What Does The Term Eco Tourism Mean And How Does It Differ From Ordinary Tourism?

The difference between Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism lies in the definition of the two words. Ecotourism is a word first used by Hector Caballos-Lascurian in 1983. It is  a descriptive word for travel into undisturbed or uncontaminated areas, for the purpose of study, or to explore the beauty of wild plants, animals and foliage within these unexplored areas. A second goal of ecotourism is to seek out unique culture existent within undisturbed regions.

Sustainable Tourism can be defined as meeting the needs of the tourists, while preserving and protecting the present eco system. In other words it is managing the resources of an area to benefit the economic, social and aesthetic needs of tourist. Sustainable tourism seeks to maintain the cultural integrity of a region, support the existing eco-systems essential to the region and to preserve its biological diversity as well as its life support systems.