the framework within a destination area seeking to
promote ecotourism. Of the eight elements that
comprise the ECOS framework, the first four can be
determined from on-site study. The remaining factors,
excluding the last one concerning an appropriate
management regime, require input from ecotourists
themselves, preferably from those visitors
who have experience in the region under consideration.
The eighth element requires dialogue with allthe groups and interests involved, both on an individual
basis and collectively in order to reach areas
of consensus over how ecotourism could be promoted
and who should be responsible for overseeing
the management of ecotourism within the region. To
assist with these tasks, a number of conceptual
frameworks have appeared in the ecotourism literature
in the past few years 5"~2 which have the potential
to be applied to the development of ecotourism.