According to Krippendorf7 the philosophy behind alternative tourism - forms of tourism that advocate an approach opposite to mass conventional tourism - was to ensure that tourism policies should no longer concentrate on economic and technical necessities alone, but rather emphasise the demand for an unspoiled environment and consideration of the needs of local people. This 'softer' approach places the natural and cultural resources at the forefront of planning and development, instead of as an afterthought. Also, as an inherent function, alternative forms of tourism provide the means for countries to eliminate outside influences, and to sanction projects themselves and to participate in their development - in essence, to win back the decisionmaking power in essential matters rather than conceding to outside people and institutions. Alternative tourism is a generic term that encompasses a whole range of tourism strategies (e.g. 'appropriate', 'eco-', 'soft', 'responsible', 'people to people', 'controlled', 'small-scale', 'cottage', and 'green' tourism), all of which attempted to transpose the concept of alternative development - an endogenous development process based upon the satisfaction of basic needs, self-reliance and environmental harmony - onto tourism. Thus, the concept of alternative tourism proposes, in direct contrast to mass, Fordist-type tourism production, locally controlled, appropriate small-scale developments with the community as the primary instigators and beneficiaries of tourism.
Here it should be noted that the concepts of eco-tourism, green tourism and soft tourism are used to signify environmentally friendly tourism but have different focuses and meanings.
Cox suggests that the positive features of alternative tourism typically include:8
1 . Development within each locality of a special sense of place, reflected in architectural character and development style, sensitive to its unique heritage and environment.
2. Preservation, protection and enhancement of the quality of resources, which are the basis of tourism.
3. Fostering development of additional visitor attractions with roots in their own locale and developed in ways which complement local attributes.
4. Development of visitor services which enhance the local heritage and environment.
5. Endorsement of growth when and where it improves things, not where it is destructive, or exceeds the carrying capacity of the natural environment or the limits of the social environment, beyond which the quality of community life is adversely affected.