Abstract
Ecotourism is a rapidly growing industry especially for Central American and African nations
with an abundance of natural beauty. Ecotourism encompasses a form of tourism that is drawn by
ecological attractions and implemented in an ecologically/culturally friendly and sustainable manner. The
governance of ecotourism can take many different forms; centralized, conducted at the national centralized
agency, or decentralized, run by local agencies acting autonomously. Governance can be highly regulatory
or it can be laissez faire. Ideally, governance structures should take a particular form based on the level of
heterogeneity of desired public goods, levels of externalities, and the relative presence of economies of
scale in the regions developing ecotourism. We have identified and focused our attention on a unique
situation where ecotourism can be observed in the local, decentralized context as well as the broader
centralized context. The Comarca de Kuna Yala is an autonomous region of Panama, home to the Kuna
Indians, which has been aggressively pursuing the development of ecotourism where they enjoy complete
control of regulation and development of the industry as well as sole rights to the revenues. The centralized
governing of the rapid development of ecotourism around the Canal Zone in Panama proper provides us
with a terrific opportunity to compare and contrast the short comings and strengths of each respective
governance structure. We plan to examine the effectiveness of their respective ecotourism governance
structures at providing for economic, social and political growth as well as their effectiveness at providing
the needed environmental protection to maintain a sustainable ecotourism industry. It is pointless to have
economic growth without environmental sustainability and vice versa. We hope to come to a conclusion
about what forms of governance structures are most effective at promoting sustainable ecotourism
development and empowering local populations.