Ecotourism generally refers to travel 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 cultural manifestations found in these areas. The Australian definition is - nature-based tourism that involves education and interpretation of the natural environment and is managed to be ecologically sustainable.
What has become important to an increasing number of travelers is how to enjoy the outdoors without destroying it. Ecotourism combines people's interest in nature along with their concern about the environment in such forms as recycling, energy, conservation, and the like. This growing awareness and appreciation of a clean environment have created a booming market for nature tourism: trips to sight birds, watch whales, photograph animals in the wild, and hike the nature trails, for example. Nature tours or ecotourism is one of the fastest – growing segments in the travel industry.
Latvia is among the few countries left in the world where natural ecosystems, largely untouched by man, still thrive in half of its territory. It is a haven for the tourist who seeks to experience a land where nature and tradition have coexisted in harmony from time immemorial. …