Disambiguation of the Terminology of Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism

The growth of sustainability philosophies and environmentally-conscious thinking in the last four decades, and their embrace by nearly all international and national organizations in some form–including tourism development and regulatory agencies–has spawned a variety of terms to describe tourist activity that is harmonized with concern for persons, natural resources, cultural heritage, animals, and ecosystems, as well as long-term sustainability to insure intra- and inter-generational equity. Clear, concise, and consistent terminology is critical for any area of practice and theory, and tourism research and tourism praxis are no exceptions. This study examines the definitions of ‘sustainable tourism’ and ‘ecotourism’ issued by the key international tourism organizations and researchers circa 2000 to the present time, analyses their suitability for use by researchers, policy makers and the general public, maps the terminology to current best practices, and issues a recommendation for a universally acceptable definition of these two key terms.