Fortunately, the above observation, while clearly correct, is, in
most circumstances, a red herring (which is not an endangered
species!). There are several reasons for this. One is that in most
ecotourism situations, the decision to proceed or desist is not made
on the basis of a global evaluation of benefits and costs. Rather, it is
more likely to be a reflection of access to power, authority, resources
and information. Even if it were possible to aggregate the information
to arrive at a single measure, such a measure would not be
helpful in informing most ecotourism decisions which, as suggested
above, involve compromise and trade-offs. To make such decisions,
disaggregated information is required. Managers need to know
whether the populations of particular species are changing, whether
occupancy rates in accommodation for visitors are rising or falling,
whether local residents are supportive of the directions which management
is taking, and whether tourists are having a good time, as
well as many other things, if they are to make wise decisions. Only
with such information can the trade-offs and compromises required
of decision-makers be made in an informed manner.