Ecolodge

Ecolodge is a type of hotel that focuses on saving and protecting the environment, either it was natural, biological, or even cultural. Ecolodges promotes ecotourism and it can be “cultural, recreational” tourism by understanding the importance of the location. And working on keeping it safe from the full scale harm use of the environment; e.g. “restoration of reserves”, as well as encouraging local and their right to prosper lives, for example “knowing new language, helping them prosper”. Our collective study will give us the guide to operate and design an Ecolodge, in order to support Sustainable Development. Sustainable development is where it meets the needs of the present time without depletion of the resources and forget the right of future generations to meet its need from these resources. Efficiency Program is vital part of operating the Ecolodge, where renewable and non-renewable resources are efficiently utilized. Hiring professional locals and empowering their skills is a successful vital too, and all of that is considered to achieve balance of nature.

Summarizes the triple bottom line factors that make an ecolodge environmentally, socially and financially successful. EplerWood International studied the market for and business characteristics of ecolodges operating in developing countires in order to determine the key factors for business viability.

Salama, A. M. (Ed.) (2007). Ecotourism and Ecolodges: Sustainable Planning and Design for Environmentally Friendly Tourism Facilities. Open House International 32(4), 1-118.

Increasingly, people are abandoning traditional vacation for a new type of tourism that gives them the sense of nature. Trekking in mountains, bird watching, archaeological digs, desert and photo safaris, scuba diving are some new types of vacations that attract tourists to travel to relatively remote and unspoiled areas. This type of travel is referred to as nature-based travel, ecotourism, or environmentally sustainable tourism. These terms are used interchangeably to reflect this trend in the travel industry. While many studies continuously attempt to differentiate between the terms used to reflect this type of travel, the general concern is to address the dialectic relationships between the natural and the man made, the visitors and tourists and the local population, and tradition and modernity. The generic concept of environmentally sustainable tourism has emerged in parallel to the realization of the potential benefits in combining people interest in nature with their concern for the environment. It is a responsible way of travel; an alternative to traditional travel, but it is not for everyone. It appeals to people who love nature and indigenous cultures. It allows those people to enjoy an attraction or a locality and ensures that local cultures and environments are unimpaired. As the environmentally sustainable tourism industry expands world-wide, well planned, ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand that can be met with ecolodges: small scale facilities that provide tourists with the opportunity of being in close contact with nature and local culture. In response to this theme, research papers in this issue of Open House International attempt to answer the primary question: How much change in or alternations of natural and cultural environments will be acceptable? They explore sustainable planning and design for tourism by debating, analyzing, and visioning a wide spectrum of issues, with a focus on the developments taking place in biologically sensitive areas, whether desert, forest, tropical coasts, or rural environments. Interestingly, they cover the planet Earth from Australia through the Arab World and Turkey to Argentina and Chile. An important shared aspect in these papers is that emphasis is placed upon integrating people, nature, and local economy into responsive development processes while offering lessons on how such integration may take place.

See Editorial: Salama, A. M. (2007). Whatever the Name is, the Concern is for People and Environments. Open House International, 32, 4, pp.4-8

Increasing competition and demanding ecotourists mean customer satisfaction is critical for any ecolodge business. Ecolodges are a unique accommodation type in the tourism market that attempt to represent ecotourism principles. This study uses Llosa’s tetraclasse model to explore underlying satisfaction attributes within an ecolodge located on the island Kadavu, Fiji. Using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, supplemented by online reviews, this study identifies key moments of positive and negative experience during guests’ stay in the ecolodge. The results of this study provide ecolodges and other small-scale accommodation businesses with specific attributes that heighten satisfaction and identify those attributes that lead to dissatisfaction.

Salama, A. M. (2000). Back to the Future: The Ecolodge: An Alternative Futuristic Eco-Friendly Tourist Facility (English and Arabic). Medina Magazine, Issue 11, Medina Publishing, British Virgin Islands, PP. 54-57.


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Salama, A. M. (2007). A Charette Process for Designing an Eco-lodge in Al Qula'an, Red Sea, Egypt, Open House International, 32(4), pp. 54-63, ISSN # 0160-2601.

An ambitions strategic plan for tourism development in the Red Sea region is currently implemented. Without adequate concern for environmental protection this development could cause ecological threats. Problems resulted from conventional tourism corroborate the need for a culturally and environmentally responsible alternative, namely ecotourism. Consequently, ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand that can be met with ecolodges. This paper reports on a collaborative process for developing an ecolodge demonstration project. The process was initiated and tested involving a number of experts and encompassing participatory mechanisms, site analyses, and interviews. The results of this process were incorporated into a final planning alternative that is envisioned as a tool that guides the professional community in Egypt toward the development of sustainable tourism facilities in the region.

Salama, A. M. (1998). Ecolodges: Meeting the Demand for Sustainable Tourism Development in Egypt, Traditional Dwellings and Settlements, IASTE, Center for Environmental Design Research, Working Paper Series, 108, pp. 45-69. ISSN # 1050-2092.

