Eco labels and ecotourism certification

Surabhi Rai/2005/Elective 1

Ecolabels and Ecotourism

Eco-labels and Ecotourism

Certification

Surabhi Rai IFS (P), 2005 batch IGNFA , Dehradun.



Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Shri. R.K. Goyal,

Director IGNFA for shaping my course of thoughts

and providing valuable suggestions to help me

zero in on this topic for my elective study. I am

also very thankful to Shri. Dhirendra Bhargava for

helping me narrow down my objectives and set

more realistic goals.

I am grateful to Shri. K.S. Jayachandran for the

hours of patient hearing and discussions. Thanks

are due to Smt. R. Pamawathe for appreciating

even the most incongruous of my ideas which

encouraged me to think.

Surabhi Rai

IGNFA

Dehradun



CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the study

entitled “Ecolabels and ecotourism

certification”, submitted to Indira Gandhi

National Forest Academy, Dehradun has been

done by Ms. Surabhi Rai under my guidance

and supervision. It is further certified

that any help or source of information that

has been availed of in this connection has

been duly acknowledged by her.

Shri Dhirendra Bhargava

Associate Professor

IGNFA

Dehradun



INTRODUCTION

In the words of the World Tourism organization

tourism has become “one of the most important

economic, social, cultural and political phenomena

of the twentieth century.” Today tourism employs

200 million people, generates $3.6 trillion in

economic activity and accounts for 8% of jobs

worldwide. Tourism constitutes 3–10 percent of GDP

in advanced economies and up to 40 percent in

developing economies. It accounts for 36 percent of

trade in commercial services in advanced economies

and 66 percent in developing economies. The figures

are based largely on the arrival statistics which

focus on international tourism and therefore hides

the significance of domestic tourism. Hence

statistics may underestimate the actual figures for

tourism as the WTO has estimated that ratio of

domestic to international tourism is as high as

10:1 which means tourism means bigger business than

is seen.

Culture and nature are two broad resources

on which tourism depends. India with its diverse

geography and multicultural fabric has plenty of

both and attracts the fancy of a large number of



tourists. The tourism industry thus has the

potential to become the proverbial goose that lays

golden eggs in terms of foreign exchange earnings.

Statistics reveal that in 2004 the foreign tourist

arrival in India crossed the 4 million figure with

arrivals estimated at 44, 29,915 tourists. The

foreign exchange earnings had recorded an

unprecedented growth of about 38% in 2004. This

trend continued and we witnessed a growth of 17.6%

in 2005 with a total foreign exchange earning of Rs

29603.6 crores. (Indian tourism statistics, 2005).

In addition there is a large domestic tourist

market about which not much information is

available in the way of statistics.

A wave of “greening” has affected markets all

over due to an increased environmental awareness

which has been reflected in tourism as ‘eco’-

tourism products. India has the potential to be a

prime player in this newly emerged ecotourism

market. A long coastline, panoramic hinterlands,

the mighty Himalayas in the north to undiscovered

vistas in the north east and a unique variety of

ecosystems with different types of flora and fauna

offer wondrous delights for the ecotourist.

Ecotourism can be a key to conservation and a



sustained mode of economic development. However

most of the states that have a larger ecotourism

potential are ecologically more sensitive and

industrially less developed. Ecotourism is in its

infancy in India and we need to tread very

carefully to avoid its misuse. Not much has been

done in the way of regulations as far as ecotourism

is concerned and there is the imminent danger of

“green washing tourism” under the name of

ecotourism. One of the potential tools for guiding

and monitoring ecotourism is certification. Thus

this study entitled “Ecotourism and Ecolabels: An

Assessment of Ecotourism certification systems” is

a humble attempt to study and assess ecotourism

certification systems. It has been taken up with

the following objectives

1. To critically review some certification

procedures and systems

2. To suggest a certification strategy for Indian

conditions



What exactly is ecotourism?

One of the major problems of ecotourism lies in the

definition itself. To make things more clear I

shall begin from the definition of tourism itself

and work down to the various branches of tourism

including ecotourism. The World Tourism

organization has defined tourism as any form of

travel that involves a stay of at least one night

but less than one year away from home. However the

definition is rather narrow as it bypasses day

visits and also does not specify the purpose of

travel. Thus we can take into account another

definition which states tourism as domestic or

international travel for leisure and recreation

(Roe, 1997).

Tourism may be broadly divided into two segments

viz: mass tourism and alternative tourism.

