UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Paul F. J. Eagles In: McCool, Stephen F.; Watson, Alan E., comps. 1995. Linking tourism, the environment, and sustainabilityÛtopical volume of compiled papers from a special session of the annual meeting of the National Recreation and Park Association; 1994 October 12-14; Minneapolis, MN. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-323. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. ABSTRACT Sustainable tourism refers to a broad range of recreational activities occurring within the context of a natural environment. An emerging consensus is that sustainable tourism has identifiable niche markets, each with a unique set of characteristics. Four such niche marketsÛecotourism, wilderness use, adventure travel, and car campingÛare discussed within the context of extrinsic and intrinsic motives, environmental attitudes, social motives, demographics, economics, social constraints, environmental impacts, travel profile development, business cycle, use levels, key management issues, and market opportunities. The World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Owen and others (1993) argue that sustainable tourism development in Wales should follow several key principles, including: Ô Tourism should be one part of a balanced economy. Ô The use of tourism environments must allow for long-term preservation and for use of those environments. Ô Tourism should respect the character of an area. Ô Tourism must provide long-term economic benefits. Ô Tourism should be sensitive to the needs of the host population. The North American concept of sustainable tourism development also accepts these principles, but the discussion is often limited to tourism based on natural environments. We used the latter approach, defining sustainable tourism as tourist use of natural environments where long-term economic benefits, continuous environmental protection, and local community development are inherent. We emphasized North America, as both a tourist destination and a tourist source. Understanding the market means understanding the place, goods, consumer preferences, demand, available opportunities, and the enterprise of buying and selling. This is much more than just advertising. Advertising should take place only after there has been extensive research about the market. Understanding the market for sustainable tourism in North America involves understanding the tourists, the tourism environments, and the interrelationships between the tourists and their hosts. Mahoney (undated) points out that market strategies designed for the mass market often result in products, prices, and promotions that are not appealing to potential customers. He suggests that recreation marketing needs to be based on market segmentation and target marketing. Market segmentation is the process of (1) grouping existing and potential visitors with similar preferences into groups called market segments, (2) selecting the most promising segments as target markets, and (3) designing marketing mixes that satisfy the special needs, desires, and behaviors of the target markets. We support Mahoney's ideas of market segmentation and will discuss four distinct, nonconsumptive forms of sustainable tourism. Recreation activities with consumptive intent, such as hunting, are not discussed. Ecotourism, wilderness use, adventure travel, and car camping are popular outdoor recreation activities and are the four niche tourism markets examined. Because of the many people involved in these activities, a tourism industry has developed around each of these four groupings. In most studies of sustainable tourism, these four categories are merged into one grouping, usually called "ecotourism," "adventure tourism," or "sustainable tourism" (Hall 1991; Tourism Research Group 1990; Wild 1992). This approach is confusing and needlessly mixes distinct activity classes. It is important to recognize that the market for sustainable tourism is large enough that the specific submarkets are best managed with their specific characteristics in mind. These niche markets have identifiable and important differences. Wight (1993) argues that sustainable tourism involves a spectrum of experiences, supply characteristics, and market demands. Better understanding of the niche markets and of the consumer has important research and market implications and is critical to the development of suitable services. Appropriate services lead to more value-added products and higher positive economic impact. Market differentiation leads to higher consumer satisfaction, higher return raties, and a mature business climate. Much of sustainable tourism is characterized by small businesses, and it is wiser to target small market segments that are now underserved than it is to tackle larger segments that are difficult to handle and already have a great deal of competition (Mahoney, undated). These four sustainable tourism sectors have similarities. Each has a strong philosophical base that has developed with associated literature, art, and culture. Sustainable tourism and historical tourism are unusual because there is a large volunteer sector associated with the activities, acting as educators, issue identifiers, action arbitrators, and lobbyists. These groups have a large influence on consumer expectations and behavior. They also strongly influence the various service