forms of alternative tourism

• Alternative Tourism


  A combination of tourist products or individual tourist services that involves uncrowded locations and non-peak holiday seasons, characterized by individual activities and tourists' desire to experience local culture and environment
• Alternative Tourism


  • Focuses on the establishment of a cordial rapport between visitors and the local hosts
  • Tourists normally avoid the services used by tourists such as accommodation, transport, and other services, and prefer to use or share the services of the local people
  • Their main motive is to experience and get an insight into the local way of living
• Pillars of Sustainability


  • Environmentally: The activity minimizes any damage to the environment and provides a benefit to the environment through protection and conservation
  • Socially and culturally: The activity does not harm, and may revitalize, the social structure or culture of the community where it is located
  • Economically: The activity can sustain itself economically; it continues to contribute to the economic well being of the local community through local ownership, employment, buying local etc.
• Principal Components of Sustainable Tourism

  • Tourism in the natural environment
  • Eco-tourism
  • Nature tourism
  • Heritage tourism
  • Cultural tourism
  • Rural tourism
  • Agritourism/farm tourism
  • Community Tourism
  • Urban Tourism
  • Geotourism
  • Adventure Tourism
• Geotourism


  Tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place - its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents
• Eco-tourism


  A type of tourism that appeals to the ecologically and socially conscious individuals, involving purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of the environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people
• Conceptual models of ecotourism

  • Natural Based
  • Ecologically Sustainable
  • Where education and interpretation is a major component and where local people are benefited
• If ecotourism does not satisfy any of the above components, then it cannot be called a real ecotourism venture
• Eco-tourism or nature tourism has been around for a long time, and tourists and tourism destination managers must subscribe to the need to preserve the area/destination
• Eco-tourism must include elements that contribute to the management of natural resources
• History has shown that tourists and the environment are not compatible, as visitors make special demands for preservation
• Sensitivity to the environment is rapidly becoming a major component of international tourism marketing strategies
• The important message is that the environment must be nurtured, managed, and promoted in ways that future generations can enjoy
• Tourists are demanding products with strong environmental content
• Eco-tourism - Challenges


  • Differences in terminology and meanings
  • Reported/recorded data, trends, unplanned/unmanaged tourism
  • Differences in/and among stakeholders based on what is understood
  • To protect the environment and habitat to ensure survival
  • Sustainable tourism requires properly trained professionals and intelligent tour guides
• Eco-tourism - Solutions


  • Curtail expansive tourist/visitor resorts
  • Use technology to develop resorts' compatibility with the environment
  • Encourage collaboration between and among tourism policy makers and planners
  • Make sure technology is properly used
  • Maintain and retain customer loyalty through better understanding with employees
  • Implement essential steps to develop sustainable tourism
  • Develop a quality tourism product
  • Get endorsement and support from the community
  • Develop effective marketing strategies
  • Review ASTA's Ten Commandments of Eco-Tourism
  • Form partnerships with local entities and heed environmental protection policies to create and market quality tourism products
• Key to sustaining tourism opportunities for future generations is good resources and people management, to protect the environment and manage sustainable tourism
• The need is to teach people to protect the environment, and it is about changing the mindset
• For a successful eco-tourism project, positive impacts must outweigh the negative impacts
• There is the need to use training and technical assistance to improve needed skills
• Rural Tourism


  Tourism that showcases the rural life, art culture and heritage at rural location, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and locals for a more enriching tourism
• Community Tourism


  Tourism that takes place in the countryside
• need to become a habit
• Eco-tourism


  Finding a way that tourists and communities alike can enjoy quality nature-based tourism
• Rural Tourism


  An activity which takes place in the countryside
• Factors driving ecotourism


  • The stresses of Urban lifestyles have led to a 'counter-urbanization' syndrome
  • Increasing levels of awareness
  • Growing interest in heritage and culture and improved accessibility
  • Environmental consciousness
• Characteristic of Rural Tourism
• Experiential travel is a form of tourism in which people focus on experiencing a country, city or particular place by connecting to its history, people and culture
• President and Founder of the New York-based Green Team Global Inc., Hugh Hough, "community-based tourism offers significant benefits for Jamaica"
• Rural tourism vs. Community tourism

  • Rural travel destinations offer the most diversity in terms of beauty, experience, culture, and heritage
  • Rural areas offer great opportunities for heritage tourism, eco-tourism, and agritourism
• Rural tourism vs. Community tourism

  • The visitor wants the natural and built environment plus, historic buildings, local culture, heritage and ecotourism sites
  • Rural areas have resources, attractions, activity, event, special interest or adventure opportunity to motivate the visitor/traveller
  • Conducive to some types of tourism, International visitors want to see the "real" country
• Developing an economy around tourism can bring

  • Many benefits to the community
  • Cost and associated liabilities
  • Residents must determine if benefits are worth the costs involved
  • A careful study of community interest must be determined prior to development
• Rural tourism vs. Community tourism


  • Many rural areas lack the needed human, financial, and technical resources to establish a S/T industry that is acceptable to residents, business people, and visitors
  • Rural areas need to carefully plan and implement programmes that will appeal to the special interests and demands of the visitor
• Rural tourism vs. Community tourism: Solutions

  • Rural tourism must be designed and developed in a sustainable way to ensure continuing high-quality visitor experience
  • Recognise need to be innovative and creative in development of rural tourism
  • Take advantage of agricultural heritage agritourism, Farm-based – working plantation tours
• Rural tourism vs. Community tourism (Solutions)

  • Respond to the demands of visitors' interests
  • Find better ways of marketing the products locally and internationally
  • Understand the range of potential visitors and develop strong visitor profiles
  • Capitalize on new technological advances in e-commerce
  • Use effective database marketing for segmentation
• The KEY: Maintain a S/T destination

  • Ensure that it adds to the quality of life of the local residents
  • The community must conduct economic, environmental, and social impact studies throughout the process
• Characteristics of Community Tourism
• Possibilities for different and new levels of relationships between visitors and residents


  • Visitor appeal
  • Natural attractions and activities
  • Makes allowance for time and space for the inter-mixture of cultures
  • Gives tourists opportunities to have authentic experiences
  • Potential for empowerment
• product should be developed or marketed without the involvement and support of the local residents!
• To get a good chance of success