This
Fig. 1. Study Area:spatial distribution of natural resources for nature-based tourism.
638 J. Priskin / Tourism Management 22 (2001) 637–648
is a simple and broad definition, including a range of
tourism experiences such as adventure tourism, ecotourism
and aspects of cultural and rural tourism. Several of
these terms appear self-explanatory and not all fall
within a rigid definition of nature-based tourism.
Ecotourism is a subset of nature-based tourism and it
relates to an experience in remote or natural areas that
fosters an understanding and appreciation of the need to
conserve the natural environment in a way that sustains
the resources, culture, the economy and the local
community (Fennel, 1999). However, not all of these
attributes of ecotourism are true of all nature-based
tourism activities. To this date, there is no universally
accepted definition or set of indicators for sustainability
in terms of the tourism industry, which makes ecotourism
a difficult and much debated concept. This may also
explain why increasingly government agencies and
tourism associations in Western Australia view ecotourism
and nature-based tourism synonymously. Inherently,
however, both nature-based tourism and ecotourism
are natural resource dependent.