sectors, serving as activity organizers and land managers. Sustainable tourism has strongly held attitude sets that may influence others. However, the individual recreationist cannot affect the tourism industry except as a product consumer. But as a member of a group with a shared philosophy, the individual's influence is enhanced; therefore, there is pressure to join and maintain groups in the voluntary sector. These four niche markets are closely tied to government. Because of the need for natural environments with a set of specific characteristics, governments are lobbied to set aside land from the public domain that has these characteristics. Government agencies are responsible for allocating access, for managing the natural environment, and for setting behavioral objectives. The understanding of the market for sustainable tourism requires recognition of the uniqueness of the recreation product. Parks and recreation products are service products that are fundamentally different from most consumer products. We outlined those differences that, when recognized by tourism planners and managers, lead to a better integration of tourism demand and supply. The activities discussed in this paper are centered in those cultures developed in northern Europe, specifically with those people with the Germanic languages (German, Dutch, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish). Therefore, the activities are centered in those countries with these traditions, most importantly, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Canada, United Staties, Australia, and New Zealand. These countries provide the bulk of the consumers for these activities and are also the main providers of the locales for the activities. One main issue in the last decade has been the touristic invasion of peoples, with natural environment-based activity demands, into parts of the world with different cultural imperatives (Pleumaron 1994). Parks and Recreation Marketing Parks and recreation marketing is different from the marketing of manufactured goods. Mahoney (undated) discusses some key aspects of recreation that must be considered in developing an understanding of this unique outdoor market. Ten of these principles are outlined below and express the uniqueness of the outdoor recreation product compared to a typical consumer product: 1. Outdoor recreation experiences are consumed on site, well away from home. 2. Travel costs to the site often far exceed the costs at the site. 3. It is a package of facilities and programs that attracts people to a site or area. 4. Recreation experiences are ephemeral and experiential; they cannot be possessed except as memories. 5. The production, delivery, and consumption of the recreation product occur simultaneously. 6. The consumer is actively involved in the production of the experience, both their own and those of others. 7. Poor recreational experiences cannot be returned for a refund. 8. Recreational sities and experiences are difficult to assess before purchase; therefore, word-of-mouth from friends and family is an important choice determinant. 9. Recreational products cannot be stockpiled during periods of low demand and sold during times of excessive demand. 10. Important aspects of the recreation experience occur before and after the on-site participation. Ecotourism involves travel for the discovery of and learning about wild natural environments. Wilderness travel involves personal recreation through primitive travel in natural environments that are devoid of human disturbance. Adventure travel is personal accomplishment through the thrills of dominating dangerous environments. Car camping is safe family travel in the interface between the wild and the civilized. Table 1 contains a summary of the key principles outlined in each section of the paper. Focus Ecotourism has a strong focus on learning and discovering nature. Ceballos-Lascurain (1987) captures the essence of ecotourism with his definition: ÷travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestations (as quoted in Filion and others 1992). Nature is best experienced in a wild and free form, but if observation and species' habitat can be improved by landscape manipulation, it is encouraged. Ecotourists are primarily interested in improving their knowledge. High levels of sophisticated information, careful study, documentation, and increased understanding are key attributies (Eagles 1992). Wilderness travel provides psychological and physical benefits by experiencing wild areas with a minimum of development influences. Nature must be free of the soiling influences of modern peoples. The search is for personal redemption through challenge and sacrifice, and nature is the backdrop to an intensely personal experience. Wilderness is an important concept in the United Staties, more so than in any other country. Stankey (1987) describes this American wilderness idea as: ÷those areas where management objectives feature protection of the natural processes that have shaped the physical- biological character of the setting. Mechanized access is prohibited or greatly restricted as are resource exploitation activities. Recreation is a legitimate use, yet subordinate to the goal of environmental preservation. The political strength of this idea in the United Staties bore fruition in 1964 with the passage of the Wilderness Act (Lucas 1987). By 1985, 455 