Mass tourism is purely leisure and entertainment

oriented usually offering higher degrees of comfort

and convenience regardless of any environmental

effects. Mass tourism leads to the high

concentrations of people in relatively small

places. Figure 1 gives the model of the life cycle

of a typical tourist destination as proposed by



Butler in 1980. This model explains the impact of

tourism development on the social and natural

environment of a destination marked by an increase

in the number of tourists visiting a destination.

Time

Discovery

Involvement

Development

Consolidation

Stagnation

Decline

Rejuvenation No of Visitors

Figure 1. Life cycle of a tourism destination.

With increasing popularity of tourism destination

there arises the danger of it being a place of mass

tourism for example the case of hill stations

during summers. And in such cases tourism often

appears to be less of a blessing and more of

blight. Moreover there is the danger of tourism

killing tourism. That is, an excess of insensitive

tourists at a destination would deter the more

sensitive type of tourists to forego the enjoyable

consumption of tourism resources. These resources

are adversely affected by the voracious consumption



of the “bad” tourist. Some tourism researchers call

this the new avatar of Gresham’s law: Bad tourism

drives out good tourism. Apart from adverse

environmental impact many tourist are now tired of

the mass tourism experience and look forward to

alternative experiences.

Alternative tourism seeks to face mass

tourism from the opposite side. This involves

lesser number of people as well. The different

types of alternative tourism are listed below:-

Nature tourism involves travel to unspoiled areas

to experience and enjoy nature. Nature tourism

embraces within its ambit the other types of

alternative tourism.

Adventure tourism is “nature tourism with a kick”

(Honey, 1999). This requires physical skill and

involves a degree of risk taking. For example rock

climbing, mountaineering, snorkeling, scuba diving

etc.

Wildlife tourism involves “travel to observe

animals like birds, mammals and fish in their

native habitat” (Honey, 1999). This includes both

consumptive and non-consumptive use of wild

animals. For example game hunting in Kenya and

visits to national parks and sanctuaries in India.



Agricultural/rural tourism is a newly emerging form

of tourism where farmers offer many opportunities

for tourists to find experiences closely connected

with agricultural practices. For example horseback

riding in European farms, bullock cart rides in

villages on the outskirts of Periyar, home stays in

Sikkim. Ecotourism can include all the above

defined groups of tourism. But in addition to

recreation ecotourism should result in strong

benefits to conservation and the local people as

well. Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between

the various branches of tourism defined above. We

can see that all of them can be interlinked at some

point or the other.

Figure 2. Different branches of tourism

Agro tourism

Wildlife Tourism

Adventure tourism

Nature tourism

Mass tourism

Ecotourism



For example agriculture tourism can involve

bird watching or hiking in nearby areas as in some

home stays in Darjeeling, Wildlife tourism in

Periyar has a component of rural tourism etc.

Ecotourism includes a small portion of all types of

tourism which invariably is the portion that is

conservation oriented and involves benefit sharing

with the locals.

The word Ecotourism has been defined and

interpreted variously and is often much abused in

its usage. It has been interpreted by service

providers to suit their personal gains. The

Ecotourism Society in 1991 produced the earliest

and still commonly used definition of ecotourism:

“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves

the environment and sustains the well being of the

local people”. According to the UNEP definition

ecotourism has 2 main dimensions: Ecotourism is a

sustainable development tool and ecotourism is a

form of alternative tourism (UNEP, 2002). Other

definitions have included elements of environmental

education and supply-side sustainable management.

Boo (1992), for example, states that ‘ecotourism is



nature travel that advances conservation and

sustainable development efforts’. The Ecotourism

Association of Australia (EAA) defines ecotourism

as ‘ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary

focus on experiencing natural areas that foster

environmental and cultural understanding,

appreciation and conservation’ (EAA, 2001).

Compiling a variety of contemporary definitions of

ecotourism, Blamey (2001) described three broad

dimensions of the ‘main essence’ of ecotourism

which have achieved a degree of consensus among

tourism researchers: ecotourism is nature based,

environmentally educated, and sustainably managed

in terms natural and cultural environments.

The Tripura government’s ecotourism policy very

practically states that the key elements of

ecotourism are:

1. Existence of sanctuary/national environment as

prime attraction

2. It should be ecologically, culturally, socially

and economically sustainable.

3. It should have the participation of local

stakeholders (host community)

4. It should be capable of dovetailing into the

existing tourism of the state



5. It should accommodate education awareness and

recreation.

However the first point is debatable as ecotourism

is not confined to sanctuary and national parks and

tourism in sanctuary and national parks may not be

ecotourism apart from the fact that they are nature

based.

