ECOTOURISM IS A THREAT TO LOCAL CULTURE?

Local culture can be conclude that it about our history, our true ethnic tradition which now been forgotten by us. So, by ecotourism we can make the traditional culture alive base on the activities provided for the tourist. Some of the tourist more to the traditional and local culture of the residents in some places where cannot be found in other places.

Actually local culture is unique tradition that form in our lives with our own symbolic. Sometimes, ecotourism look like give benefits to local people, but sometimes it take benefit from local people. As we can see when visitors come and join the activities there, what the benefits that local people can get from this? If the local people manage all the activities there, maybe it can give benefits for them. Travel agency is also play important role for this. When the other agency take an advantages by manage all the activities and the they will have bigger profits from the local culture and what about the local people?

Why not the tourism agency is given to the local people to manage the activities at their place so that it will help them to increase their income and can provided job opportunities to others and help their community people. This can be done if there have encourage from the government to local people attend the workshop to sharpen their skill and provide knowledge in this sector. So, this can help local people from being exploited by other people to make benefits from the other people.

http://travel.malaysia.msn.com/destination-guide/malaysia/kuching

http://travel.malaysia.msn.com/destination-guide/malaysia/kota-kinabalu

ECOTOURISM CONSUME ON ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE?

Ecotourism is a traveling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural manifestations found in these areas.

Base on ecotourism definition, we can see that this tourism is closely to nature. But close to nature does not mean that we can disturb the natural environment itself. Especially when the ecotourism is base on the forest sources, we see a lot of natural product like waterfall, green forest and others that make us feel calm during explore this site.

Sungai Lembing is one of the famous ecotourism place in Kuantan, Pahang. Ii famous with Pelangi Waterfall. It take long journey to achieve there and can be there with the 4x4 and Ranger because the topography is slope. So by this transportation, we can see that there have effects on the environment that produce from the smoke release. Carbon Monoxide give negative effects on the environmental especially during pick season there were a lot of trip for fetch the tourist to the waterfall area. We as human want to feel the nature and nature must face all the effect for our satisfaction. So, we can imagine this condition will continue until the nature cannot be patient anymore.

http://canonind1909.blogspot.com/view/classic

http://my-4x4.blogspot.com/2010/10/rainbow-waterfall-sungai-lembing-pahang.html

http://evewaikuan.blogspot.com/2011/12/sweet-home-at-flower-rain.html

TYPE OF TOURISM

Adventure travel

Where: Between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Stats: 5 miles long; 199 feet above the water.


http://forum.xcitefun.net/adventure-travel-worlds-scariest-bridges-t53111.html

Agritourism by country

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/103269307/Agri_tourism_combination_of_Agriculture_and.html

Bicycle tours

http://www.destination360.com/europe/norway/bicycle-tours

Ecotourism

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/travel/Ecotourism--What-Makes-Travel-Truly-Eco-Friendly

Geotourism

Terraced land and indigenous alpaca in Peru

Photograph by George F. Mobley

Medical tourism

http://www.google.com.my/imgres?q=medical+tourism&start

Railroad attraction


http://www.rv-travel-with-kids.com/tourist-attractions-colorado.html

Rural tourism


http://www.villadeayora.com/blog/the-best-rural-tourism-in-brazil/

Wildlife tourism

http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/australia/australia_photos_23.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Types_of_tourism

SO...AS LISTED ABOVE WHICH ONE IS MORE INTERESTING TO EXPLORE...AND KINDLY GIVE YOUR OPINION ......

SOCIAL IMPACT OF TOURISM

Tourism

Interrelated systems that includes tourist and the associated services that are provided and utilized (facilities, attractions, transportation, & accommodation) to aid in their movement.
Smith 1990

Tourist

A person traveling for pleasure for a period of at least one night but not more than one year for international tourist and six months for persons traveling in their countries with the main purpose of the visit being other than to engage in activities for remuneration in the place visited.
Thompson 1995

Types of social impact

• the number of tourist
• the type of tourist
  
• the stage of tourist development
• the differential in economic development between tourist-generating and tourist-receiving zones
• the physical size of the area, which affects the densities of the tourist population
• the attitudes of governmental bodies.
• the original strength artistic of the traditions
• the marketing of tourist destination and the images that are created of that destination
• the beliefs of host communities, and the strength of those beliefs.
• the accessibility to the tourist destination

Ryan (1991:164)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article584448.ece

There are several social impact on tourism that use as indicator. In my opinion, the impact will differentiate by the place itself. So there some different kind of tourism make the social impact more challenging base on the hospitality provided with the different type of tourist.

PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES WITH ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism

• Travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural manifestations found in these areas.

• A nature tourism in which the traveler drawn to a destination because of his or her interest in one or more features of that destination’s natural history. The visit combines education, recreation and often adventures.

• Ecotourism use natural resources in a wild or undeveloped form including species, habitat, landscape, scenery and salt and fresh-water features.

A marine park is one of the ecotourism products that close to nature. In order to close to nature, there have some problems occur to the environment itself. There are several issue and problem that need to be facing by us.

Overcrowding and lack of awareness among visitors

The number of tourist play important role into the ecosystems industry and ecotourism development. The problems occur when the number of visitor is greater than environment capacity and ability to carry the capacity of visitor in one time.

Uncontrolled mass tourism in Sipadan Island is one of the good examples. The conservation of this island not managed properly and it will effects on the natural ecosystems and give negative effects on environment. Many problems occur when there was low awareness to the nature among the tourist, coastal communities, hotel/resorts operator tour guides and many people make the regulation easy to break by others.

The similar situations occur in Terengganu that popular with turtle nesting that mainly caused by overcrowding visitors at the beach area and coastal development activities. Then the fish feeding activities actually disturbed the natural feeding pattern and maybe will cause the unbalanced natural systems with the type of food introduced. The fish behavior also will change it a little bit cause changes in ecosystem because we actually disturbed the nature law.

Environmental degradation

Synonym with the tourism development, there was a hotel and chalet was built up to facilitate the visitors. It is one of the developments that prevent us from feels the nature. So, we can see the example in Tioman Island, there were resort was located near the beach that prevents the public to feel the nature. There was specelized to the people who stay in that resort in order makes the boundary between the visitors. The resort development also make the exploitation to the nature with the area have been clear to build up new home to the visitors. It actually disturbed the nature systems and give impacts on environment. We must see the long term effects to our nature, so we can play role to conserved it with high education on protecting our nature with conserve the environment with we all feel that nature and we deserved to get it. So, in order to feels the nature the awareness is a big task to carry in any conditions.

http://ecomalaysia.org/node/13