Setting the context: quality in ecotourism

This chapter sets the context for this book on quality assurance and certification in ecotourism. While ecotourism and sustainable certification programs have been comprehensively addressed in the literature there have been few critical reviews of other quality assurance tools and initiatives in the ecotourism literature nor a more general discussion of issues of quality in ecotourism. Much of the academic simply describes a range of programs and best practice guidelines, promotes the benefits of such techniques and provides case studies on best practice companies and schemes. To date there has been little critical analysis of the challenges and opportunities associated with planning, developing and implementing quality in ecotourism and presenting a range of ecotourism stakeholders’ perspectives on quality in ecotourism, with a particular focus on certification programs.