The world tourism summit in 2002 recognized that

ecotourism embraces the principles of sustainable

tourism, concerning the economic, social and

environmental impacts of tourism. It also embraces

the following specific principles which distinguish

it from the wider concept of sustainable tourism:

Contributes actively to the conservation of

natural and cultural heritage,

Includes local and indigenous communities in

its planning, development and operation, and

contributing to their well-being,

Interprets the natural and cultural heritage of

the destination to visitors,

Lends itself better to independent travelers,

as well as to organized tours for small size

groups.



I would like to play with the etymology of the

word ecotourism instead of deriving the meaning as

eco-friendly tourism it can be taken as ecosystem

based tourism. Environmental friendly has the

disadvantage of favoring big players who can easily

afford the so called eco-friendly practices on a

larger scale as well. Moreover many service

providers get away with just using recycled paper

or reuse of bathroom towels or installing solar

water heaters and even having golf courses!! in

the name of being environmental friendly.

Ecotourism is an ecosystem based enterprise.

People visit a certain ecosystem for deriving

recreation. An ecotourism manager should understand

that tourism is dependant wholly on the ecosystem

and any damage to it will hamper her/his business.

Thus the objectives of any ecotourism venture

should be profit for the venture and enrichment of

the ecosystem on which it depends. It is obvious

and understood that the ecological value of the

ecosystem cannot be enriched. Thus ecotourism

should strive not to degrade the ecosystem but

enrich it through

1. Increasing the educational and conservation

values of the ecosystem



2. Through empowerment and employment of local

people, who are part and parcel of the said

ecosystem. One of the main reasons for

ecosystem degradation world over is poverty,

which can be addressed through local people

empowerment.

However there is very little literature or proof

otherwise that suggests that tourists visiting

ecotourism destinations do it with any concern for

conservation or to gain knowledge about the

particular environment nor are they particularly

interested in promoting socio-economic development.

The prime reason and in many instances the only

reason remains leisure or fun. Hence the

conservation, education and local development not

being part of consumer demand are often not things

looked into by the service provider. Thus these

aspects of ecotourism need to be enforced through a

set of guidelines /regulations.

However before closing the discussion on the

definition of ecotourism even at the risk of

sounding clichéd I would like to discuss the

concept of sustainable development since ecotourism

is an important sustainable development tool.



The concept of sustainable development was

put forth by the World Commission on Environment

and Development in 1987 and is defined by the

Commission as “development that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED,

1987). The Commission demands a revival of growth

particularly in developing countries where

environmental detriment is directly linked with

poverty and lack of basic needs. This development,

however, should be environmentally sound, less

material and energy intensive, and more equitable

in its benefits and impacts (Carter, 2001). As per

Agenda 21, sustainable development will only be

achieved through planned, democratic, co-operative

means, including community involvement in decisions

making. Thus these small concepts of sustainable

development needs to be incorporated in the

ecotourism process.



WHAT IS CERTIFICATION?

To put in very simple words certification refers to

a process which ensures compliance to a certain set

of standards. Ecotourism certification certifies

whether the tourism in question minimizes the

adverse impacts of tourism principally and also

provides social, educational and economic benefits.

This process involves:-

1. A party that seeks certification ( individual

or an organization)

2. A party that has competent authority and

expertise on the subject and grants

certification on the basis of adherence to the

set standards.

3. Accrediting party which crosschecks the

certification process.

The process of setting standards and ensuring

these are met is known as conformity assessment,

and provides the context to outline the development

and use of sustainable tourism standards (Font,

2002). The certification process is described and

illustrated in figure 3.



WHY WOULD ANYONE GO FOR CERTIFICATION?

Ecotourism certification is a strategic tool for

officially approving and promoting the design,

production, marketing and use of environmentally

benign services and products having a reduced

environmental impact. Moreover certification can

spell advantages for many groups of people as:-

1. The ecotourism service providers get

recognition and brand value in the market.

Certification is a sort of value addition where

the existing product is branded for attributes

Certification seeking party

Owns /operates a product/process/

enterprise

Set of standards for health safety, competence, environmental benignancy, consumer protection, land use planning etc.

Certifying party

Evaluation

Certified

Accreditation party

Cross checks

Certified and accredited

Fig 3. Certification- players and process



that it already had but wasn’t highlighted.

This can also help them get incentives from the

government in certain cases. The certification

standards/criteria can help new ecotourism

enterprises to understand the standards it

needs to meet.

