Environmental concerns and a desire for more nature based tourism experiences
(Budowski 1976; Diamantis 1991; Weaver 2001; Fennell 2003) were the impetus for the
evolution during the last three decades of ecotourism as the fastest growing sector of the
world‘s largest industry (Fennell 2003). On the basis that individuals who are requiring
experiences of an ecotourism nature can be grouped due to their distinct needs, characteristics
and behavior, and respond in a similar way to marketing stimuli, it has been argued that
ecotourism can be regarded as a distinct segment of the tourism market or else a diversified
product of the tourism industry (Mattheus 1993; Blamey 1997; Burton 1998).