Ecotourism Impacts on the Economy, Society and Environment of Thailand

Aswin Sangpikul ()
Additional contact information
Aswin Sangpikul: Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Dhurakij Pundit University, Bangkok, Thailand

Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 2017, vol. 6, 302-312

Abstract: During the past decade, there have been a number of ecotourism studies in various disciplines to provide a knowledge foundation for sustainable tourism development. However, most prior studies have examined the contributions of the ecotourism destinations in the economic and/or environmental dimensions. Little research has investigated the contributions of the ecotourism businesses in terms of business practices and their products to the three dimensions of sustainable development. This paper examines how ecotourism tour operators and their guided tours contribute to the development of economic, social and environmental dimensions at ecotourism sites and local communities. Data were collected from ecotourism tour operators through the interview and observation methods, and the contents were analyzed in accordance with ecotourism concepts and principles. The paper reveals that the practices of tour operators and their guided tours contributed economic, social, and environmental benefits to the ecotourism destinations and local communities. Interestingly, this paper finds that the length (duration) and types of guided tours had different contributions and impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability. In particular, guided tours with a local visit contribute greater economic and social benefits to the local areas than tours without a local visit. Recommendations are provided to promote responsible ecotourism business.

Keywords: Ecotourism impacts; Tour operators; Economic; Social; and Environmental Benefits. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O44 Q56 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.lifescienceglobal.com/independent-journ ... ironment-of-thailand (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lif:jrgelg:v:6:y:2017:p:302-312

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Reviews on Global Economics is currently edited by Michael McAleer and Chia-Lin Chang

More articles in Journal of Reviews on Global Economics from Lifescience Global
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Faisal Ameer Khan ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).