11.1 Introduction
Prior to looking at the normal
kind of destinations both in the UK and worldwide, we will spend time
looking at an area that is really emerging in the market, the concept of
ecotourism.
The reason why we are focusing on
this is simply because it gives you an insight into how a specific form of
tourism can work and the reasons why people focus on certain aspects of
travelling. We could have done the same with volunteering abroad or travelling
to visit historical ruins and tours, but ecotourism is undoubtedly something
that is on the rise.
11.2 What We Mean by Ecotourism
Even though we are just using
ecotourism as an example for specialist tours, we do still need to provide a
better explanation as to what is meant by the term in the first place.
The basic idea of ecotourism is
visiting certain parts of the world to either check out conservation projects
or even to get involved in them. In other words, it is about more than just
travelling to a part of the world in order to see how beautiful it is.
There are some that state that
travelling in order to observe nature and wildlife in their natural habitat
also falls under ecotourism, so it is important for you to also keep that in
mind.
However, some people will take
this form of tourism even further.To some, it is also about
sustainable travel or even getting involved in local communities that live in
and around parts of the world that are perhaps more delicate in nature to other
locations.
In other words, this is not about
sitting on a beach and soaking up the atmosphere or the weather, but rather
this type of tourism is about getting involved in things and trying to make
some kind of a difference in the area. As you can perhaps begin to understand,
this is going to result in some rather specific requests on your part and it is
important for you to know what to expect from people travelling for these
different reasons.
Ecotourism is seen as being a
real burgeoning part of the tourism industry due to the way in which people
believe they can make a difference while, at the same time, also experiencing
another part of the world and a different culture.
Furthermore, it is regarded as
being responsible for what is seen as being the gradual greening of the entire
tourism industry, although there is clearly still some way to go before that
will happen. In short, ecotourism can best be described in the following ways:
*It is about sustainable travel.
communities.
*It is about getting away from the
main tourist areas.
and helping the local economy in a positive way.
*It is about helping the
bio-culture.
*It is about helping nature and
the cultural heritage of different parts of the world.
As you can see, this type of
tourism is different from the normal kind of trip which tends to include
soaking up the sun on a beach or, alternatively, staying in those vast tourist
resorts or destinations where the actual essence of the location has been lost
in the various hotels and tourist attractions that have sprung up as a direct
result.
It is then quite easy to see why
ecotourism has indeed become rather popular, but we also have to look at who
exactly are eco-tourists as we can use the same basic principles for various
other types of specialised trips.
11.3 The Reasons Why People Get Involved in This
Type of Specialist Tour
It should become pretty apparent
as to why people get involved in this kind of specialist tour and yet it is
also going to be up to you to understand their reasons to make sure that you
are able to provide them with everything that they are looking for.
You must remember that the
individual that gets involved in this type of tourism will do so for reasons
that go beyond taking nice photographs for their album back home. Instead,
there is a real sense of them wishing to become involved in the sustainability
of a location or part of the world and to feel that they are able to do
something to help. Later on in this module we will also cover other aspects of
more specialist tourism as this is certainly something that is increasing in
popularity.
Eco-tourists can perhaps best be
described in the following way: they cover all kinds of ages, interests and
backgrounds, although the main thing they have in common is a joint interest in
helping the environment in some way and an awareness of the environmental damage
that is caused by other forms of tourism.
Keeping that in mind, the key
reasons why people turn to specialist tours and trips can best be summed up as
follows:
It provides an authentic
experience.
You need to realise that this
kind of tourism is going to provide the individual with an authentic experience
of a certain location and this is something that is extremely important
especially when so many destinations feel as if they are too commercialised.
People are being driven more to those places that are harder to reach, and they
require businesses or service providers
to get them
to those hard-to-reach places simply because they want to get off the
beaten track and experience something that is real.
It helps the local community.
There is often a sense of there
being some volunteering going on with this particular type of tourism simply
because of the way in which it is seen as helping the local community. Yes,
some may argue that normal tourism does this as it boosts the local economy,
but a number of people feel that it takes things away from the actual real
charm of a place.
