Ecotourism is a booming and growing activity, it generates both economic, environmental and sociocultural impacts.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines ecotourism as:

“As tourism is a booming and growing activity, it generates both economic, environmental and sociocultural impacts”.

“That environmentally responsible tourism modality consisting in traveling to relatively unchanged areas in the ecosystem, in order to enjoy, appreciate and study the natural attractions (landscape, wild flora and fauna) of said areas, as well as any cultural manifestation (of the present and from the past) that can be found there, through a conservation process, also has low environmental and cultural impact and promotes an active and socioeconomically beneficial involvement for local populations “(Ceballos-Lascuraín, 1998, p 7).

Ecotourism also promotes other kinds of attractions, cultural, historical, natural. This type of tourism is willing to pay high prices for the existence of unique attractions, whether cultural or natural. At the commercial level, it has been successful in the development and marketing of a new, unconventional tourism activity, associated with the use of the natural and cultural resources of a region. The main countries with this type of tourism development are Kenya, Costa Rica, Belize and Ecuador, the biological diversity of the fauna and flora of these regions has led to it being developed by naturalists and scientists who became the main promoters of ecotourism and allowed other people to be interested in visiting those destinations.

The main philosophy of ecotourism is the conservation of the environments where it is practiced, the development model is sustainable and also the World Tourism Organization describes ecotourism as any form of tourism based on nature, in the main motivation of tourists is the observation and appreciation of nature. Generally, although not exclusively, ecotourism is organized for small groups by specialized and locally owned companies. Ecotourism also seeks to reduce negative impacts on the natural and socio-cultural environment.

“The main philosophy of ecotourism is the conservation of the environments where it is practiced, the development model is sustainable”.

After having developed the present essay, it has been concluded that tourism is an activity of strong growth in the economy and also generates some impacts, which can be avoided by changing tourism practices.

The concern for the care of the environment, has led to change different activities and generate the concept of environmental sustainability. It concludes that one of these activities has been the tourism sector, since this has generated impacts at different levels, social, economic and environmental, the latter being the main mission of sustainable tourism, is to avoid at all costs the impact on the environment.

It is important to highlight the importance of the awareness that tourists have taken nowadays about the care of the areas they visit.