University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature The Park manager has set some rules and regulation which the tourists have to obey. • No animals, plants or rocks may be disturbed, touched or removed. • No foreign material is to be transported to the islands or from one island to another island. • No food to uninhabited islands. Smoking is prohibited. • Don’t touch, feed, pet or approach the animals too closely. • It is forbidden chasing or frightening living creature from its nest or resting place. • While diving or snorkelling don’t hurt any marine creature. • Waste products must be taking away from the islands. • Don’t buy souvenirs made from plants or animals of the islands. • Don’t paint names or graffiti on rocks. • All groups visiting the national park must be accompanied by a licensed guide. • Follow the marked trails at all times. (Ecuador & Galapagos, 1999). a. Ecotourism industry Ecotourism is dominated by two mainland-based tour operators offering high-quality ecotourism (Metropolitan Touring and another company). They own several floating hotels and part of the Ecuadorian airlines that fly to the islands. Since 1980 their dominance has been challenged by the growth of ecotourism operators. They have responded to the growing international market by offering comfort and safety. The high-quality and well-managed floating 46
Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature hotels do not offer much direct benefit to the local community. The tourists sleep and eat on the boats, and they are usually discharged for only a few hours on land to visit the Darwin Research Station and the National park, maybe they will buy some souvenirs at the station rather than in the town (Honey, 1999). The less luxury and locally-owned floating hotels are being marginalized by better-financed companies, who are buying up operating permits, and are bringing in larger and more luxurious vessels. This has some negative consequences, as decrease in local employment opportunities, and it contributed to population growth, because of imported staff for larger vessels which demand more experienced personnel, and a tendency for more pressure on the most popular visitor sites, because the larger ships want those (MacFarland, 1998). Since 1980s the Ecuadorians began receiving discounts on flight-tickets, park entrance and cruise boats. In average foreigners were spending 3.5 times more than Ecuadorians, yet a much higher proportion of the money spent by Ecuadorians went into the local economy, because they spent their money on low-quality, local-owned boats and on-land hotels (Honey, 1999). Tourism has grown gradually and has now reached a total of over 60.000 visitors per year and almost 90 vessels. The growth has been driven by economic interests; it is neither planned technically in relation to natural resources, nor to market studies. The supply is already exceeding the demand (MacFarland, 1998). This means that too many accommodations and tourist activities are being established with no tourists to make use of them. Tourists provide an income for an estimated 80% of the people living on the Galapagos Islands, and 60% of all tourism revenues in Ecuador comes from Galapagos. Only 15% of the tourism income enters the islands economy, the rest goes to the mainland economy. The income from local farmers, cattle ranchers, 47
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University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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