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Nature-Based Tourism as Education for Sustainability: Possibilities, Limitations, Contradictions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Andrew Brookes
Andrew Brookes*
Affiliation:
La Trobe University, Bendigo
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Abstract

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In what sense might nature based tourism be considered education for sustainability? “Educational” confers an implied worthiness which may seem to offset the environmental costs of tourism. Moreover, nature-based tourism may indeed have an important educational role to play. This paper examines the role of “education” in ecotourism discourse, and argues that a predominance in ecotourism of an overly simplified set of educational concepts. These fail to convince that “educational” nature based tourism provides a significant contribution to education for sustainability, and equally fail to establish the necessity for tourism as a means to those educatonal ends which are achieved. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the considerations which a more serious consideration of nature based tourism as education would have to take into account.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 15: Volume 15-16 , 1999 , pp. 23 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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