areas with 89,000,000 acres of land were designated by the Act (Ranney 1987). The Wilderness Act allows for designation of Wilderness on any Federal land. By comparison, in Canada wilderness areas are more limited. Where they do occur, they are areas that are designated in national and provincial parks. Adventure tourism is based on challenge and winning. The challenge is chosen within nature's dictaties, but technological accouterments are allowed within limits. The goal is to gain thrills, excitement, and accomplishment. Nature is but a stage for the human play. Adventure travel involves strenuous, outdoor vacation travel, typically to remote places renowned for their natural beauty and physical attributies, involving hazardous activities. Typical activities include mountain climbing, white-water rafting, and deep sea diving. Some authors define adventure tourism as hard ecotourism, which is nature tourism with a strenuous physical activity component (Durst 1986). Such an approach ignores the fact that ecotourism, as defined in this paper, can have a range of activity levels from passive to strenuous, and that there is a fundamental attitude difference between nature study and nature conquering. A camp is a place in the country that offers simple group accommodations and organized recreation or instruction, as for vacationing children. Car camping is invariably a social event. It is celebration of friends and family within an environment that is an amalgam of urban and wild. The wild is partially tamed so that it is easier to use. High levels of technology are allowedÛeven celebrated. A wide diversity of interests, activities, levels of solitude, and environmental quality occur. The primary focus is social gratification within seminature. Instruction and learning are inherent, especially for children. ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES Personal philosophy produces an associated set of behaviors. An understanding of the conceptual background helps us understand the activities undertaken by recreationists. The primary environmental attitudes about ecotourism concern the issues of wilderness, national parks, birds, tropical forests, and wildlife (Eagles 1992). Nature without the soiling influence of people is celebrated; low levels of human presence, except for conservation purposes, are desired. The human heavy hand is encouraged if it helps attain ecological conservation goals. This latter idea is an important departure from the wilderness perspective where any human intervention is discouraged. The observation of natural features is best done first hand, but films and books suffice when personal contact is not feasible. Ecotourists hold their environmental attitudes strongly, and they have no hesitation in forcing a set of desired behaviors on others. Activities such as bird watching, wild flower photography, and reef snorkeling are reflections of these attitudes. The primary environmental attitudes of wilderness travelers concern knowing and experiencing wild nature. This nature, ideally, should not contain humans, except for a select few. Nature must be unfettered. People must only experience this wild environment in a nontechnological form. Human power is the primary form of travel. In the United Staties hiking is paramount, in Canada it is canoeing. Adventure tourism needs environments that provide physical challenge. The individual traveler looks for specific places that provide a route to accomplishment. The environment is there to be conquered, not loved. Environmental protection, pristine qualities, and preservation of diversity are not important. Hazardous environments, remote challenge, and access for use are important. White-water running, mountain climbing, and ocean diving are common manifestations of the search for physical challenge. Car camping involves a wide range of environmental qualities and relationships. The car camper wants moderate levels of personal comfort and selects environments that are accessible and safe. Environmental quality is important, but only after the required services and facilities are provided. The natural environment is celebrated, but low levels of knowledge, solitude, and challenge are typical. Important reasons for selecting a particular park and campground are convenience and location, with previous visitation, and enjoying nature secondary (Murray and others 1994; Ontario Provincial Parks 1992). SOCIAL MOTIVES Ecotourists are personal and reflective. Other people are allowed to enter their personal space under specific circumstances. People who help the ecotourist to find, observe, and understand wild nature are actively sought. Other travelers who make the trip cost efficient are tolerated. Ecotourism is primarily concerned with an individual search for learning and for the associated personal development, and no specific level of social contact is required to make the experience worthwhile. Wilderness enthusiasts like solitude, usually with a small group of friends. The recreation motives are intensely personal. Other peoples' presence is wanted as long as they also want to develop themselves through the wilderness search. Large groups of people are intensely disliked. Technology takes away the level of personal challenge and denigraties the experience by introducing a higher level of comfort. Adventure tourists are seeking challenge by conquering nature. This