Basically Eco tourism introduces people to new environments and eco-systems. It educates those unfamiliar with such environments to respect, appreciate, maintain and protect them.
Eco tours are economical with fuel, use energy efficient and local modes of transportation, prepare food effectively without surplus using local unprocessed foods, and then giving back to the community.The main components:
Energy efficiency
Focussing on education of the values of nature, conservation and culture
Local community contribution
An Eco-friendly tour company must be asked these questions:
Do you use local guides?
Do you use local amenities?
Do you give back to the community?
Is there a community contribution?
Is there a cultural exchange?
BEWARE OF THE WORD ECO!
Why? Because it is used so casually in the travel business as an advertising ploy, that in most cases it is meaningless. At ASIA PARADISE we adhere rigidly to the principles of eco-tourism and have total respect for the ecology and environment in Thailand.
I started Asia Paradise because I had been on a number of tours with some of the major companies and was appalled at how little the guides, who do most of the hard work, actually are paid and how much profit these companies make for themselves without giving anything back to the communities. Having partnered myself with a nature watch tour company I myself became enveloped with the whole altruistic attitude of the guides and eco-friendly workers who joined us. Thais are proud of their beautiful country and are devoted to maintaining it. You can be standing in a forest and look at one tree. This one tree can provide shelter for a range of animals and birds and become an eco-system in itself. This never fails to amaze me.
As well as respecting the wildlife and environment in which they live, local human lifestyles are just as important since everything co-exists and the balance between man and nature is a very fine one. It is important, not to appear in villages with bus loads of camera-clicking tourists. We don’t want to drown their values with our own, nor do we want them to see us as cash cows. Of course they will benefit from tourists purchasing their wares, but it is important that they are encouraged to maintain their ways of life and not to covet ours.
Groups of tourists are kept small to minimise the effect they might have on the environment. Our tours differ in terms of comfort - some have five star hotels for part of the time, other totally in local accomodation but clients are encouraged to sleep and feed with locals in traditional dwellings, usually without electricity and hot water. They will experience at least once a back-to-basics way of life, and see why it is so important for the environment and the future of humanity to understand about conservation, efficiency and healthy eating. The first thing you notice about Thais is how healthy and young they look. Of course we won’t give clients a diet of, say beetles nor subject them to uneccesary discomforts. After all, this is a holiday to be enjoyed and not an endurance test.
Hikes in the jungles and natural areas of the country are strictly controlled by the guides we employ. Clients are taught to respect the environment, keep noise down, not disrupt sleeping or feeding patterns of wildlife and never to bring anything into the forest that they will not take back with them.
At the end of our tours they should have a greater understanding of how to have a good and sustainable life without wasting resources and by reducing stress. Also, to have a good time and enjoy themselves. In most cases it will be the experience of a lifetime.
