UK Tourism: Eco-Tourism's Role in Sustainable Development Explored

This report investigates the significance of eco-tourism in fostering sustainable development within the UK's tourism sector. It begins with a research proposal outlining the study's background, aims, and objectives, emphasizing the growing importance of eco-tourism for environmental sustainability and responsible travel. The literature review highlights eco-tourism's role in creating environmental, economic, and social benefits for local communities, while also addressing potential drawbacks like community displacement. Various eco-tourism activities and initiatives in the British tourism sector are examined, including the efforts of organizations like the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) in promoting green tourism. The research methodology details the use of interpretivism as a research philosophy and an inductive approach, with qualitative data collected through questionnaires distributed to tourism companies. Data analysis involves identifying themes within the collected data, and the report concludes with recommendations for promoting eco-tourism and ensuring sustainable practices in the UK tourism sector. Desklib provides students access to similar solved assignments and past papers.

International hospitality
and tourism management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Producing research proposal..................................................................................................1
Research background .................................................................................................................1
Aims and objective......................................................................................................................1
Significance of the study.............................................................................................................2
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................2
The importance of Eco - tourism and sustainability development..............................................2
The various types of eco-tourism activities followed by British tourism sector.........................2
The role of eco-tourism in sustainability development ..............................................................3
Various ways to promote ecotourism in tourism sector .............................................................3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................4
Research philosophy...................................................................................................................4
Research approach .....................................................................................................................4
Types of research .......................................................................................................................5
Data collection methods..............................................................................................................5
Data analysis...............................................................................................................................6
Ethical consideration...................................................................................................................6
DATA ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................6
Alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt from outcomes...................................15
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................16
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
This report will conduct research on the topic Role of eco-tourism in sustainable
development for tourism sector in UK. In order to conduct this research both primary and
secondary research will be done on this topic and appropriate findings regarding this topic will
be presented in this report. The literature review on the importance of eco-tourism and
sustainable developing in tourism sector will also be presented in this report.
P1 Producing research proposal
Research title – Importance of role of eco-tourism in sustainable development for tourism
sector: A case study of UK
Research background
Eco-tourism has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism sectors. The
social responsible travel, personal growth and environment sustainability is focused by eco-
tourism (Torres-Delgado and Saarinen, 2014). The local environment is being supported by
ecotourism as it provides a form of sustainable environment. The importance of eco-tourism is
growing each year. The conservation of environment is there in order to have allowed traveller
impact on nature. With this the high -experience to tourist that are visiting destinations will also
be provided .The number of visitors that are visiting UK are increasing in number due to which
there have been negative impact on the environment (Saufi , O'Brien and Wilkins, 2014).To the
regions natural and cultural resources a threat is there due to tourism. There is a overuse of water
supply, beaches, heritage sites etc due to increase in number of tourist visitors. The pollution
also increases through traffic emissions and the waste material are also not disposed properly by
the tourist that are visiting the destinations. The eco-tourism will help to make awareness in
public regarding the sustainable an environment and what all things can be done in order to
conserve and protect the nature. The negative impact on the environment can be minimized and
also the positive experience to both visitors and host will be given through sustainable
development for tourism activities. The number of visitors that are visiting this places will also
increase if this concept of tourism will be sued and the local and tourism sector will be benefited
from this (Lanfranchi, Giannetto and De Pascale, 2014).
Aims and objective
