Introductory Chapter
1.1 Motivation
Ecotourism is still a new way of tourism and its concept continues to be something that is implemented in many countries. Slovakia should have been one of the leading tourism destinations in Europe with its natural and cultural richness. During socialism, when Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia, it was the most visited region from all Eastern bloc ‘countries. After fall of regime, Slovakia found itself among the countries which were mostly visited by western tourists, who wanted to see the look of the country which was domination of communists before. Nowadays, Slovakian tourism in general is one of the fastest growing industries in Slovakian economy. “Several types of holiday are now popular in Slovakia. The main direction is the ski resort, what attract an increasing number of tourists, not only from Eastern Europe but also from Britain and neighbouring Austria. On the second place by popularity is wellness tourism. The spa resorts are well known for its healing water and clean air,” according to slowakei-netz.de website. There are “eco” places and programs, and even though they are not built or kept as ecotourism places, they fulfil the criteria of theory of ecotourism. My motivation came from finding not a lot of information about ecotourism in Slovakia generally. The promotion is low and I desire to find out the problem of current promoting situation of ecotourism in SVK. By my research I would like to find out who are the stakeholders involved in ecotourism, how high is the level of their interest and what they could do better to support this new country in ecotourism. This topic is also important for environment, because as describing of ecotourism is defined as "its responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." , Slovakia should have promoted more ecotourism and save its nature for future. I cannot forget what fact affected me to research...