Travelers who strive to do no harm

We've all heard the stories. Tourists who climb sacred sites to snap the spectacular view, or demand CNN in a remote mountain village, or shoot photos of shy locals even as they wave their hands in objection.

But what about the tourist who just wants a hot shower after a hard day's hike? In parts of Nepal, that request could also be thought unethical, as guesthouse proprietors there are apt to raze local forests to heat the water.

So just how worried about ethics should a tourist be? Judging by the growth in the "ethical tourism" trade, it appears that more travelers today may be willing to skip the shower.

Definitions of ethical tourism, often loosely referred to as ecotourism (which now encompasses cultural and political issues as well as environmental), vary widely and this makes meaningful stats hard to come by. But according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), ecotourism now makes up a 20 percent slice of global tourism and is growing three times as fast as the industry as a whole.

Academics who study the industry suggest that percentage needs a big asterisk behind it. David Weaver, professor of tourism management at George Mason University, says it's critical to distinguish between "hard" and "soft" ecotourism. The latter might include a trip to a seaside resort or an air-conditioned bus ride through a game preserve - activities he calls "ecotourism lite," which display an interest in the environment without the real ethical dimension.

So how big is the hard-core ecotourism crowd, the people who stay in ecolodges in remote areas? Maybe 1 percent, he says.

Yet despite that tiny percentage, travel companies' desire to be perceived as eco-friendly and label tours as ecological or ethical is spurred by a genuine groundswell of public interest in traveling in a responsible way, says Edward Hasbrouck, author of "The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World."

The media have helped make global warming, pollution, rain forests and endangered species household words and with that has come a greater recognition of the downside of tourism and its impact. Political instability in some popular travel spots such as the Maldives and Burma (Myanmar) have also pushed consumers to demand more accountability from the tour companies who bring travelers there.

Over the next few years, the expected boom in travel will make this kind of approach more critical. Tourism is the world's largest economic sector. It plays a significant role in lifting people out of poverty, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said, and is one of the few ways the least developed countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy. Last year, almost 700 million tourists made international trips. By 2010, the figure is projected to reach 1 billion, according to the WTO.

With that flow of foreign visitors comes greater wear and tear on fragile ecosystems and the danger of swamping the charm and uniqueness of popular destinations.

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