2. The ecotourism/environment managers can enforce

regulations through a carrot and stick policy

of publicity and incentives as carrots and

penalties and fines for not compliance. The

certification standards can be used a s

yardstick to evaluate the performance of the

service providers and avoid misuse of the word

ecotourism.

3. The environmentally conscious consumers can be

guided to go for the better service/product.

Moreover the uninitiated consumers can also be

guided and educated.

4. The local people are benefited as standards are

expected to include community participation and

benefit sharing as an integral part. Moreover

conservation also includes conservation of the

local culture



5. Last but not the least the environment as the

criteria should be aimed at minimal damage to

the natural environment.

Lets have a look at some the tangible benefits

actually accrued in the field conditions, The NEAP

has got good success in providing tangible benefits

to certified firms, such as extending tenure in

protected areas, or preferential access. Cathy

Parsons presented data from a survey conducted by

the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism

(CAST) of its members who are participants in the

Green Globe programme (Green Globe Trotter, Volume

2, Number 2, February 2005.) Of the 30 properties

that were surveyed about their participation in the

programme,

• 90% stated they saw a reduction in both water and

electricity bills;

• 67% stated they saw recognizable staff

motivation;

• 40% stated that the hotel received international

exposure as a result of their Green Globe

participation;

• 93% of properties stated that they now have an

effective management system in place and



• 91% responded that they are extremely or very

satisfied with being certified while 82% stated

that they are extremely or very satisfied with the

benefits of being Green Globe 21 Certified.

WHO CERTIFIES?

The background of some of the certifying agencies

is presented in the table below and it can also be

seen that there are very few agencies that have an

international standing and most of the agencies are

based in the developed countries primarily Europe .

Eco-labeling scheme Awarding agency

International

Green Globe Industry association

ISO-14001 Private

Ecotel Private

Eco-friendly hotels world wide

Private

Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System NGO

Audubon Cooperative Signature Program NGO

Regional

Blue Flag (Europe) NGO

Committed to Green (Europe) Industry Association European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (Europe)

NGO Location

Kleinwalser Valley Public Authority



Environmental Award (Germany and Austria)

PATA Green Leaf (Asia Pacific) Industry Association

Tyrolean Environmental Seal of Quality (Austria and Italy)

Public Authority

National Austrian Ecolabel for Tourism (Austria) Public Authority

David Bellamy Award (United Kingdom)

Private Industry Association

Environmental Squirrel (Germany) Industry Association

Green Panda (France) NGO Industry Association

Green Key (Denmark) NGO Industry Association

Green Leaf (Thailand) Industry Association Public Authority

Green Suitcase (Germany) NGO

NASC (Ireland) Public Authority National Ecotourism Accreditation Program (Australia)

Industry Association

Seaside Award (United Kingdom) NGO

We Are an Environmentally-Friendly Operation (Germany)

Industry Association

Sub-national Distintivo Ecoturistico (Spain, Alcudia)

Public Authority

Ecotour (Spain, Balearic Islands) Public Authority



Green Tourism Business Scheme (United Kingdom, Scotland)

Public Authority

OOKO Grischun (Switzerland, Grabunden) NGO

OOKO Tourism Public Authority

Scottish Golf Course Wildlife Initiative (United Kingdom, Scotland)

NGO Industry Association Public Authority

Table1: List of ecotourism certification systems

(Sasidharan,2002).

WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR CERTIFICATION?

We know that a product is certified for complying

with certain standards. Now how do we determine

whether the standards are met or not. Each standard

is represented by some criteria and each criterion

in turn is measure/determined by a number of

indicators. For example environmental benignity

would have to fulfill a set of criteria with one

criterion being non polluting nature of the

enterprise which in turn would be

measured/determined by a set of indicators like

method of waste disposal, recycling waste, grey

water usage etc.



WHAT IS CERTIFIED?

The target area of most certification

agencies/programs is accommodation mainly as seen

in figure3.

