| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
IKEDA Mitsuho University of Kumamoto, 文学部, 助教授 (40211718)
OTA Yoshinobu University of Kyusyu, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, 比較社会文化研究科, 助教授 (60203808)
MASUDA Noboru Osaka Prefectural University, 農学部, 助教授 (00181652)
EGUCHI Nobukiyo Rittsumeikan University, 文学部, 教授 (90185108)
TAKADA Masatoshi Mukogawa Women's University, 生活環境学部, 教授 (40154794)
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| Research Abstract |
(1)The main aim of this project is to study socio-cultural factors of ecotourism in the Caribbean area. Field researches have been done in Bahama, Barbados, Cuba, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St.Martin, Saint Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago in the fiscal year of 1974. Also, field researches had been done in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama in the fiscal year of 1973.
(2)According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO) , tourists arrivals worldwide in 1993 totalled 500 million. While mass tourism contributes to the economic development and financial advantage, it also causes environmental degradation and cultural disruption. The realization of sustainable tourism and responsible tourism become a global issue.
(3)In the Carribean countries we have investigated, the tourism industry has already become a leading industry. Governments of these countries are constructively promoting international tourism. However, their national tourism policies are mostly oriented toward the promotion of mass tourism because economic development and finacial advantage have prime importance. Ecologically sustainable and responsible tourism has not yet been realized in the Carribean countries.
(4)Ecotourism usually involves a small number of tourists in a group, so that it is not fitted with mass tourism. We have successfully acquired many important data on ecotourism in the developing countires, through extensive and comparative researches in Caribbean island countries and Middle American countries.
(5)In order to realize ecologically sustainable tourism and responsible tourism in developing countries such as most countries in the Carribean area, international cooperation and ODA (official development assistance) by the developed countries are inevitable and indispensable. The results of our study will be contributed to the international cooperation in the field of ecotourism.
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