Aims – The aim of this research is to assess the importance of eco tourism in sustainable
development for tourism activities in UK.
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Objective -
 To examine the importance of Eco tourism and sustainability development
 To analyse various types of eco-tourism activities followed by British tourism sector
 To examine the role of eco-tourism in sustainability development
 To recommend various ways to promote ecotourism in tourism sector
Significance of the study
This research will represent the importance of eco-tourism and sustainability
development in tourism sector (Komppula, 2014).The various ways in which the negative
impact on the environment that can be reduced by making use of eco-tourism in tourism
sectors will be signified by this research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The importance of Eco - tourism and sustainability development
According to Torres-Delgado and Saarinen, 2014 , eco-tourism is utilized as an excellent
tool in order sustainable development. The environmental, economic and social benefits is been
created for local communities. Today by many marketers and tourism planners eco-tourism is
being carried out. The impact on the environment is minimised due to eco-tourism and the local
communities are benefited from this concept and also more satisfaction is there among tourist.
By using the concept of eco-tourism the need to both human and environment are been met. As
per the international ecotourism society, 2007, both the environment and well-being of local pole
is conserved and maintained by the responsible travel. With the sustainable development all the
requirement of tourist are met and the opportunities for the future are protected and enhanced. In
order to achieve the goal of ecotourism sustainable development is very essential. However, on
other hand, eco-tourism can also cause some displacement of local communities and also
threatened the indigenous culture. According to _Ramos and Prideaux, (2014), More
opportunities of job is been given by ecotourism .On the contrary note there can be social
disharmony due to competition for eco-tourism income among various groups.
The various types of eco-tourism activities followed by British tourism sector
According to Picard, (2015) , there are few organization and program that can assist the
people for looking for sustainable experience for travel .The first tourism industry association in
UK is Association of independent tour operators (AITO).Through its business it promotes green
tourism and responsible travel. More sustainable travel are been mad by them .They protect the
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environment such as its flora, fauna and landscape etc. They respect to traditions, religions etc
are been given and the benefits is been given to local people. The waste disposable, noise etc are
been minimized by AITO. In order to achieve this the polices are been established by them and
also there are staff are involved in it. The good practices are been encouraged and awareness is
spread regarding sustainable tourism. The green policy is been followed by British tourism sector
in which more and more of green trees are planted in order to provide the tourist with fresh air.
In order to make use eco-tourism practice the best- ecotourism activities are been used such as
waters are dumped properly, monuments are well maintained and hygiene at tourist destination is
there.
The role of eco-tourism in sustainability development
As per Xu and Fox , ( 2014), for the sustainable tourism ecotourism is a sub-
component .It is an essential tool for sustainable development .The alternate source of livelihood
to local pole is been given by eco-tourism whch is more sustainable. The resources are conserved
and make use of resources in a sustainable ways. By exploring ecology and eco-systems eco-
tourism tries to raise consciousness regarding environment .On the protected natural resources
area business of eco-tourism have low impact and also the techniques are recreated. As per __,
for the experience of tourist it identified natural as a central elements .It also provide benefit to
the local people that are residing over there by giving them more job opportunities. The only
goal of eco-tourism is sustainable development. The wildlife, nature , cultures, monuments etc
can be protected and can be maintained through sustainable practices. Without compromising the
needs of future generation the needs and aspiration of represent generation will be met through
sustainable development. In order to protect natural resources the strong economic incentive is
bee provided by ecotourism and it is one of the string strategies for sustainable development.
Various ways to promote ecotourism in tourism sector
According to _Orgaz-Aguera and Morales, (2015), to promote eco-tourism for a given
destination partnership will help to maximize the marketing dollars and broader and desirable
audience will be reached out. The government of UK can take some initiative in order to
promote eco-tourism of their country. On the TV they can show advertisements related to eco-
tourism activities in UK. By seeing this advertisements on TV people will be attracted towards it
and more frequently they will visit this place. However they can also make use of digital
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technology such as social media sites Facebook, twitter and blogs etc in order to promote
activities of sustainable development activities in tourism sector. The campaign related to
promotion of sustainable development such as dumping of waster -materials or recycling of
garbage etc can be done in UK in order to make a move towards sustainable practices. This will
be grab more number of tourists .In order to promote eco-tourism the various programs need to
be launched by the government and appropriate fund need to be invested in order to preserve
their building and wildlife's.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research philosophy
