Ecotourism and Certification: Setting Standards In Practice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559639512 ISBN 13: 9781559639514

Publisher: Island Press, 2002

Synopsis

The idea of "ecotourism" has taken off in recent years, but a crucial detail is often neglected: how do we know that an enterprise truly meets the goals and standards of ecotourism? Certification—the rating of lodges, resorts, tour operators, and other sectors of the tourism industry by independent auditors who verify environmental and social impacts—has emerged as the most promising answer. Ecotourism and Certification offers a valuable overview of ecotourism certification and lays out the basic challenges and strategies for establishing certification programs.The book begins by establishing baseline information on the tourism industry, situating ecotourism within the larger tourism industry, and tracing the history of certification. The second chapter explores the concepts underlying certification followed by a chapter that examines certification as a tool in other industries such as forestry and coffee production. The remainder of the book highlights case studies of the most promising certification schemes around the world. Written by experts who have been closely involved with the projects described, case studies include:the NEAP Program in AustraliaCosta Rica's government-financed Sustainable Tourism Certification (CST) program and other programs in Central Americamore than 50 eco-labeling and certification programs for accommodations in Europeprograms to certify beaches and national parksefforts in South Africa and Kenya to establish certification programsEcotourism is a promising approach to protecting threatened environments and communities around the world and certification is a key to making it effective. This is the first book to take a global look at the emergence and application of certification, and it speaks largely through the voices of those directly involved with the industry and in the countries where is has been applied. It will be an important contribution for ecotourism and development professionals worldwide.

About this title

About the Author

Martha Honey is the Co-Founder and Director Emeritus of the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST). Martha led CREST as the Executive Director for 16 years before transitioning to her project-based role of Director Emeritus in 2019. Over the last two decades, Martha has written and lectured widely on ecotourism, impact tourism, cruise and resort tourism, coastal and marine tourism, climate change, and certification issues. Her books include Coastal Tourism, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Caribbean, Vol. 1 & 2, and Marine Tourism, Climate Change, and Resilience in the Caribbean, Vol. 1 & 2 (Business Expert Press, 2017), Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise? (Island Press, 1999 and 2008), and Ecotourism and Certification: Setting Standards in Practice (Island Press, 2002). She is the Executive Producer of CREST’s film, Caribbean ‘Green’ Travel: Your Choices Make a Difference, released in May 2016. Most recently, she has been an editor and author of a new study on cruise tourism, published in Spanish as Por el Mar de las Antillas: 50 Años de Turismo de Cruceros en el Caribe and in English as Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean: Selling Sunshine. Previously, Martha worked for 20 years as a journalist based in East Africa and Central America. She holds a Ph.D. in African history from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559639512
• ISBN 13: 9781559639514
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Honey PhD Dr. Martha