A Trip Too Far: Ecotourism, Politics and Exploitation (Paperback)

by Rosaleen Duffy (Author) "Ecotourism has been proposed by a number of interest groups as a new way forward for environmentally sustainable development..." (more)
Key Phrases: Coral Cay, Central America, Ambergris Caye (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Tourism is the world's largest industry and environmentally sustainable tourism or "ecotourism" has become a major area of interest for governments, the private sector and international lending institutions. It is regarded as a way of allowing economic development whilst protecting against environmental degradation, especially in those countries with fragile ecosystems. However, this may not be the reality. Rosaleen Duffy presents the first critical analysis of "ecotourism"; does it deliver real environmental benefits or is it just a marketing opportunity – "green greed"? By the extensive use of case study and interview material, she shows how ecotourism can work to support conservation and local economies given the right political context and regulation.

The ideas and proposals that are presented will be important for the development of ecotourism around the globe and will be vital reading for academics in development and environmental studies and for NGOs and the tourism industry.

About the Author
Rosaleen Duffy is Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Lancaster University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd. (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853837598
• ISBN-13: 978-1853837593
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,454,031 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth your time, April 6, 2006

By	Danny Davis (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

While it attempts to be a damning account of ecotourism's flaws, this book is itself so philosophically flawed that it is not worth reading. The author tries to bring out every point to say that ecotourism has negative side affects, even if they are philosophically contradicting, for example she criticizes the industry for both giving women jobs that cement domestic roles, and giving them jobs that free them from traditional roles, adn therefore cause strife in their communities.
Or she goes on about how ecotourism is not a challenge to the capitalist system, so therefore it is somehow fundamentally flawed. Or worse, at one point Duffy even says that because ecotourism is at times credible, it therefore lends credibility to capitalist goals of environmental preservation, and since that is bad, ecoutourism is bad for lending a bad thing credibility.
The part I like best though is when she talks about how ecotourist guides who have implemented no swimming with manatees policies in order to protect the manatees, are tempted financially by tourists to begin offering tours that allow them to do so. So ecotourism is bad because ecotourist guides are tempted to move towards regular tourism? Its almost as good as when she says that guides face compelx problems, because "tourists are not a captive audience, which means that the guides have to make the trips interesting and entertaining?" So ecotourism puts pressure on tour guides to run good interesting?
Certainly ecotourism is not all its cracked up to be, but this book should have focused on the simpler points of where it falls short. It also should have provided better anecdotal evidence of how it has the similar negative effects to regular tourism.