Acott et al. (1998: 240) argue that for eco-tourists to the project, ‘travel can
mean a lot more than a leisure activity. It might form part of a broader philosophical reflection relating to the self and nature. It might involve trying to find
answers to many of the problems experienced when living in a westernised,
industrialised country’. Such sentiments are typical. Perhaps the desire to
promote ‘sustainable’ livelihoods in poor rural India tells us more about the deep
disillusionment with modernity evident amongst ecotourism’s advocates, and
evident in these authors’ introspective rationale for ‘ethical’ travel, than it does
about the potential to improve the lives of people in the third world