Geotourism Principles
Geotourism is
defined as tourism that sustains or
enhances the geographical character of a
place - its environment, culture,
aesthetics, heritage, and the well being
of its residents.
Geotourism promotes
these principles as developed by the
National Geographic Society:
Integrity of
place: Enhance geographical
character by developing and improving it
in ways distinctive to the locale,
reflective of its natural and cultural
heritage, so as to encourage market
differentiation and cultural pride.
International
codes: Adhere to the principles
embodied in the World Tourism
Organization's Global Code of Ethics for
Tourism and the Principles of the
Cultural Tourism Charter established by
the International Council on Monuments
and Sites.
Market
selectivity: Encourage growth in
tourism market segments most likely to
appreciate, respect, and disseminate
information about the distinctive assets
of the locale.
Market diversity:
Encourage a full range of
appropriate food and lodging facilities,
so as to appeal to the entire
demographic spectrum of the geotourism
market and so maximize economic
resiliency over both the short and long
term.
Tourist
satisfaction: Ensure that satisfied,
excited geotourists bring new vacation
stories home and send friends off to
experience the same thing, thus
providing continuing demand for the
destination.
Community
involvement: Base tourism on
community resources to the extent
possible, encouraging local small
businesses and civic groups to build
partnerships to promote and provide a
distinctive, honest visitor experience
and market their locales effectively.
Help business develop approaches to
tourism that build on the area's nature,
history and culture, including food and
drink, artisanry, performances arts,
etc.
Community
benefit: Encourage micro to
medium-size enterprises and tourism
business strategies that emphasize
economic and social benefits to involved
communities, especially poverty
alleviation, with clear communication of
the destination stewardship policies
required to maintain those benefits.
Protection and
enhancement of destination appeal:
Encourage businesses to sustain natural
habitats, heritage sites, aesthetics
appeal, and local culture. Prevent
degradation by keeping volumes of
tourists with maximum acceptable limits.
Seek business models that can operate
profitably within those limits. Use
persuasion, incentives, and legal
enforcement as needed.
Land use:
Anticipate development pressures and
apply techniques to prevent undesired
over development and degradation.
Contain resort and vacation-home sprawl,
especially on coasts and islands, so as
to retain a diversity of natural and
scenic environments and ensure continued
resident access to waterfronts.
Encourage major self-contained tourism
attractions, such as large-scale theme
parks and convention centers unrelated
to character of place, to be sited in
needier locations with no significant
ecological, scenic, or cultural assets.
Conservation of
resources: Encourage businesses to
minimize water pollution, solid waste,
energy consumption, water usage,
landscaping chemicals, and overly bright
nighttime lighting. Advertise these
measures in a way that attracts the
large environmentally sympathetic
tourist market.
Planning:
Recognize and respect immediate economic
needs without sacrificing long-term
character and the geotourism potential
of the destination. Where tourism
attracts immigration of workers, develop
new communities that they constitute a
destination enhancement. Strive to
diversity for mitigating practices that
are incompatible with geotourism and
damaging to the image of the
destination.
Interactive
interpretation: Engage both visitors
and hosts in learning about the pace,
Encourage residents to show off the
natural and cultural heritage of their
communities, so that tourists gain a
richer experience and residents develop
pride in their locales.
Evaluation:
Establish an evaluation process to be
conducted on a regular basis by an
independent panel representing all
stakeholder interests, and publicize
evaluation results.
National Geographic
Society
More info on geotourism