Ecotourism is more about getting
away from the maddening crowds and helping the real people there.
It helps the environment.
There is no doubt that people
that go on this kind of tour believe that they are helping the environment.
That is why people are so determined to find those places that have perhaps
been damaged in some way or where they are more likely to get involved in a
project that will make some kind of tangible difference.
The tourists believe in
sustainability.
This word 'sustainability' is
important because of the reasons why individuals become involved in this kind
of tourism. They believe in sustainability in a number of ways from not only
cultural, but also economic and social. They believe in keeping the local
community running and doing so in a fair manner whereby there is a balance
between them benefiting from tourism, but at the same time not being swamped or
destroyed.
They believe in travelling with a
minimal carbon footprint.
This has to be one of the most
important things that you have to keep in mind when you are dealing with an
eco-tourist: they want to get to their destination with as small a carbon
footprint as possible. Basically, this means they need to get there in the most
fuel efficient way. This is where your ability to piece together how to get an
individual to a destination is going to really come into play because without
this they are going to be rather reluctant to go on the trip in the first
place.
As you can see, there are a
number of reasons as to why people would become involved in ecotourism.
However, others may see these reasons as also being some form of special
request and it is important for you to be aware of how you deal with those
special requests in the first place.
FACT
Hotels and tour operators around
the world such as Marriot, Hilton, Intercontinental Hotel Group and Accor have
been responding to this wave of interest in ecotourism by appointing senior
management positions to oversee sustainability practices in their business
operations.
Source: Eco-business.com
11.4 How to Deal With These Special Requests
So now that you have a better
understanding of what we mean by ecotourism and the reasons behind people
taking part in this type of tourism, we need to look at how you deal with the
special requests that they will tend to have when arranging this type of tour.
This is about making sure that
they are more than happy with how they get there, where they are going, where
they are staying, and anything else that makes up their own tour package.
However, this really does come down to your own ability to understand with what
they are looking for mixed in with knowing how to deliver their needs and
wants.
Be prepared to have some
specialist knowledge.
This is about more than just
giving them what they want on this kind of tour as it stands to reason that you
should also have some of your own specialist knowledge about ecotourism. They
want to have an individual who seems to have some kind of an interest and is at
least aware of what they would be looking for. Also, due to the way in which
this market is growing it also stands to reason that this would be the perfect
opportunity for you to develop your career simply because of the way in which
individuals are willing to pay a bit more to have these kinds of experiences.
Listen to the customer very precisely.
One thing that you should know
about this kind of specialist tour is that the individual you are dealing with
is going to have spent some considerable time thinking about it in their own
right. They know what they are looking for. They know where they want to go and
they know what they want to experience. All they ultimately require from you is
to deal with the logistics to get them there as they can pretty much do the
rest. However, it does mean that you are required to listen intently to make
sure that you actually do supply them with what they are looking for.
Ask as many questions as you
need.
It is always best to ask more
questions than you perhaps need to ask just to make sure that your customer is
going to be more than happy with their trip. Also, do not be afraid to ask the
same question on several occasions if you have to double check things because
the intricate details of the trip are more important in this instance than you
may be used to with other customers. The individual that is an eco-tourist will
be quite content to make sure that they get what they want even if that means
they need to deal with question after question.
If you do not know the answer,
deal with it.
There may very well be times
where you do not know the answer to a certain question as it is clearly
impossible to know everything. However, that is not to say that you are going
to fail when dealing with this kind of request. Instead, people that are
intelligent enough will understand that not everybody can know every single
thing about every single destination, especially when we are dealing with
something that is so specialised in the first place. It is how you deal with it
that is the key because if you are honest and tell them that you have no idea
and that you will find out as soon as possible, then that will usually suffice.
Dealing with this kind of specialist
tourism is something that you need to get used to because it is an area of
tourism that is growing on a yearly basis. Indeed, it is useful to look at what
the future may hold for this type of tourism by studying how it has evolved
over the years.