motivation is intensely social. Adventure seekers want others to know that the challenge has been met, and their emotions feed off others who are also meeting the challenge. This is a team sport, and large groups of recreationists are the norm. Group size is limited by safety and technological factors, not by social factors. Lucas (as reported by Roggenbuck and Lucas 1987) found that adventure recreationists had larger groups than wilderness travelers. Car campers are intensely social. They like to have friends and family around. For example, only 3 percent of the camping in Ontario Provincial Parks is done by only one person. The average group size varies from one to more than 10 at a campsite. Very large groups often occur, and they are placed in specially designed group camp sities (Ontario Provincial Parks 1990, 1992). Environmental constraints are often the size-limiting feature. Social constraints are not usually a limiting factor. SOCIODEMOGRAPHICS Ecotourists are of all ages. People in the older age groups have higher levels of ecotourist participation than occurs in the general population. Both sexes participate equally. High levels of formal education, and the associated income levels, are influencing factors for those of mature ages (Eagles and Cascagnette 1995). Major interest in ecotourism is from people and cultures that have developed in Northern Europe. The United Staties, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands provide major sources of international travelers in this category. Wilderness users are predominantly young males with high levels of formal education. People in the older age groups, such as retirees, have lower levels of participation, probably because of the high levels of physical activity required. Moderately high incomes occur. Because there is strong and continuous dedication to the activity, the average wilderness user has high levels of previous experience (Roggenbuck and Lucas 1987). Adventure tourists are young and healthy, and often have a high level of interest in sports. They have higher than average income levels. Use levels drop as participants age and become more conservative. Car campers are of all ages. Both sexes participate equally. All income levels are represented, except for the poor (Ontario Provincial Parks 1990). Car campers, once they have found their favorite spot, return frequently (Murray and others 1994). ECONOMICS Filion and others (1992) estimated that worldwide in 1988 there were 235,000,000 international ecotourists. The economic impact was US$233 billion. This figure is low because the ratio of domestic travel to international travel is at least 10 to 1. Filion's figures, on what he calls ecotourism, are really a discussion of the broader group of activities that are grouped under sustainable tourism in this paper. His estimate shows that sustainable tourism based on natural environments is a substantial economic activity throughout the world. Ecotourism is a moderate, but growing, part of the tourist market. The financial impacts are greatiest in rural areas near important ecotour attractions. Some countries, specifically Costa Rica, Kenya, and Australia, depend heavily on this market. Wilderness tourism is a large market in the United Staties, which has the most people with this activity profile and also has the most wilderness destinations. Canada is developing many wilderness areas because of the actions of internal wilderness advocate groups, and they are preparing for an increasing number of United Staties wilderness travelers. Adventure tourism has become a worldwide activity. In some locales, white water, mountains, and coral reefs attract such large numbers of adventure tourists that allocation of access is an important management issue. The Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon in the United Staties, the Mount Everest area of Nepal, and the barrier reef in Belize are experiencing high use levels. Robinson (1994) reports that adventure tourism development in Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal, the area containing Mount Everest, has brought prosperity to the region; and the local Sherpa people still maintain their cultural identity and control over their land and resources. Car camping has the highest level of economic impact of the four tourist sectors. The huge number of people involved, the large supply of destinations, and the large capital and operating expenditures result in important economic impacts. SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS Ecotourists have high levels of dedication to their activity, associated with a strongly held and coherent attitude set. They have an environmental philosophy that is well developed and that is reflected in many other cultural forms, such as literature and art. Their philosophy guides their travel actions. The resultant social rules are widely developed and widely transmitted to others. Travelers are sensitive to these rules as long as the rules fit within their attitude set. They work hard to force their rule set onto others, using all of their economic and social power to influence, often forcefully, the social and political structures to reflect the rules that they have developed. This is a powerful group, and it is rapidly gaining more influence. Wilderness users have the most coherent and well- developed set of philosophical treatises of any outdoor