It is somewhat ironic that tourism

It is somewhat ironic that tourism should be seen as having the potential to
combine development with conservation, given the popular caricature of mass
tourism as the destroyer of once quaint fishing villages and proud cultures.
Prominent advocate of ecotourism Harold Goodwin resolves the issue in a paper
titled ‘Tourism and Natural Heritage: a Symbiotic Relationship’ (Goodwin,
2000). Goodwin argues against the view that tourism, like any other industry, is
necessarily in conflict with the natural environment. Rather, he argues, it has a
special role to play in development. Ecotourism, depending as it does on a desire
to experience areas of perceived natural beauty and distinction, can provide
funds to manage and maintain conservation areas. Revenues can also serve the
function of encouraging local communities to cooperate in conservation. This
outlook may be especially apt given the growth of the ecotourism market in the
developed world, where a desire to be ‘ethical’ through experiencing a closer