Planning and Management of Ecotourism using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA)

As sustainable development seems to become a goal pursued by increasingly more institutions globally, research on the economic activities that contribute to this goal becomes important. In recent years, ecotourism promoted as a sustainable economic activity, particularly for communities with low levels of economic income per capita that live in rich, diverse natural and cultural environments. However, as ecotourism is a livelihood activity that makes use of the natural resource base of a community and given the scarcity of this, pursuing ecotourism has regularly given rise to conflict in relation to either the ‘correct’ or fair use of available natural resources. In order to assist conflict resolution and identify the ideal trade-off between the different objectives of ecotourism within communities, conceptual models that would help promote the understanding and hence management of social and environmental elements of ecotourism is fundamental. This paper examines issues pertinent to the strategic planning and management of ecotourism using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) that has been traditionally employed in environmental planning and project appraisal to address conflicting stakeholder objectives over scarce natural resources. Results show that methodology can be usefully applied to integrate qualitative and quantitative research, consider stakeholder preferences in the decision-making process and provide policy information helpful in conceptualizing the interplay of social and environmental objectives of sustainable tourism.

Keywords:

planning and management , Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) , ecotourism