The following is the 42nd in a series of articles focusing on the Korean government`s "green growth" strategy. The series will also introduce the increasing efforts of major advanced countries of the world to promote a green economy. - Ed.





The latest data provided by the International Ecotourism Society shows that the share occupied by ecotourism within the global tourism market has been expanding by anywhere from 20 to 34 percent each year since 1990.



In 2004, the global ecotourism and nature tourism market grew three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole. Sun-and-sand resort tourism has now matured as a market and its growth is projected to remain flat.

By contrast, "experiential" tourism - ecotourism, nature, heritage, cultural and soft adventure tourism, plus sub-sectors like rural and community tourism - is one of the sectors expected to grow most quickly over the next two decades. By 2012, these tourism types could make up 25 percent of the world`s travel market, bringing the value of the sector to about $500 billion a year.

The term "ecological tourism" emerged in 1965. Later, Hector Ceballos-Lascurain introduced "ecotourism" as a formal term which continues to be used to this day.

Differing viewpoints, however, exist over its definition. A reasonable description may be the one offered by the International Ecotourism Society. It defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

Ecotourism involves economic development based on regional economic activities, while promoting the value and necessity of environmental conservation and guaranteeing the participation of the regional society. Ideally, this industry should have a holistic goal, embodying social, economic and environmental objectives and take on a supply-oriented role rather than a demand-oriented one.

It is also necessary to classify nature tourism and ecotourism separately. Hard-core ecotourism, introduced as an alternative to nature tourism, is based on nature viewed as a cultural resource. It has the restrictions of constituting fewer than 20 members accompanied by on-site education and an interpreter.

Unlike the passive participation style of nature tourism, true ecotourism requires participation that raises environmental awareness due to its more experience-oriented characteristics, rather than simply focusing on scenery.

Therefore, it would not be correct to view ecotourism as going on a trip to a location with beautiful natural scenery without thorough preparation.

There has been some criticism, though. If the principles of ecotourism are applied to a large market, as opposed to a smaller elite market, there is the view that better effects could be garnered by protecting the environment only when they are applied to the elite market. There is also criticism that a small number of tour organizers are abusing the term as a marketing tool.

Existence of many similar expressions - adventure tourism, soft tourism, green tourism and nature tourism - could also stir confusion. Regardless of the form, demand could be raised by exposing pristine, non-polluted regions to the masses.

These regions may attract tourists, but there are many cases where tourism ends up damaging the environment and defeating the whole purpose of ecotourism.

The conventional form of travel may take various forms, but it has the tendency to justify the degradation of the ecosystem. There is also the criticism that ecotourism is a way of covering up for environmental damage.

It could in fact be admitted that celebrated ecotourist sites, such as those designated as World Natural Heritage sites, have undergone more harm after becoming famous, even though the purpose of singling them out was to preserve them as natural treasures.

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Aware of such challenges, the Australian government in 1994 established the National Ecotourism Development Strategy, creating a $1 billion industry. Its total number of ecotourism businesses is estimated to have reached 5,000.

New Zealand is another country garnering praise for preserving its environment while invigorating regional economies. They did so through strict management that entails limiting the number of participants in its ecotourism sector from five to 40. Participation is also only allowed through a pre-reservation basis.

Starting 10 years ago, Korea has sought to adopt diverse forms of ecotourism, which may be applicable to national parks, wetlands and the tidal flats along the east coast.

This time period could be seen as the establishment period of the concept of region-based ecotourism, which reflected the demands of the citizens. Some examples could be the Asiatic Black Bear observation program launched by the National Park, the Suncheon Bay tidal flat tourism program and the Woopo wetlands program.

But because the government`s view of environmental-related resources is regulation-oriented, there is a wide gap when it comes to the aims of developing the economic value of competitive environmental resources.

An inevitable result has been the weak development of the content and programs for top-grade environmental resources with commercial potential, plus the management of human resources. In addition, ecotourism-related plans are sporadic and inconsistent because of the absence of a particular government division responsible for planning and gathering funding support.

After hosting Ramsar COP10 at the end of 2008, the level of environmental awareness among Korean citizens rose drastically, triggering a rise in demand for ecotourism. During the conference, approximately 800,000 tourists visited Woopo wetlands and Suncheon Bay.

Local communities have already begun to realize the limitations in the conventional method of regional development, such as hosting an industrial complex. About 8 million eco-tourists visited Suncheon Bay in 2008 alone, and its direct economic impact is estimated at $60 million.

The Korean government has drafted a plan to invest about $1 billion over the course of four years to invigorate ecotourism, in adherence to the national agenda of low-carbon green growth.

To supplement this plan, six different strategies have been devised; environmentally friendly intra-structure development, development of package tours with a theme and story, demand boosting through aggressive marketing and promotion, systematic management and protection of natural resources and policy development.

To provide appropriate hardware infrastructures, 1,000 kilometers of eco-cultural trail, more than 300 eco-friendly facilities (including visitor and education centers), high-quality eco-lodges, and carbon zero eco-culture model cities will be constructed.

Plans are underway to devise policies that allow for consultation support if local administrative governments decide to take the initiative. The National Park Service, which is responsible for operating ecotourism programs, is already receiving support in aims to develop better programs.

Plans are also under way to aggressively foster local festivals and exhibitions based on environmental themes. To promote the smooth flow of information, a specialized ecotourism website (www.eco-tour.kr) has also been made available.

This home page features video clippings of recently developed ecotourism-related resources of Korea, and also introduces the ecotourism destinations worth visiting.

The government has set the year 2012 as the take-off stage for rapidly advancing the nation`s ecotourism industry, with the hopes that ecotourism will serve as a major growth engine for local economies by attracting more inbound tourists. Experts expect the successful launching of the national ecotourism project to generate economic benefits worth as much as $1 billion annually, with the domestic and international tourism sectors combined. A total of 53,000 new jobs are also expected to be created.

Ecotourism cannot replace mass tourism, but should all the forms of tourism take on an environmental spin, then ecotourism would become mass-centered tourism. It is now time for the country, in consideration of the environment, to develop ecotourism as a form of sustainable tourism.

With the cooperation of regional societies, the natural environment can be conserved and the benefits of job creation can be felt through ecotourism. This is because best-practice cases could motivate rural residents to conserve.

The current government has embraced ecotourism as a national agenda as one part of its low-carbon green-growth strategy. Ecotourism has come to stand out as one part of the citizens` major leisure patterns. It would not be an overstatement to say that the rising industry would help improve the image of rural areas and serve as a new driver for invigorating the rural regions.

By Kim Seong-il