In recent years a new type of tourism has emerged in which tourists are abandoning traditional vacations for a new type of experience that provides them with the sense of nature and culture. Archaeological digs, cultural tours, trekking in the mountains, and bird-watching are all new types of vacation that attract tourists to travel to relatively remote or unspoiled areas. This type of travel is called "nature-culture based travel." or ecotoutism. Ecotourism has been defined in recent literature as environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature and accompanying cultural features (Lascurain, 1996). Such travel promotes conservation and leads to the socioeconomic involvement of local populations.

As the ecotourism industry expands worldwide, well· planned. ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand. This demand can met with ecolodges: small-scale facilities that provide visitors with a window on the natural and cultural world of a region, allowing them to be in close contact with culture and nature (Salama and Elleithy, 1997). The ecolodge concept advocates that building footprints and other necessary impositions on terra·firma should be designed in harmony with cultural settings and natural landscapes.

This paper argues for more effective integration between tourism, culture and environment. Cts objective is to envision ways in which the demand for environmentally sustainable tourism can be met. It focuses on ecotourism as a major component in eco-development processes and it emphasizes that ecolodges can be regarded as a physical tool to help enhance protection of natural and cultural heritage. The paper's methodology involves developing a conceptual argument, which is based on reviewing the available literature developed in the field of ecotourism. Several case studies representing the ecolodge in a natural setting and in a cultural/urban context are introduced and analyzed based on field surveys and interviews. The paper draws generalizable conclusions in the form of ecolodge design criteria and guidelines for Egypt. Lastly, a set of recommendations are conceptualized and presented.

The growing desire of tourists to gain authentic cultural experiences has created unique opportunities for the tourism industry and in particular ecotourism. The growth of ecotourism has brought challenges to the local communities and destination management organisations. Thus, securing the interests of stakeholders and managing cultural impacts has become an inevitable necessity for the preservation and development of cultural assets and manifestations. This study aims to investigate the role and effects of ecolodges in regenerating culture, using the thematic analysis method. Purposeful snowball sampling procedure was used to find out and explore the experts' opinions. Data were collected through interviews and continued until saturation and coding reliability. Finally, the pattern of the effect of ecolodges is recognized from the cultural aspect. Findings showed that the effectiveness of ecolodges begins with the promotion and preserving of the culture of host communities and through certain steps, leads to the destination sustainability. Ecolodges have positive cultural impacts on the host community and guests due to adopting a cultural approach in planning and management of tourism activities, and negative impacts of ecotourism. Therefore, the management of this socioeconomic institution needs a deep understanding of indigenous culture and a master plan. Also, the ecolodges have a significant difference with other tourist accommodation facilities, because they manage impacts on the indigenous communities and destinations. Therefore, their quantitative development require the observance of the principles of ecotourism, strict and comprehensive supervision by the government, associations, and ecolodge founders.

Salama, A. M. (2007). Whatever the Name is, the Concern is for People and Environments. Open House International, Volume 32, Issue 4, PP. 4-8. ISSN # 0168-2601

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Increasingly, people are abandoning traditional vacation for a new type of tourism that gives them the sense of nature. Trekking in mountains, bird watching, archaeological digs, desert and photo safaris, scuba diving are some new types of vacation that attract tourists to travel to relatively remote and unspoiled areas. This type of travel is referred to as nature-based travel, ecotourism, or environmentally sustainable tourism. These terms are used interchangeably to reflect the latest trend in travel industry, a newly emerged type of tourism that combines preserving natural environments and sustaining the well being of human cultures that inhabit those environments. The generic concept of environmentally sustainable tourism has emerged in parallel to the realization of the potential benefits in combining people interest in nature with their concern for the environment.  It is a responsible way of travel; an alternative to traditional travel, but it is not for everyone. It appeals to people who love nature and indigenous cultures. It allows those people to enjoy an attraction or a locality and ensures that local cultures and environments are unimpaired. As environmentally sustainable tourism industry expands world-wide, well planned, ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand that can be met with ecolodges: small scale facilities that provide tourists with the opportunity of being in close contact with nature and local culture. 

In response to this theme, research papers in this issue of Open House International explore sustainable planning and design for tourism by debating, analyzing, and visioning a wide spectrum of issues, with a focus on the developments taking place in biologically sensitive areas, whether desert, forest, tropical coasts, or rural environments. Interestingly, they cover the planet earth from Australia through the Arab World and Turkey to Argentina and Chile. An important shared aspect in these papers is that emphasis is placed upon integrating people, nature, and local economy into responsive development processes while offering lessons on how such an integration may take place.

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Please see more by downloading the full article.

Ecotourism is nature-based travel that embraces principles of sustainability, and thus is managed to conserve the natural environment on which it depends, provide economic benefits to the local community and the industry, and to educate and satisfy the tourists (Osland & Mackoy, 2004; United Nations World Ecotourism Summit, 2002.) Ecolodges are the accommodation facilities and services established in, or very near, natural areas visited by ecotourists. They are a critical component of ecotourism since their design and operation influence the natural environment, their employment practices and purchases affect the local community, and their product strategies, including the ways they serve their guests, have an impact on the education and satisfaction of ecotourists. Lodges not based in natural settings are increasingly adopting some of the values and practices of ecolodges, and are included in some sustainable tourism certification programs, such as in the ecotourism hotspot of Costa Rica (www.turismosostenible.co.cr, 2009) Sometimes these are called green hotels.