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CUM GRUNO SALIS
(with a pinch of salt)
To win or not to win
A week in the English seaside resort of
Bognor Regis (1.5 m visitors annually) has been named as a
booby prize in a television quiz, causing anger among tourist
bosses and councilors. The ITV series
Bognor or Bust, will be a news quiz in which contestants will
try to avoid "winning" a week in the resort.
Source:
The Times/ Travelmole.com |
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Disclaimer:
Any views
expressed in this newspaper belong to their respective
authors and are not necessarily those of
ECOCLUB S.A. Although we try to check all facts, we accept no
liability for
inaccuracies - which means you should not take any travel or
other decisions
based only on what you read here... Use of this newspaper is
covered by the Terms & Conditions
of the ECOCLUB.com
Website and by your uncommon sense and
good humour.
Copyright © 1999-2004 ECOCLUB
S.A. All rights reserved.
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 EDITORIAL:
WORLD DAY vs. EVERY DAY
There are potentially more world days than days and many are about the
environment. Two are on this week, today, Earth Day April 22 while the
World Day for the abolition of animal experiments, comes two days
later. Thus there are two competing Earth Days and a separate
Environment day, A Habitat Day, A Day to combat Desertification and
Drought, and a Day for Biological Diversity (cf. religious holidays
for saints). World days tend to be neutral and pleasant for all until
one starts thinking of what sea change it would take for these holy
globalisation days to become more than revenue raising opportunities
for NGOs, and photo-opportunities for politicians-on-bikes, or if one
thinks of the repercussions of treating problems in an isolated
manner: If animal experiments are banned, how long until the day for
the abolition of experiments using humans? Indeed world days may have
another, counter-productive effect: We gave you a world day for your
issue, you celebrate it again and again every year and nothing
changes, so your issue is discredited and boring, sorry, your
government is asleep.
Instead, it
is everyday practice that matters, and in this spirit we are holding
this month's ECOCLUB.com Live Chat seeking simple, innovative ideas
for everyday use. Four preliminary suggestions below:
Do not
consume, just for the sake of consuming. From food, to buying the
latest gadget. Try to avoid luxury. Luxury is the definition of waste,
and your extra could be someone else's deficit. See through all these
consumer ads that try to convince you to be more selfish,
"because you are worth it". The truth is that these
advertisers despise you so much that they appeal to your lower
instincts.
Do not
recycle, just for the sake of recycling. Recycling, usually
benevolent, can also lead to waste and toxic sweatshops in the
developing world. Instead, repair, reuse, resell or even better donate
the unwanted appliance, or item to someone less fortunate. I am sure
you met someone today.
Do not own,
just for the sake of owning. Learn to share, your books, your
knowledge, your bike, your car, even your house (ok, no need to share
your toothbrush). It is not easy, after millennia of darwinism, and
Proudhon is out of fashion, but it will emancipate your mind.
Do not seek
pleasure, just for the sake of pleasure. Take care of your own
ecosystem, your body. Avoid the artificial paradises of drugs of all
types - from 4 cups of coffee, to cigarettes, to buying sprees, to
irrational dogmas, to escapism and the exoticism of fake paradisiacal
resorts. Walk! Cycle! Exercise your body and your brain. Go on real
trips, meet real people, make real friends.
Antonis
B. Petropoulos
ECOCLUB Editor.
| Members
News
Mexico, Q.Roo: Villas
Ecotucan send us some good and bad news. An unfortunate
event occurred early in the month of April, when with only one
day notice large bulldozers arrived to open a 20 meters wide
road running parallel to the lagoon, 100 meters from the
shore, to provide access to more lots now for sale, yet still
in dispute, on the lagoon front. A few of these lots have been
already sold and have been completely cleared by the new
owners. With very heavy hearts they have simply stood by as
the destruction took place not wanting to affront "highly
volatile yet very powerful ejido leaders". On a more
positive note Villas Ecotucan announce the first visit by a
rural school group that will take place on April 30th. About
30 participants will arrive to spend the day taking part in
kayaking , recycling art, and jungle walk workshops, as well
as small talks on taking care of the environment. Children
will spend the night in the cabins and finish the program
mid-day Saturday. Villas Ecotucan will provide all meals,
lodging and necessary equipment free of charge and volunteer
students from University of Quintana Roo alternative tourism
career will provide necessary staff. Our Ecolodge Members also
announce the second annual student tourism fair of Chetumal
that will take place at the lodge on May 16. Students from
various high schools in our municipality will be invited to
participate in a weekend comprised of lectures, activities and
competitions all based on introducing them to ecotourism.
