Then there are visitors who just want to see the attraction disregarding whether or not it is around after they leave. Most people believe it is the same as nature-based tourism, and indeed the terms are used interchangeably throughout different countries. This could be why to date, there has been very little regulation and implementation of effective education in ecotourism, even though the majority of the operators do realise the importance of effective interpretation on the sustainability of the environments on which they depend. However, there are many people who are very interested in the educational aspects of ecotourism and conservation. The increasing popularity of tourist programs requesting volunteer research assistants who actually pay to learn, continues to rise.
Many tourists are more than willing to contribute their time and money to help wildlife.
It may not be too optimistic to develop ecotourism which definitely will change people's behaviour towards the environment, due in part to effective educational programs. And if these can be implemented without any or little cost to the operators, well, then they really have nothing to loose - definitely a more effective way of looking at the problem than doing nothing at all, and risking it all. The success of the ecotourism industry depends on how well it contributes towards the preservation of natural environments, which in turn depends on the success of managers and local communities in creating effective ecotourism management and interpretative strategies. As mentioned earlier, there are some who believe that ecotourism will not be able to protect the environments it relies on from the masses it attracts, and once this is realised the futility of ecotourism will become painfully apparent. It seems that the answer may lie in education, for both the tourist and the tourist operators.