group. The roots of their concern go deep into the early Judea Christian idea of seeking re-creation in the wilderness so that the challenges of life can be better met. More recent writers, developed from the liberal Protiestant branch of Christianity in the United Staties, have developed the philosophy further, without reference to the early roots but with the entrapments of a social code echoing religious views. This philosophy says that wilderness is a wild place where people visit but do not remain, where they enter for only short periods, and where they seek personal re-creation through the challenge posed by free nature. This view is widely and strongly held in the United Staties. It is present, but not as strong, elsewhere in North America and Northern Europe. However, those that hold the view are proselytizers and have a political power well beyond their numbers. They take an active political role in ensuring, as much as their efforts can reach, that strong social constraints are imposed to keep wilderness free of people and denigrative activities. The adventure people are allied with those who like sport, seeking personal physical challenge, high levels of physical activity, and danger. Their level of dedication varies from lukewarm to red hot. Social constraints are imposed for safety and liability reasons. The personal thrill is much more important than the rules, and as a result the social constraints are easily ignored. The search for the thrill can lead to high levels of danger, and injury and death are used to define the limits. Group activity is the rule, and social group rules are often quite sophisticated. High levels of training, advanced equipment, and intrusive development occur. Car campers are diverse. There are varied levels of dedication to the activity and to the shared action. Social rules are loosely developed through consensus and for interactions within the family or friend group. Concern about others is secondary to the social contact impulses of the nuclear group. Social cohesion is important and friendliness to others is considered a virtue. Social and environmental rules are sought and obeyed. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS Ecotourists have high levels of environmental conscience. Their internal environmental philosophy dictaties that nature must be protected and celebrated within a natural context, resulting in a superabundance of environmental protection rules, policies, and laws. The protection of significant examples of wild nature in parks results in strongly positive environmental impacts. Ecotourism provides economic and social incentives that further the cause of environmental protection. However, because of the relative newness of ecotourism outside of North America, many countries are struggling to develop institutions to handle both the environmental protection mandaties and the associated recreation impacts (Valentine 1993). As ecotourism moves from the experimental wanderer stage to the mainstream tourism sector, it is essential that management institutions be in place, or negative environmental impacts will be major. Wilderness enthusiasts have major influence in the United Staties but less impact elsewhere. Their strongly held personal philosophy requires pristine environments for the personal search for meaning. As a result, seeking protection for large areas is widespread in the United Staties and is a positive environmental activity. The media and other social influences of the United Staties are spreading this view around the world, with varying impact levels. Wilderness users are sensitive to quality of life measures, and they try to enforce these measures in both the wilderness and at home. The adventure tourists are using the environment as a place to fulfill a challenge. The goal is personal accomplishment, not environmental purity. Environmental protection is not part of the goal and is not required for the activity. Therefore, the environmental impact is at best neutral, but more realistically it is negative. Environmental degradation, often in sensitive areas, is common (Gregory 1994). Adventure tourists have a positive environmental impact when they start to value the environments they have visited and then ally with the environmental groups for political action. Car campers recreate in a world between the urban world and the wilderness world. They take high levels of technology, lots of equipment, and intrusive activities into areas that are specially developed to handle this use. Car campers have a definite, but limited, negative impact because of their need for space, services, and supplies. They have an appreciative attitude about wild nature and consciously agree to limit their impacts to select areas and in select ways. They like to know that large amounts of wild nature exist, and they support protective efforts. Even though car campers have weakly held protection attitudes and are very large in numbers, their overall environmental impact is positive. PROFILE DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIETY Ecotourism is developing along with a worldwide societal consciousness about nature protection. Informal education is important in developing the attitude set and expectations about the value of nature. Nature films, naturalist clubs, and wildlife books are three important carriers of the environmental message. Nature films and