The Role of Ecotourism in Sustainable Development

Abstract

As a concept, development was evaluated only as an economic goal until the 1970s, and its physical, social, and cultural environment elements were ignored and left in the background. The concept of development has turned into a sustainable development phenomenon, which includes physical, social, and cultural factors, as people notice environmental pollution over time. Sustainable development, which integrates the mission of many industries interacting with the environment, has also gained ground in the tourism industry and has led to sustainable tourism understanding. Therefore, destinations have developed different tourism types within the sustainable tourism framework. Ecotourism has come to the forefront as a tourism type that can minimize physical, social, and cultural damage of tourism to the environment. Therefore, the current study, aiming to reveal the impact of ecotourism on sustainable development, covered the subjects of sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and the relationship between sustainable development and ecotourism.