Ecotourism in China Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Ecotourism in China - Term Paper Example Some of the core areas where ecotourism intends to operate are: facilitating environmental sustainability and ecological conservation of different types of habitats that may exist in a certain geographical region. In addition to this, ecotourism pre-dominantly accentuates upon the social aspects and dimensions of tourism, rather than focusing on acquiring commercial and monetary gains only. Different agendas and programs, which are launched and initiated under the banner of ecotourism policies, intend to launch schemes and awareness programs. By the help of these programs, they can educate and inform people at a massive level. This education looks at different ways through which people can play a proactive role in bettering their very own environment. At the same time, it also urges them to make efforts through which sustainable development of environment is possible. Case of Yixian valley and Ecotourism in China The Yixian Valley is located about 450 km from Shanghai, in the south o f Anhui Province and close to Huangshan. It’s famous for "Yellow Mountains", landscapes and pleasant weather. This valley is a member of the global network of UNESCO Geoparks. By the end of 2004, benefiting from very high investments, the region implemented 290 projects in eight key programs. These programs were aimed at the development of ecotourism, organic farming, and preservation of scenic beauty, energy enhancement, water work industry, development planning and transport. The key selection criteria due to which Yixian has been selected, is the fact that it is one of those places in the country where some serious and high level efforts for the development of ecotourism have taken place in recent years. This place has also been a centre of ecotourism investment, even for... The paper describes some of the fundamental organizations which are playing a proactive part and role in ensuring the sustainability of ecotourism in China. An important company to mention in this context is Wild China. This company was founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Zhang Mei, a Chinese native of Yunnan Province, who was educated in the United States. The company decided to help the government of the province to develop its tourist economy while preserving the beauty of places and cultures. Since its founding, Wild China is naturally oriented towards ecotourism. It started by organizing custom tours for individual travelers and has always proposed routes outside areas traditionally popular with mass tourism. It deliberately started its operations in the western provinces, such as Qinghai and Gansu, where no one was operational in 2000. At that time, all agencies were facing east, the most developed region of China. From the very beginning, the company only worked with local guides, train and paying tourists. It was a revolution since many guides in China are poorly paid and are forced to pay commissions to stores from where they take groups. It also marketed on saving paper by printing brochures on recycled paper and refraining from using plastic in its operations. In places like Beijing, they tried to take tourists to areas less frequented and organized meals with the residents, as well as the traditional tai-chi workshops. Since then, that unique business proposition of Wild China has been copied! For them, the goal is not to "make China" but to meet Chinese people.