videos shown on international television are critically important. For example, the National Geographic Film "Rain Forest" has raised the profile of Costa Rica throughout North America, and the Academy Award winning movie "Out of Africa" is the direct promoter of large numbers of tourist visits to Kenya each year. Formal environmental education, a major force in North America in the last two decades, is now producing many environmentally literate adults who value nature and want to learn more, with ecotravel as an obvious outlet. Childhood experiences with car camping are important attitude setters. All these influences produce the background to the growing ecotour market. Wilderness ideas are rooted in well-defined literature in the United Staties. The tourist profile develops as this literature spreads through the action of wilderness advocaties, often within the context of formal organizations in both the volunteer and government sector. Wilderness advocacy is a favorite of the intelligentsia, and social diffusion has spread the idea from the literati. Personal contact with tame nature in childhood, with car camping, and with environmental education programs provide a basis for the wilderness search later in life. The ideas have reached the highest levels of political power in North America, as exemplified by Theodore Roosevelt in the United Staties and by Pierre Trudeau in Canada. Personal development through the conquering of nature is an old Western European concept (Marshall 1992). In adventure travel, this idea is modified to allow for the climb or run in an organized and socialized manner; however, the underlying concept remains the same. Because of the ubiquitous nature of the idea in society, there is no one clearly identifiable source of this idea. Adventure travel has well-developed social structures that help the activity. Organized sport is powerful and widely followed. It is a short jump from participation in an athletic game to participation in an outdoor sport. Adventure clubs are widespread and well organized. The Alpine Club of Canada is one example of an organization that has developed an activity (alpine exploration in the Rocky Mountains), developed a set of normative rules of behavior, and has developed an organizational structure to facilitate a recreational activity (Reichwein 1994). There are dozens of such groups in the adventure travel market. The car camping industry developed after World War II as rapid population growth, prosperity, more free time, better road systems, and widespread car ownership occurred simultaneously. In the 1950 to 1970 period, children had much more free time than did their parents in their youth, and much of this leisure time was directed toward outdoor activities (Killan 1993). The use levels in camping increased dramatically after 1950 and peaked in the 1970's. This is now a steady state industry, with the loss of the aging participants being replaced by new recruits. People become familiar with camping recreation through personal participation in childhood, through the widespread supply of destinations, through government promotion of parks, and through advertising by equipment manufacturers. BUSINESS CYCLE Ecotourism is in the growth stage of the business cycle (fig. 1). The use level of ecotourism is low but growing rapidly. Increasing participation, more market supply, more private development, and higher media profile are expected. The use level of wilderness travel is low and must stay that way. Wilderness travel is at a peak, with more demand than supply in the United Staties, but elsewhere the supply exceeds the demand. The use level of adventure travel is moderate, and it is growing. More destinations and more sophisticated supply opportunities are being developed. In the long term, use may decline because of the aging population in the key tourist markets. Environmental limitations being imposed because of environmental degradation may also cap increases in the most popular destinations. Car camping use levels are high. Supply exceeds demand everywhere, except at peak times and in select locales near cities. Car camping is overmature and may decline as the population ages and as more supply develops. KEY MANAGEMENT ISSUES AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES The changing population demographics, both in North America and in Northern Europe, will have profound implications for sustainable tourism. The median age of the population is increasing as the large baby boom generation moves into late career and retirement ages. Age is an important factor in recreation participation. Foot (1990) points out that as people age, active, dangerous recreational activities are less attractive, while appreciative and passive outdoor recreational activities are more attractive. He predicts that facility- based (skating, skiing, swimming in pools), snow-based recreation (skiing, sledding), and recreational sports (waterskiing, climbing) will decline in participation. Conversely, participation in bird watching, pleasure walking, pleasure driving, and sightseeing will increase (Foot 1990). Ecotourism will benefit the most from the demographic changes. Ecotourism is attractive to older citizens and is well designed to handle their needs. Older people are not willing or able to be involved in strenuous and dangerous activities to the same extent as younger people; therefore, both