Figure 4. Target services of ecotourism (WTO, 2002)

Target Services of Ecotourism certification

Sports and leisure facilities, 5%

Tour operators, 7%

Destination, 18%

Transportation, 2%

Accomodation, 68%



0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Green G

lobeEco

tel

ecofr

iendly

hotel

s worl

d wide

Audub

on co

opera

tive s

anctu

ary sy

stem

Audub

on co

opera

tive s

ignatu

re pro

gramme

blue f

lag

committe

d to g

reen E

urope

Europe

an ch

arter

for su

staina

ble to

urism

in pr

otecte

d area

s

Kleinw

alshe

r vall

ey en

viron

mental

effor

t

Pata G

reen l

eaf (A

sia)

Tyrolea

n env

ironm

ental

seal

of qu

ality

natio

nal A

ustra

in ec

olable

for to

urism

David

Bellam

y award

Enviro

nmen

tal sq

uirrel

Green P

anda

Green L

eaf

Green K

ey

Green s

uitca

seNASC

NEAP

Seasid

e award

We are

an en

viron

mental

frien

dly or

ganis

ation

Sub na

tiona

l dist

inctiv

o eco

touris

tico

Ecotou

r

Green b

usine

ss sc

heme

OOKO Gris

hchu

n

OOKO touri

sm

Scottis

h golf

cours

e and

wild

life in

itiativ

e

Focu

s ar

eaAll areas

Facilities and services

Facilities Locations

Golf courses



Figure 4 gives us an idea of what are the focus

areas of the certifying agencies. Most of the

agencies are certifying accommodation with only a

few covering the entire gamut of activities and

even something as far removed from ecotourism as

golf is getting Ecolabels and thus being touted as

ecotourism.

Equally important is the unit of certification i.e.

what is being certified in the respective areas.

Here there is a clear distinction between process

(management system) and performance. Process

certification is a series of steps to be taken, a

process, which is being certified. However this has

been criticized as the ultimate outcome of the

venture may not generate ecotourism. On the other

hand performance certification evaluates the impact

of the product which is more realistic and

practical.

Though not certainly the best example let us

consider the ecotourism site seen in one of the

villages in Buxa Tiger Reserve area during our East

India tour. Considering only broad ecological,

economic and social parameters as the basis for

certification. Process certification would probably

satisfy most of the standards as there was no



permanent construction, it was nature based, it

involved only local people in its management and it

generated lot of local employment. But the service

provided created quite a lot of environmental

pollution via the garbage left by tourists, there

was no control on the noise produced by the music

systems played loudly and practically no

environmental education was rendered to the

visitors. Thus a performance certification system

would reject it out rightly. A process based

certification does not measure performance meaning

what a business does is not important – what counts

is how it is done.

A LOOK AT SOME CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS

A comparison of some major certification programs

can be seen in the table given below. As discussed

earlier a performance certification is clearly

superior to the process certification. CST, NEAP

and Blue Flag are outcome based. However Blue flag

certifies only beaches hence is rather limited in

its scope. While all the programs have criteria for

measuring its environmental aspect social aspect is

not taken care of by Blue Flag, ISO and Ecotel. All

have a published policy and requirements for staff



training but transparency is found in CST, NEAP and

Blue Flag which imparts greater confidence by the

public and government agencies.

System ISO -14001

Green Globe-21

Ecotel CST NEAP Blue Flag

Process /Product

Process Process Process Perfor mance

Perfor mance

Perfor mance

Environmental criteria

√ √ √ √ √ √

Social criteria

- √ - √ √ -

Economic criteria

- √ - √ √ -

Published policy

√ √ √ √ √ √

Consult with stakeholders

√ limited - √ √ √

Targeted action plan to reduce impacts

√ √ limited √ √ √

Staff training

√ √ √ √ √ √

Public disclosure of reports

No Evolving No √ √ √

Monitoring of progress

√ √ - √ √ √

Table 2. Comparison of certification systems

Now let us see three certification programs in

greater detail,

GREEN GLOBE-21



Green globe 21 was initiated in 1998 by the World

Travel and Tourism council (WTTC) and is based on

Agenda 21 principles for sustainable development.

It is an outcome based process and ecotourism

operators can participate at three

levels viz awareness, bench marking and

certification.

Awareness level that helps ecotourism operators to

understand how Green Globe Benchmarking and

Certification works and how to achieve this status.

It also provides information to the operators to

understand the principles of ecotourism and

ecological sustainability.

Benchmarking level independent of full

Certification. Ecotourism operators that have been

successfully benchmarked may use the Green Globe

logo to promote their environmental and social

achievements.

Certification level where ecotourism operators that

satisfy all of the requirements of the Green Globe

International Ecotourism Standard and who are

successfully certified following an on-site visit

by an accredited third-party assessor are entitled

to use the Green Globe logo with distinctive tick.