 Villas
Ecotucan
India, Kerala: The Magazine Elle
has featured The
Green Magic Nature Resort in an article Excerpt:
"...that tree is a 200-year-old Banyan rising high up
in the mountains of southern India through the rain-forest
mists of the state of Kerala, and the cooing unfolds inside a
cozy tree house 90 feet above the ground. At the rugged Green
Magic Nature Resort-a trekworthy, eco-conscious retreat
powered by the sun-romance is an adventure. After you take a
sluggish bus ride to the nearby town of Vythiri on a
road lined with cardamom and tea planta-
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Letters
to the Editor
Ms. Megan Epler Wood
sends this additional note regarding ECOCLUB's review of her new report in our
March
issue:
"The report does not claim that specific statisticians,
such as the World Tourism Organization, inaccurately collected
data on the size of the ecotourism market. Rather, the report
demonstrates that the data available from WTO was inaccurately
used to bolster the claim that the ecotourism market was very
large. In fact, the data on how many travelers travel with green
motivations was not gathered, and the problem has been that many
false assumptions were made in the 1990s on the size of the
market, because the survey researchers never looked at actual
consumer behavior in terms of their eco-social selection
process.
I would also like to point out, that the size of the U.S.
market for those who actively eco-socially select ecotravel
companies for their environmental and social agendas was
estimated to be approximately 100,000 every year. I did not call
such people true ecotourists, as I personally would not define
true ecotourists this way. I believe the market is much broader,
but it is simply not actively selecting vacations using
eco-social criteria. We must understand their criteria, and I
have received letters from 4 ecolodges, since the article was
released, saying that they can immediately validate this article
based on the experience of their companies, and these are some
of the most eco-socially responsible companies in the world.
If businesses are to successfully market their ecolodge and
ecotourism products, it is highly important that market numbers
are properly understood, and consumer behavior is accurately
surveyed. Knowing more accurately how consumer select their
vacations will have an immense impact on businesses and
countries worldwide."
Epler
Wood Report
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tions, a resort driver takes you by
Jeep the rest of the way on hairpin turns past startled
leopards. Once you're there, a water-weighted "lift"
hoists you to your sylvan hideaway, an airy bedroom of sturdy
rope-lashed jackwood-incandescent at sunset, otherearthly in
the moonlight."
The
Green Magic Nature Resort
Costa Rica: La
Laguna del Lagarto's proprietor, Mr. Vinzenz Schmack was
interviewed for an article in The Rotarian, the magazine of
Rotary International. Please find an excerpt below:
"Ecotourism is still more a myth than a reality,"
says Vinzenz Schmack, a member of the Rotary Club of San José
and owner of La Laguna del Lagarto, an ecolodge set on 500
hectares of virgin rain forest near the Nicaraguan border.
"I think true ecotourism means to go back to nature. Mass
tourism and overcrowded places are incompatible with
ecotourism." Schmack also cautions against the false
promise of ecotourism as the country confronts broader issues
of sustainable development: "Ecotourism can be a door
opener and facilitator but cannot resolve all the
problems."
Laguna
del Lagarto
Dominica: 3 Rivers Lodge was reviewed in a special feature
on Dominica in the UK's Daily Telegraph, excerpt:
"Jem' Winston, a young man from Essex, gave up driving
taxis to establish Three Rivers Eco Lodge, near Rosalie, in an
enchanting place which, as the name suggests, has enough water
power and sunshine to provide power for the enterprise.
Everything is organic and bio-degradable. Chemicals are banned
and the jeep has been adapted to run on cooking oil. So far,
four comfortable lodges have been completed and there is a
camping site for back-packers. "There is so much nature
and beauty on this island, both at sea and on land, that no
one with half an interest in flora and fauna could be bored
here".
3
Rivers Lodge
Ecuador: La
Selva Jungle Lodge in the heart of the Amazon of Ecuador
announces it now offers a camping program for those who want a
slightly different look at the rainforest. One can spend one
night in tents, in combination with a stay at the lodge or
camp for as many nights as one likes deep in the forest behind
Lake Mandicocha. The tents are on elevated thatched roof
platforms and there is room for 8 guests a night.
La
Selva Jungle Lodge
USA, New York: Our Member Ms Claudia Derp is a Candidate for the
Master in Science in Tourism and Travel Management. As part of
her Masters project she is assisting the tourism authorities
and stakeholders in Canavieiras, Brazil to determine
priorities and infrastructure needs to attract more tour
groups and individual tourists. For this purpose Claudia is
conducting a survey of tour operators from the US who are
currently offering tours to Central and South America and are
exhibiting a concern for the tour destination’s environment
and its people.
Take
the Survey
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