quality of the available jobs

• problems with ecotourism

  • ecotourism can increase appreciation for nature and commitment to conservation while being bad for the people and animals it’s supposed to help

  • the international ecotourism society and international union for conservation of nature have created standards for ecotourism; trips must:

    • visit natural environments

    • do nothing to change or adversely affect these areas

    • provide cultural and economic advantages to local communities

  • greenwashing: the act of businesses advertising themselves as ecotourists when they’re not really environmentally friendly

  • environmental impacts

    • increased popularity of destination → decreased resources → decreased natural attractions

    • can foster exploitation of these areas

central place theory

• helps find the most profitable locations for new stores

• theory developed in the 1930’s by Walter Christaller, elaborated upon further by August Losch and Brian Berry in the 1950’s

• market area of a service

  • central places are located centrally and have many business competing with one another within them

  • this forms a settlement pattern, market areas create nodal regions

  • hexagons are drawn around nodes as a compromise between circles and squares

• range of a service

  • range is the radius of the circle/hexagon drawn to portray the area of a service market

  • people will travel short distances for daily necessities (consumer services) such as grocery stores and pharmacies

  • they will travel longer distances for not strictly necessary services such as concerts, professional sports games, theater performances, etc.

  • people go to the nearest available service

  • irregularly-shaped circles encapsulate all area where one store is closer than all competitors

  • it is also adjusted in relation to time (eg. 1 hour = 60 minutes on a free way but 30 in a city)

• threshold of a service

  • after identifying range,