11 criteria have to be met with in order to certify

under the green globe 21 program

Criteria 1: Ecotourism policy, performance and

regulatory framework

An ecotourism policy based on the principles of

ecotourism is a prerequisite and it has to comply

with the environmental legislations and

regulations. This should be available for public

viewing. The product has to be first benchmarked

The operators should maintain the current records

of relevant legislations (environmental, public

occupational health and safety, hygiene, employment

legislations etc). They should comply with the

legislations and maintain records of compliance as

well.

Criteria 2: Natural area focus

The product should be primarily nature based and

customer activities in natural areas

Criteria 3: Interpretation and education

The product should have education and

interpretation opportunities and an interpretation

plan for the natural, social and cultural values of

the site/area. The staff should be aware about the

principles of ecotourism and natural, social and

cultural values of the site/area



Criteria 4: Ecologically compatible infrastructure

The physical infrastructure should be damaging to

the environment and compatible with the physical

and cultural landscape. Sustainably obtained and

recycled building materials should be used which

should have been sourced locally. Area of

construction and evacuation should be kept to a

minimum.

Criteria 5: Ecologically sustainable practices

Environment management plan should be written

addressing the issues of waste minimization, energy

efficiency, water conservation, treatment of

wastewater and effluent, biodiversity conservation,

air quality, lighting (including the requirements

of a dark sky policy) and noise (including the

requirements of a natural quiet policy).

Criteria 6: Contributing to conservation

A contribution to conservation statement is written

which primarily looks at conservation of rare and

threatened species and antiques while promoting

ecolabelled products.

Criteria 7: Ecotourism benefiting local communities

It should encourage local employment, sale of local

goods and handicrafts. Cash or in-kind investments



should be made by the product to community

infrastructure, events and activities.

Criteria 8: Cultural respect and sensitivity

Local cultures should be respected. Correct

information and interpretation of local cultures

should be done accurately.

Criteria 9: Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction to be adjudged through

customer feed back

Criteria 10: Responsible marketing

While marketing correct and accurate information

about the natural and cultural significance should

be given. Moreover customers should be informed

properly about the legal status of the area; code

of conduct, no of people allowed etc. The marketing

should be realistic and not misleads the consumer.

Criteria 11: Ecotourism product minimal impact code

of conduct

The product should develop a minimal impact code

which should be firmly entrenched in the principles

of sustainability. This should be made available to

the entire staff and also to the customers. An

advanced ecotourism product will in addition to the

above should incorporate peer review of an

ecotourism industry and also receive endorsements



as appropriate from protected area managers, NGOs,

landowners and government conservation agencies.

The codes developed are walking and trekking codes,

camping code, vehicle use code, boat use code,

snorkeling and scuba diving code, trail riding and

animal tours code, aircraft use code, nocturnal

wildlife viewing code, marine mammal and mega

fauna viewing code, rock climbing and abseiling

code, caving code for show and wild caves and

fishing codes.

CERTIFICATION OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (CST)

CST categorizes and certifies each tourism company

according to the degree to which its operations

comply to a model of sustainability. To this

effect, four fundamental aspects are evaluated viz

Physical- biological environment, Hotel facilities

(internal environmental management practices),

Customers and Socio-economic environment.

These four general areas are divided in general

descriptors that represent sources of

positive/negative impacts generated by the hotel

activities. For each general descriptor there is

set of categorization questions designed to

evaluate the hotel performance. Each and every one



of these 153 questions refers to an element of

sustainability with which the firm should comply in

order to qualify in any one of the different stages

or levels of fulfillment or “sustainability

levels". Each question evaluates a specific

standard or condition with which a hotel need

comply (Yes = compliance; No = non-compliance). The

questions are weighted by their relevance on a

scale of 1 to 3 (3 = most important).

The final score for each of the four general areas is obtained as follows:

The smallest final score determines the

sustainability category obtained by a hotel. The

final rating is assigned on a scale of 0 to 5, in

which each number indicates the relative position

of the firm in terms of sustainability. This scheme

provides a way to classify the tourist firms in

terms of "levels” in a system very similar to the

commercial categorization of hotels by means of the

well known stars system.

