Against the current: Striving for ethical ecotourism

Ironically, nature as the main component of ecotourism, its reliance and benefits, is often compromised. The richest and most sensitive pristine areas are generally located in distantand difficult to reach world regions in the developing countries, and so by presenting an element of adventure and uniqueness they attract foreign tourists by default (West and Carrier, 2004). Air flights from the Northern to Southern Hemisphere where most of these hot spots are located, have a tremendous impact on the natural integrity of the area in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet the ecological footprint of energy for infrastructure construction is not considered in ecotourism planning (Gössling et al., 2002). It is a paradox that ecotourism projects which were originally created to protect natural and cultural resources are now contributing (among other factors) to global warming. By introducing unprecedented numbers of people and alien substances to the most delicate and remote areas of the planet, ecotourism has the potential to cause the destruction of what it was intended to protect.