Tourism is generally an important economic driver for most countries around the world. However, alongside its enormous profits, this market also inadvertently leaves behind many negative consequences and harmful effects on the ecological environment. To limit this situation, ecotourism was born alongside the strong development of the GEN organization.
What is ecotourism?
Instead of focusing on convenient but noisy urban life, ecotourism aims to connect with unspoiled nature. A standard form of this kind of tourism, as defined by international regulations, must ensure that tourists have the opportunity to explore the ethnic identity of the region, experience nature, and thereby raise awareness about protecting the ecosystem and local culture. This form of tourism not only generates profits for hotels and resorts but also needs to provide financial income for local communities or contribute to environmental and resource conservation efforts.
The emergence of GEN
Adhering to international standards, ecotourism has significantly contributed to environmental protection and improved social welfare for local communities. However, the rapid growth of this form of tourism has led to many issues of greenwashing and abuse for unclear marketing purposes. In this context, GEN was born.
GEN (Global Ecotourism Network), also known as the Global Ecotourism Network, was established in 2015. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with a mission to promote and advocate for standard ecotourism. GEN’s core mission revolves around connecting national and regional ecotourism associations and indigenous communities worldwide to share knowledge about this eco-friendly form of tourism while preventing greenwashing.
Members and Activities
GEN Members
Over more than a decade of operation, GEN has successfully connected many members globally. However, GEN does not directly manage individual members in each country but works through organizations representing different regions. The most notable among them are:
- Asian Ecotourism Network (AEN): The Ecotourism Network for the Asian region.
- Latin American and Caribbean Ecotourism Network (LACEN): The Ecotourism Network representing Latin America and the Caribbean.
- In addition, GEN also has participation from other network members in Europe, North America, and Africa.
GEN Operations
GEN does not operate on a traditional membership fee basis. Instead, this non-profit, non-governmental organization encourages members to contribute information and participate in organizing events and campaigns related to the environment, community, and society. To facilitate information sharing and promotion for its members as much as possible, GEN typically focuses on the following main activities:
- Developing and defining standard concepts for ecotourism.
- Conducting workshops, conferences, and technical tours with the aim of promoting conservation while benefiting local communities.
- Providing research resources and reports on sustainable trends.
- Filling professional gaps and proposing specific principles instead of generalizing common concepts.
With experience accumulated not only from its founding members but also from global organization members, GEN and its activities have built a solid ecotourism network and community.
Conclusion
As ecotourism grows stronger, the risks of greenwashing also increase. GEN and its members are striving harder than ever to combat this situation. In addition, GEN strives to provide travelers with the most standard form of ecotourism and contribute to raising awareness of ecological and social protection, as well as local communities.