The concept of ecotourism was coined in 1983 by Mexican Hector Ceballos Lascurain. He went on to define it as “Responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas that contributes to the wellbeing of local people and conserves natural resources”. After the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report on Our Common Future, a report that was the forerunner of the 1992 United Nations Convention on Environment and Development, Ceballos tweaked his ecotourism definition to run thus “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed and uncontaminated natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature and any accompanying cultural features both past and present”. This his 1993 definition was subsequently adopted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) three years later. This definition has been adopted by many international institutions, governments, the academia and other international organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme. The Australian National Ecotourism defines ecotourism as “ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation”. Still, The International Ecotourism Society-the oldest (founded in 1990) and one of the most authoritative global organizations that lives and breathes ecotourism has defined the concept as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the wellbeing of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.” TIES for its abbreviation has almost 500 member organizations, with over 1150 professionals in 135 countries across the globe. It is evident that some common threads or characteristics run through each of these definitions. These include visits to natural areas, enjoy and appreciate nature intrinsically, respect the culture of local or indigenous people, contribute to their economic wellbeing and leave only footprints. Take away memories after having immersed in, experienced and cherished new worlds at new destinations. Put differently, ecotourism is nature based, nature- oriented environmentally conscious, culturally sensitive visits that protect and safeguard all these resources while creating jobs and alleviating poverty thus reducing underdevelopment by enhancing livelihoods of millions. If the nourishing resources that underpin the growth and development of this very important global industry is not well planned, sustainably managed, monitored and evaluated periodically, it would self-destruct.
How Ecotourism Can Help Alleviate Poverty
The current international Economic system is stacked against most African countries by design. The goal has always been to keep Africa as the producers and exporters of raw materials to feed the industries of the West, more specifically Europe. For well over sixty years, African nation states have perpetually found themselves at the shorter end of the international economic spectrum. They have been deliberately made to be consumers of the finished products of their exported raw materials and prevented from undertaking value added measures through transformation of their raw materials on the continent. Even though some countries are beginning to transform some of their raw materials into finished or semi-finished products, most of the countries still have a long way to go in this direction. Given the obstacles still being faced with these efforts especially being put up by European nations, we believe that sustainable tourism industry would be immune to and circumvent these impediments. Since tourism, especially ecotourism is a non-consumptive industry, African states could easily bring in needed foreign exchange revenue to create the crucial capital base that would fund other key sectors like modernized agriculture, science & technology, industrial development. Greater funding would be available as a result for R & D to further accelerate value addition of currently exported commodities thus creating jobs in other sectors, alleviating poverty and raising living standards of hundreds of millions of Africans across the continent. The largely non consumptive nature of ecotourism means that inbound tourists would purchase and “consume” over and over the same products and leave revenue in the destination countries even a hundred times over without carting or shipping any ecotourism products away. In macro-economic terms, the ecotourism products like gorillas in the natural habitat, lions, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, crocodiles, Zebras, elephants and other fauna constitute exports to destination countries while representing imports to the outbound tourist countries. Other “consumable” products could also include iconic and historic places like the Slave doors of NO Return in Ghana and Senegal and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. All the above listed products are ecotourism proper and their longevity and value retention to enable continuously attracting tourists would depend on the sustainable planning and management by those in charge at the destination countries. Ecotourism remains the only subsector where the best examples of the tourism industry displaying its unique forward and backward linkages can be seen. Even though a tiny fraction of ecotourism may be consumptive such as legalized and controlled hunting and fishing which takes place principally to maintain
ecosystem equilibrium, most of ecotourism is non consumptive. A mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park in Rwanda or any other park or reserve can live for a decade plus while bringing in tourist revenue through park entrance fees by the thousands of visitors that fly in to see, appreciate and photograph him or her. The secret to these products ensuring revenue flow is sustainable management. In ecotourism, international trade’s comparative advantage is to the destination countries. In normal international trade, the buyer purchases rubber, copper,
gold, manganese, coltan, tea, coffee or any set of commodities for cheap and ships away to transform and export back finished products four times the price of original purchase. Any wonder then why Africa’s trade with the industrialized countries is always to her disadvantage? That is why we strongly believe that the sustainable development and management of the Travel & Tourism industry using ecotourism is the panacea to help Africa leapfrog to catch up with today’s developed nations. These measures would lift hundreds of millions out of
poverty, raise the human development index and contribute to a higher human happiness index across Africa. The post- pandemic early figures of international arrivals indicate a growing number of tourists being nature oriented. If this trend continuous, we should
expect and be ready for greener economies going forward. Data for the first quarter of 2022 indicate only 44% of international tourists are going to the cities, beaches and five start hotels and lodging. The new segment of tourists – the Digital Nomads are not city bound tourists and prefer experiential visits in nature, ecolodges, eco hotels, community with their peers and immersion in local cultures. They are increasingly selecting destinations that practice the ESG principles of inclusion, respect of indigenous people and a desire to see these locals have their fair share of the ecotourism revenue inflow. They are more financially well off and stay longer at destinations. They also are more physically fit and prefer more outdoor activities. They are principally the products of the pandemic- remote workers armed with only their laptops requiring only reliable power supply and strong internet connectivity. With this new segment of tourists, the ecotourism subsector is poised to grow bigger. They are encouraging the shift to greener economies to save planet earth while creating more economic opportunities at destinations.
It is our firm conviction that even tough the ecotourism subsector which currently generates some $77 Billion in revenue but growing at 14.3%, by 2027, it is projected to fetch between $200 Billion to $ 334 Billion worldwide. This is more than impressive and lends credence to our belief that African Union member states should take this subsector of the tourism industry very seriously and invest the modest amounts required to generate huge foreign exchange revenue for the continent. As the Africa Free Trade Area takes shape and borders increasingly
come down, we can expect intra- African boost in travel and tourism with all the attendant benefits therefrom.
