Thematic reviews, briefing notes, ECPs and reports

Darwin Initiative toolkit for SMEs

2.3 Ecotourism

2.3.1 Overview

This section is the third of five specific biodiversity related markets and focuses on Ecotourism.

The International Ecotourism society defines ecotourism as:

Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. Ecotourism is about connecting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel.

2.3.2 Two key resources

These resources were chosen to provide the best overview for this field, but it is also worth checking out the other resources in this section.

Rainforest Alliance (RA), Toolkit for SMEs
A variety of practical tools and reports and reports- see 2.3.3 below.
WWF International- Guidelines for community based ecotourism development
Identifies some general principles, and highlights some practical considerations for community-based ecotourism, which include aspects of business planning.

2.3.3 Market research (Ecotourism)

Tools/guidelines/methodologies
Rainforest Alliance (RA), Toolkit for SMEs
A variety of practical tools and reports and reports:
RA- Guide for Sustainable Tourism Best Practices
A tool to help community-based organizations and small and medium-sized tourism businesses take specific actions to operate more sustainably. You can use it to develop internal policies and codes of conduct, to meet certification requirements, to educate your clients and to carry out marketing activities.
RA- Study of the Commercialization Chain and Market Opportunities for Eco and Sustainable Tourism
To seek out potential market opportunities for eco and sustainable tourism through an examination of the commercialization chain.
RA with CREM - A Toolkit to develop and promote sustainable tourism in Latin America
To support the efforts of tourism companies and organizations to make their performance more sustainable from the social, environmental and economic. perspectives. The toolkit suggests a process that can help tourism entrepreneurs improve their sustainability, by developing new sustainable products and services or improving existing ones. It also offers marketing recommendations to position those products in the market.
EcoEnterprises- Technical Assistance fund
A technical assistance fund which covers fund management costs and provides business advisory services to prospective and portfolio projects which include, Business planning; Marketing; Training in technical subject areas such as ecotourism and organic agriculture; Financial control and accounting; Establishment of environmental indicators and monitoring programs.
Reports/literature
CESD- Consumer Demand and Operator Support for Socially and Environmentally Responsible Tourism
Report explores how Tour operators are increasingly aware of the demand for socially and environmentally responsible tourism, and are exploring certification programs as a way to market their ecotourism products.
PLANETA - Marketing and market development- Extract from Ecotourism Emerging industry forum
[NB. Scroll done to Market and Market development in the Index and click on relevant section of interest]. A question was asked at the beginning of this discussion forum on how to increase the competitiveness and profitability of tourism SMEs in high biodiversity areas.

2.3.4 Business planning (Ecotourism)

Tools/guidelines/methodologies
UNEPTOI- Integrating Sustainability into Business, Management Guide for Tour Operators
UNEPTOI- Integrating Sustainability into Business, Implementation Guide for Tourism Coordinators
These two reports present ways in which tour operators can integrate the principles of CSR and sustainable development into all areas of their business, including internal management, product development and management, supply chain management, relations with customers and co-operation with destinations.
EcoEnterprises- Technical Assistance fund
A technical assistance fund which covers fund management costs and provides business advisory services to prospective and portfolio projects which include, Business planning; Marketing; Training in technical subject areas such as ecotourism and organic agriculture; Financial control and accounting; Establishment of environmental indicators and monitoring programs.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, The Tourism Business Council of South Africa, The Tourism Enterprise Programme and ABSA: How to Start and Grow your Tourism Business
The report presents a package of instruments aimed at assisting tourism entrepreneurs to develop sustainable and profitable businesses, based on South Africa
Sustainable Development of Ecotourism - A Compilation of Good Practices in SMEs
This report contains are series of methodologies and business approaches applied successfully by a wide range of ecotourism SMEs
Reports/literature
FAO- Community based tourism- case study from Buhoma, Uganda, FORC
Describes how community-based tourism activities were developed in Buhoma, Uganda in the context of the FAO/United Nations Foundation (UNF) project Community-Based Commercial Enterprise Development for the Conservation of Biodiversity at World Heritage Sites. The main challenge of the project was therefore to identify viable small-scale enterprises based on natural resources located outside the park, and to establish a link between income generation and conservation of the park.
UNEP Tourism Publications
Catalogue of a selection of publications relating to Ecotourism development.
World Tourism Organisation- Sustainable Development of Ecotourism - A Compilation of Good Practices in SMEs
This publication is the 3rd of a series of good practice compilations, and it has been prepared in the follow up to the International Year of Ecotourism 2002. This compilation contains 65 case studies received from 47 countries about exemplary practices in small ecotourism businesses.
The Conference Board/Business Enterprises for Sustainable travel- "BEST Practices"
Highlights successful business practices drawn from BEST's extensive and expanding database of the latest sustainable travel and tourism practices:

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