South-east Asian ecotourism boom comes with risks

Significance

ASEAN has started to implement a road map for ecotourism clusters, but industry leaders warn that more consultation is needed between stakeholders to protect environmentally sensitive destinations. A focus on arrivals instead of regulation is hampering efforts to manage the strategy.

Impacts

• Least-developed areas will see some economic gains, but the dominance of foreign investors will mean most earnings will be exported for now.
• An absence of industry standards could lessen the calibre of management and staff training.
• Investors may cause tensions by excluding local villagers from development procedures.