Groups are often kept small to ensure a personal cross-cultural experience. A traveler embarks on an environmentally aware trip with certain objectives in mind. Conservation travel spells a number of benefits. A country s natural assets such as parks and forests, wildlife sanctuaries and marine reserves could be developed as tourist destinations, becoming vital sources of revenue without necessarily endangering the environment. Those familiar with the surroundings such as the rural folk or indigenous people may be tapped as interpreters or guides.
Ecotourism can thus be a scheme to integrate wildlands protection with rural development.
With the ecotourist s interest in and concern for their unique culture, indigenous people are inspired to renew their appreciation of their customs and traditions. The ecotourist, in turn, can learn much from indigenous cultures. Rural and tribal communities are a great source of knowledge that can be useful to modern-day society. Such body of knowledge can be ancient medicinal practices, intricate jewelry-making and harmless methods of textile dyeing. This type of tour, though more demanding, is often meaningful.