Level % attained

0 <20



1 20-39

2 40-59

3 60-79

4 80-9

5 >95

NATIONAL ECOTOURISM ACCREDITATION PROGRAM

(NEAP)

The NEAP is an initiative and a business initiative

of Ecotourism Australia. NEAP certifies

accommodation, tours and attractions for nature

tourism and ecotourism. For certifying nature

tourism the product has to

Focuses on personally and directly

experiencing nature

Represents best practices for environmentally

sustainable tourism

Consistently meets customer expectations and

Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic

expectations

For certification an ecotourism initiative has to

Focuses on personally and directly

experiencing nature

Provides opportunities to experience nature in

ways that lead to greater appreciation,

understanding and enjoyment



Positively contributes to the conservation of

natural areas

Represents best practices for environmentally

sustainable tourism

Provides constructive ongoing contributions to

local communities

Is sensitive to, interprets and involves local

cultures; particularly indigenous culture


Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic

expectations

There are three categories of certification viz;

Product Nature tourism

Ecotourism Advanced ecotourism

Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature

√ √ √

Provides opportunities to experience nature in ways that lead to greater appreciation, understanding and enjoyment

optional

Mandatory but not

necessarily core to

experience

Core to experience

Positively contributes to the conservation of natural areas

- √ √

Represents best √ √ √



practices for environmentally sustainable tourism Provides constructive ongoing contributions to local communities

- √ √

Is sensitive to, interprets and involves local cultures; particularly indigenous culture

- √ √


√ √ √

Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic expectations

√ √ √

Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature

√ √ √

Table 3. Categories of certification in NEAP

1. Natural Area focus- Here the product is rated

according to the number of hours spent in

natural areas, the customer: guide ratios in

vehicle and non vehicle tours, accommodation

available, incorporation of nature as a major

feature in advertising etc.

2. Interpretation – Interpretation is optional for

nature tourism. The type of interpretation,



personal or non personal, the language,

accuracy of information, performance of

interpretation through consumer feed back and

has been covered. Interpretation plan with a

budget should be made. Details on training of

staff and guides are also mentioned.

3. Environmental sustainability –This covers

understanding and awareness of staff about

sustainability. Environmental emergencies and

contingent or response plans should be

prepared. Environmental management plan under

ISO-14001 and environmental audit should be

done. Location, EIA, site disturbances,

rehabilitation of site, drainage, soil, water

management, pollution and environmental

quality, energy efficiency are the other

indicators which are rated. Beside this also

contained a detailed provision to evaluate

wildlife disturbances.

4. Contribution to conservation – what are the

conservation initiatives and the natural area

management plans.

5. Working with local communities – This criterion

includes local benefits, degree of involvement

of the local communities, whether tangible



support/benefits have been given to local

communities or not and the interaction of the

service provider with the local community.

6. Cultural component - involvement of indigenous

people and groups, accurate relay of

information and minimal behavioral impact are

measured.

7. Customer satisfaction – Customer feed backs

through questionnaires, structured interviews,

visitor book comments and reviews by tourism

professionals

8. Responsible marketing – the type of information

given while marketing the product

Green globe CST NEAP Energy efficiency and conservation management

√ √ √

Fresh water conservation and management

√ √ √

Minimal use of non renewable natural resources

limited √ √

Ecosystem conservation and

√ √ √



management Land use planning and management

√ √ √

Air quality protection

√ √ √

Noise control

√ √ √

Waste water management

√ √ √

Waste minimisation

√ √ √

Table 4. Comparison of Environmental criteria

Green globe

CST NEAP

Protection of human rights

- √ √

Eliminate forced and compulsory labour

Limited Limited -

Ban child labour

limited - -

Eliminate discrimination

Limited √ √

Guest education

√ √ √

Table 5. Comparison of social criteria



IS EVERYTHING RIGHT WITH CERTIFICATION?Many

criteria and standards are qualitative, subjective

and imprecise and therefore difficult to measure.

Moreover each program creates its own criteria.

This leads to a lot of confusion. There are already

certification programs and their logos (figure 5)

out in the market which can actually confuse the

consumer and affect his decisions adversely.

Figure 5. Some ecotourism certification logos

Some companies grant use of logo without

certification as soon as the companies register

with them or the different logos granted have

subtle differences which may create misconceptions.



The logos granted by Green Globe at different

levels. There is only a slight difference in the

benchmarked and certified.

Many criteria are without liability and much is

based on self assessment. Moreover it is hard to

see the on ground effect of criteria.

There have been proposals for a uniform

certification system but criteria and indicators

cannot be uniform for all sites. A single

certification system can also lead to a monopoly

like situation.

INDIA

At the beginning of my study one of the objectives

was the evolution of a protocol for certification

of ecotourism in Indian countries. However as I

went forward with my study I realised that

certification was much more serious a business than

I had thought or read. Most of the certification

programs are based in developed countries so it

would mean sheer inanity to simply design criteria

and standards on the basis of those certification

programs. I could not dare to go forward and



brashly present a certification protocol without

proper field investigations and consultations,

which unfortunately could not be covered in the

time I had. However I have made small suggestions

which I felt are essential while making a

certification system for our country.

STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION

Stakeholder identification is essential and it is

important to note that the service

providers/beneficiaries are not the only

stakeholders, besides the government and tourists

the other people in the area are also the stake

holders since they share their common property

resources with the tourists. Ecotourism should

not lead to something that leads to a negative

impact on the local populace like water scarcity

or drug trade in the area or sharp price hike of

essentials. Besides service providers include at

least two to three different strata of people

including the larger service providers like hotel

owners and tour operators and smaller ones like

guides, porters, dhaba owners etc and all strata

should be properly represented. Local governing

bodies too have a stake.

CRTERIA AND INDICATORS



The framing of criteria and indicators cannot be

done by few individuals sitting within four walls

of an office. Criteria and indicators framework

would require participation of all the

stakeholders besides the government, experts on

the subject and local NGO members. It is very

essential to involve communities since no one but

the locals can say better about the resources and

the constraints and how each component of

ecotourism can/is affecting their lives in both

negative and positive aspects. A broad framework

is necessary for each region based on agro

climatic cultural and linguistic criteria eg.

Darjeeling hills, North Bengal plains and South

Bengal could have common broad framework under a

state framework. Then local and regional

differences can be worked out by discussing these

criteria and addition/ deletion or modification

of criteria and indicators can give a better

certification system. Moreover the involvement of

the communities would not only address their need

but also increase awareness among people. The

public themselves can also act as watchdogs and

regulatory bodies.

SMALL ENTERPRISES



Our certification systems need to accommodate the

needs of smaller enterprises which may have

greater social and environmental value but less

capacity to pay.

CARRYING CAPACITY

Carrying capacity studies need to be done and

certification standards should bear in mind

capacity limits.

CONCLUSION

Certification is a very useful tool to make tourism

sustainable. It has to be supported by strong

government policies and guidelines not to mention

the relevant legislations and regulations.

While governments and state agencies should use

ecolabels as a regulatory tool to achieve what

ecolabels are meant to do - to help protect the

natural environment from untrammelled tourism and

to ensure that tourism benefits conservation. The

public sector can use certification to exclude

operators from activities, areas and destinations

if they fail to meet the minimum standard.



Environmental protection cannot be left to the

market, however noble the intentions of voluntary

ecolabels are. Nor can governments abdicate their

responsibilities and expect NGOs and other civil

society groupings to play watchdog - they don't

have the teeth or the wherewithal to take business

on. State regulated certification is a tool

available to governments to ensure responsible

travel. It's not the only one, and it certainly

isn't a "marketing tool".

BIBLIOGRAPHY



1. Carter, E. and Lowman, G. (edit) (1994)

Ecotourism. A sustainable option? Sussex: John

Wiley & Sons Ltd. McCool, F. (1995) Linking

tourism, the environment, and concepts of

sustainability: setting the stage. Minneapolis:

Gen. Tech. Rep.

2. Epler Wood, M. and Halpenny, E.A (1999)

Ecotourism Certification and Evaluation:

Progress and Priorities, The Ecotourism

Society, Virginia.

3. Font, X. (2002). Environmental certification in

tourism and hospitality: progress, process and

prospects. Tourism Management 23, p 197-295.

4. Honey, M., & Rome, A., (2001). Protecting

Paradise: Certification Programs for

Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism. Institute

for Policy Studies. Washington. Also available

online at www.ips-dc.org.

5. Sasidharana V, Sirakayab E and Kerstettera D.

(2002). Developing countries and tourism

Ecolabels. Tourism Management 23 (2002) 161–174

6. Sørensen S.B, Baraza A.I, Mirovsky O and Van

Cong Nguyen (2002) Ecotourism as a way to



protect nature. Centre for environmental

studies, University of Aarhus.

7. Synergy Ltd (2000). Tourism certification: an

analysis of Green Globe 21 and other

certification programs. Godalming: WWF UK.

8. Toth, R., (2000). Elements of success and

failure in certification/accreditation.

Ecotourism and sustainable tourism

certification workshop. Mohonk Mountain House,

New York.

9. World Tourism Organization, Tourism 2020

Vision, at http://www.world-

tourism.org/market_research/facts/market_trends

.htm

10. www.ecotourism.org.au

11. www.greenglobe21.com

12. www.sustainabletravelinternational.org



Documents

Eco labels and ecotourism certification