Basically the two types of research philosophy are there that can be sued in order to
conduct a research and they are as follows-:
Interpretivism- The element of the study are interpreted in this. This type of research is
more qualitative and the structured interviews or participant observation are some of the methods
that are sued in it. From ' social-action drive' interpretivist methods of research are driven or
used. In this the in- depth insight to the lives of respondent is gained
Positivism – It is a type of methods of quantitative and include method such as social
surveys, structure questionnaires and official statistics .They have god relatability .The similar
methods and approaches to the natural sciences are been used by sociologists .The strong
prediction is explained in this research methodology.
The research that will be used in this report will be interventionism as it is type of
qualitative reach and a huge insight knowledge need to be gained from this research so
interpretivism will be used.
Research approach
Basically there are 2 type of research approach and they are as follows-:
Deductive – With a hypothesis this approach usually begins and it is connected mainly
with qualitative research. From an already existing theory hypothesis is developed in a deductive
approach. With a social theory they start and with the data they test its implications. From a more
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general level to a more specific level they move usually. With scientific investigation this type
approach is associated.
Inductive – In this type of approach the data is gathered by the researcher as per their
topic of interests. Once the data is collected the researcher will analyse the data and from that it
will develop a theory that would explain the pattern.
The inductive research will be used in this research because interpretivism researchers make use
of this approach as it is qualitative.
Types of research
Qualitative – This type of research will help to gain insight knowledge on a specific
subject or topic. The ideas or hypothesises are developed with the help of this research. The
focused groups, individual interviews and observation etc are some of the common method. In
this the questions that are raised are broad and open .As the things can be manipulated so they
can be biased.
Quantitative – In this the numerical data is been gathered which get converted in a
useable statistics. In order to form facts to make use of measurable data and in research it uses
uncover patterns. The questionnaires and survey are the common method for this type of
research.
In this research, the qualitative data collection method will be used as the in-depth
knowledge about eco-tourism need to be collected.
Data collection methods
In 2 ways the data can be gathered and they are as follows-:
Primary data collection – This is the primary source of data collection. In order to collect
data from people the interviews, questionnaire etc are been made. In this data is collect for the
first time.
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Secondary data collection – Some of the sources of secondary data collection are social
groups , websites, Internet etc .From before only the data is gathered and it does not comes in the
category of primary source data.
In this research that data will be collected in the from primary data collection as the in form of
questionnaires the data will be collect from tourism companies .
Selecting sample and size- In this random way the some of the tourism companies were
selected and the questionnaires that was made was distributed randomly among them. In order
to conduct this research a sample was selected and the sample size of 20 tourism companies
were selected randomly.
Data analysis
Within the data the themes are analysed by making use of thematic data analysis. It is a
common form of reach in qualitative research.
Ethical consideration
During this research the confidentiality was maintained and no private information
regarding the participant who participated in this research was out. The companies were not
allowed to discuss the answers with each other regarding the questions that were asked in the
questionnaire. They also were asked to make this session a private one. Through this research
that is been done no physical and emotional harm need to be done to people.
DATA ANALYSIS
Theme 1: In this most of the companies thinks that the sector of tourisms is benefited form
the eco-tourism practices.
Respondents Percentage
Yes 16 80
No 4 20
Total 20
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In this 16 companies taught that sectors of tourism is benefited from eco-tourism while rest four
taught it has not benefited from eco-tourism
Theme 2: In this most of the companies said that they are happy with this new concept of
eco-tourism.
Respondents Percentage
Yes 15 75
No 5 25
Total 20
In this the 15 companies were happy with the concepts of eco-tourism while the other five are
not happy with it.
7
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Respondents

Theme 3: In this most of the companies said that negative impact on the environment and
wildlife is reduced through eco-tourism.
Respondents Percentage
Yes 14 70
No 6 30
Total 20
8
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Respondents

In this the 14 companies said that eco-tourism have reduced the impact on the environment and
wildlife. While the rest 6 companies do not think so .
9
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Respondents

Theme 4: Some of the companies said that they are happy with the initiative that is been
taken by government by promoting eco-tourism
Respondents Percentage
Yes 13 65
No 7 35
Total 20
The 13 companies said that thy are happy with the initiative that is taken by the government
while the rest do not think so.
10
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Respondents