11.5 The Future of Specialist Tourism
We finally have to look at what
the future may hold for specialist tourism simply because of the role that it
could play in your entire career.
There is no doubt that more and
more people are becoming aware of these different kinds of holidays thanks to
the Internet making it easier to research various parts of the world.
Furthermore, people are also becoming aware of the way in which they can take
certain interests and indulge in them in other parts of the world and this is
certainly becoming far more popular than ever before.
If we look at the history of
ecotourism then it gives us some kind of an idea as to what to expect in the
future and remember that we can, once again, apply the same principles to other
types of specialist tourism that may focus on other interests.
It has only been around since the
1970s.
It is accepted that ecotourism
has only been around since the 1970s and that it was born out of the changes to
the global approach to the environment around that time. It is a direct result
of changing attitudes towards the environment and people becoming more aware,
and interested in, being able to do something about it on a personal level
while also combining experiencing brand new cultures at the same time.
It took until the 1990s for it to
become popular.
Even though it was started in the
70s, it really took until the 90s for it to become popular and it did so around
the world. By this point it had diversified into different areas with it
becoming closely tied in with how different parts of the world handle their own
environmental issues. At this point it became one of the fastest growing
sectors within the tourism industry.
20 years further on.
If we now jump forward another 20
years what we see is that this form of tourism has diversified once again. Now
it is regarded as being more of an umbrella term that covers a number of
different smaller types of tourism, including sustainable tourism, responsible
tourism, and even pro-poor tourism where it is all connected to helping improve
the life of an individual. Furthermore, some individuals are looking at taking
the concept of sustainability and trying to apply it further afield in their
lives, including looking for places to stay that adhere to the rules and even
eating at specific locations.
This does mean that this form of
tourism has changed over the years and it is simply because of the way in which
people have taken to this form of tourism mixed in with the way in which the
industry itself has reacted.
Indeed, it is now accepted that
this is an area that a number of people that work within the travel and tourism
industry have to be prepared to deal with in order to provide people with what
they are looking for.
This does bode well for the
future of this kind of tourism as increased awareness and increased numbers
will mean that more of the industry has to change to suit their needs. It is
best to see this as the proverbial ball rolling and the industry has to follow
their lead, especially with the way in which people can now use the Internet to
largely book their own holiday and flights.
11.6 Other forms of specialist tourism
Other forms of specialist tourism
that are certainly gaining more popularity are historical tours including even
going on archaeological excavations; food tours with people being given the
opportunity to learn how to cook certain cuisines and enjoy the local
ingredients: cycling tours especially in and around Europe; and walking tours
with people travelling to walk long-distance routes in a mixture of achieving
an ambition as well as seeing another part of the world.
These specialist types of tours
all require certain specialist knowledge on your part in order to give the
individual, or group, what they want. As we said previously with the ecotourism
part, these individuals are usually very aware of where they want to go and you
just have to be able to supply the logistics rather than anything else.
However, as with everything it
comes down to your ability to listen to what they want and to then make sure
that you can deliver. In some ways, this form of tourism is actually easier to
control and organise than those individuals that come looking to go on holiday
and have absolutely no idea what they are going to spend or where they want to
go. That is why there are now a number of specialist companies that will focus
on either going on extreme tours or arrange trips such as those that will help
you to trek along the foot of the Himalayas or traversing the Rockies in North
America.
Moving into this form of
specialised knowledge can certainly lead to a long and prosperous career if you
handle it correctly, although being able to build that kind of business is not
something that we can look at in any great detail here.
MODULE SUMMARY
With this module we have focused
on an example of a specialised type of tourism, although the same principles
that we have covered in the module can be applied to all other specialised
forms of tourism.
This is certainly a part of the
industry that is growing in both size and stature, and being involved in the
travel and tourism industry, there is a real need for you to get to grips with
these very specific requests.
In the next module we will look
at the idea of both long haul and short haul destinations.
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