Hong Kong as an international metropolis is well known for its vibrant urban life, which attracts millions of mass conventional tourists for shopping and business. Recently, ecotourism has flourished ...and attracts ecotourists who visit the ecological and cultural resources of the rural landscape, country parks and marine parks. Yan Chau Tong, also known as 'Double Haven', is remote from the urban centre, which helps preserve its natural flavour and cultural heritages such as Hakka walled villages. It is noted as an important site for developing ecotourist activities. A symbiosis of humans and nature cannot be achieved without a sound planning and zoning scheme. This paper investigates the use of IKONOS imagery and a geographic information system for rational planning of ecotourist activities and conservation measures. Through image classification of IKONOS and integrated with ecological data, essential habitats can be mapped and a spatial database is established. Suitable sites for recreational activities (including camping, heritage visiting, hiking and snorkelling) and important ecological habitats can both be identified using multiple criteria evaluation techniques. The use of a multiple objective land allocation model helps resolve conflict between recreation and conservation. Sites are generally identified as (a) those where conservation or recreation should receive the highest priority; (b) those that can be treated as additional recreation or conservation sites; and (c) conflict areas that can serve both purposes. The result can assist in planning land resources for ecotourism to satisfy both objectives and attain sustainability in the area.
Yusufeli ilçesi important attraction centres in Artvin province for ecotourism activities for the values they inhabit. These centres have important ecotourism potentials with diverse flora and fauna ...existent in Coruh Valley watershed, variable soil structures between the elevations of 550 and 3937 m, rich local products and handicrafts, local and traditional architecture, historical background and interesting geological formations. This research its flexibility, effectiveness, and ability to deal with qualitative and quantitative criteria, the AHP was selected and used for applying to decision makers, the public, stakeholders and sector experts participation in activity selection problem of ecotourism planning. According to the analysis results obtained AHS, eco activity having the highest priority value (0.172) to nature discovery walk activity coming to the fore. Respectively, the nature discovery walk activity followed by water-based activities (0167), bicycle safari (0156), flora wildlife observation reconnaissance (0144), history and discovery of cultural property (0135) bird - butterfly monitoring (0127) and camp-caravan tourism (0.0997).
Ajodhya Hill in Purulia district of West Bengal is a treasure house of natural beauties, but hilly terrain and thick forest cover have made many parts of this region inaccessible by road and ...perpetual agricultural drought over decades had weakened the economy of the area. Taking advantage of this physical and economic handicap, an organized group of social and political activists called Left-Wing Extremists (LWE), perpetrating violence and keeping the people of this region under threat. Non-cooperation of local population being the prime obstacle, government security forces with all its intelligence network and muscle power had not been utterly succeed to stop these activities. This UGC (University Grant Commission - Govt. of India) sponsored ‘Minor Research Project’ plans for economic and social stabilization of this region through the promotion of alternate economic practices for underprivileged forest dwellers and involving them in anti-terrorism operations. Taking into account the severity of physical environment and minimum skill level of tribal people, implementation of ‘Ecotourism’ in these forest villages seems to be the most suitable income-generating and ecologically permissible activity. Due to essentially spatially distributed nature of tourism and terrorism related data and need of various types of spatial and statistical analysis GIS has proven to be a successful means in this study and based on spatial, non-spatial and attribute data overlay („Weighted Sum Overlay Analysis’- ARC-GIS 9.2), ecotourism potential zones were identified. The inputs in the form of arc-coverages were assigned relative weightages according to their influence/importance in ecotourism development. Cadastral level action plan maps have been prepared for ecotourism infrastructure development and sustainable land use practices. Spatial database created on last ten years extremist movements and terrorist attacks to identify the spatial pattern, association and causes of vulnerability of the hot spots. Lastly spatial decisions have been made for allocation and relocation of police out posts, military camps and local participatory groups for fast information transfer and rapid action against any kind of social disorder.
Hong Kong has great potential to develop ecotourism as an alternate tourism experience. In order to provide visitors with satisfaction and conserve and sustain natural resources, a comprehensive ...zoning plan is indispensable to identify areas for various purposes and activities. Geographic information system combined with multi-criteria decision analysis procedure can be used to formulate these plans in an objective and efficient way. This study used this approach to objectively identify potential sites for various ecotourism activities and tourism development potential in Lantau Island, Hong Kong SAR. The results were then used to evaluate the Lantau development plan proposed by the government. By integrating with quality conservation information, the island was further classified into four zones namely sanctuary, nature conservation, outdoor recreation, and tourism development through multi-objective analysis. The results showed that proposed sites for various recreational activities are of medium to high suitability, while other potential sites with high suitability were revealed. In addition, sites with conflicting objectives and those required further protection were also identified. The results can be used as an unbiased guide for Lantau development. This study also demonstrated ecotourism planning and development can be practically supported by geo-information tools combined with proper multi-criteria decision analysis procedures based on which better decision can be made.
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