COne of the main goals of ecotourism is to increase the awareness tourists have about the social conditions surrounding a travel destination. Such conditions as poverty are often hidden from tourists. Ecotourism aims to expose tourists to the realities of social and economic climates in an area. For example, rather than visiting a nature preserve in Africa without receiving any information on the lives of local people surrounding and working to protect the preserve, ecotourism educates travelers on the interdependent relationship between conservation, sustainability and the real life of local communities. The International Ecotourism Society describes one of the main principles of ecotourism as building cultural awareness and respect for local people and customs (see References 1).