wilderness travel and adventure travel will see decreased demand. For car camping, if increases in services levels designed specifically for the senior market and changes in accommodations are undertaken, the older person demand can be captured. The Sage Group (1993) and Tourism Research Group (1990) report that "÷the environment is a high priority with people of all ages, worldwide." With adults over the age of 65 in Canada, the top three travel interests are history and culture (85 percent), environment (82 percent), and outdoors (70 percent). For a similar U.S. population, the highest levels of travel interest are history and culture (100 percent), environment (95 percent), and outdoors (75 percent). Older Germans say that outstanding scenery is the number one factor influencing their choice of overseas vacation destinations. In a different survey approach, older Japanese reported that nature and environment are the top reasons for visiting Canada. Older people in France and Britain reported that Canada was high on their list of potential destinations because of national parks, outstanding scenery, and interesting wildlife. Clearly, the older adult nature travel market is large, and the associated tourism market may be underdeveloped. Tourism Canada is moving aggressively to help Canada take advantage of the older traveler market for learning about nature (Randolph Group 1994). Because of the relative newness and rapid growth of ecotourism, many management issues need attention (Moore and Carter 1993). In North America, Australia, and New Zealand, the ecotourism management institutions are the most sophisticated in the world and can handle the changes required for the increasing activity levels. For example, Muir and Chester (1993) outline the complicated management issues surrounding tourism use of a seabird nesting island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. In much of the world, however, and especially in developing countries, management institutions are immature and have limited capability to undertake the management necessary for tourism to exist at sustainable levels (Fennell and Eagles 1989). Limits of acceptable use must be developed and implemented at all sustainable tourism destinations to avoid unacceptable levels of ecological and social change. Personnel training in both the private and public sectors is vital. Large numbers of sophisticated ecoconsumers are descending upon some ecodestinations that are not capable of delivering the expected services. The long-term economic sustainability of ecotourism is essential, and a major international effort is needed to help developing countries build their management and fiscal institutions. Use-level limitations on the size of wilderness areas and on finding acceptable new reserves produce a finite and low-market capacity. In North America, wilderness supply and demand factors are well developed. There may be more demand then available supply in the United Staties, but Canada is well primed to accept the overflow. There may be a modest development of demand from Northern Europe, especially from Germany. The biggest management issue in wilderness areas will be allocation of access. Because of government funding limitations, management institutions will be challenged to consider using financial allocation criteria, as opposed to the predominant approach of using first- come first-serve (Eagles 1994). Adventure tourism is expanding around the world as new destinations are introduced each year. However, this group is facing an assault from other tourist groups and from the environmental lobby. Widespread garbage, damage to sensitive high-altitude environments, and intergroup conflicts are three of the issues causing the development of restrictions, and more restrictions will occur. Liability concerns are already limiting some dangerous activities, and more limitations are likely as fewer public or private institutions are willing to accept the responsibility of participant safety. If adventure tourism is to increase, it must prevent environmental destruction. Acceptable levels of impact must be determined and adhered to, or social and ecological impacts will continue to rise. Car camping is faced with an aging population in North America and in Europe. This market has changing needs, demanding changes in destinations and services. For example, aging campers will start to drop out of the camping market as more comfort (such as roofed accommodation in parks), and more simplicity in travel administration is demanded. The desire to have contact with nature increases with age, but age also causes limitations. Most public parks are poorly equipped to take advantage of the increased demand for educational travel (Sage Group 1993). A strategic alignment of parks, private tourist companies, and colleges could better satisfy this demand. CONCLUSIONS More research should be undertaken on the activities and enduring involvement of the four niche markets. An understanding of the conflict and agreement points among the four markets is necessary for planning and management. A better understanding of the uniqueness and of the overlap of the niche markets would be useful. The sustainable tourism market is now large enough that niche specialization should be recognized and incorporated into planning and management. 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