Chapter 3. Ecotourism Today 6 1 Chapter 3 Maho Bay's appeal is enhanced by its setting. Unlike the heavily devel- Ecotourism Today oped St. Thomas and St. Croix Island, two-thirds of the approximately fif- teen-by-eight-kilometer (nine-by-five-mile) St. John is preserved in Virgin Islands National Park, thanks to philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller, who, in 1956, donated the land for conservation purposes. In 1976, Selengut leased a 5.7-hectare (14-acre) hillside on private land within the national park, just above secluded Little Maho Bay. He has since built four distinct resort complexes on St. John. The oldest is Maho Bay Camps, which con- sists of 114 platformed tent-cottages hidden in deep foliage overlooking the Throughout the international tourism chain are entrepreneurs marketing turquoise-blue bay. The wood-frame, canvas, and mosquito-net tents are set themselves as being involved in ecotourism. Strictly defined, everyone in on posts, and nearly five lilometers (three miles) of elevated wooden walk- ecotourism should practice the principles of low-impact, educational, and ways connect them to the beach, communal toilets, cold-water showers, and ecologically and culturally sensitive travel that benefits local communities the large, gazebo-shaped dining-cum-meeting room. This construction pro- and the host country. But the conscientious traveler can have a difficult time tects foliage and minimizes soil erosion; during construction, no trees were sifting tourism's wheat from the chaff to find genuine ecotourism projects. cut down. Electrical cables and water lines, normally buried in the ground, Guidebooks, brochures, press reports, and ecotourism awards are not always were attached to the underside's of the ramps. Maho Bay does not, however, accurate. Frequently, it is only by going to a destination and spending vaca- have solar energy, composting toilets, or other standard, environmentally tion time and personal savings that the discerning traveler discovers that sound innovations. Built in the 1970s, nearly two decades before ecotourism what is marketed as ecotourism is missing several key pillars of the definition. had gelled as a concept, this site-sensitive construction was both the cheap- est and the least controversial technique, given the land's protected status. Maho Bay: Some Missing Pillars After ecotourism became the new marketing buzzword, Selengut began billing his tents as rustic ecotourism. Maho Bay Camps, a tented camp facility, and Harmony Resort, an "off-the- Above the tents, on about one hectare (two and a half acres) of land, grid" condominium complex, both located in a national park on St. John stands Harmony Resort, consisting of a dozen upscale and innovative eco- Island in the Virgin Islands of the United States, have succeeded in building condos. These luxury villas are built almost entirely of recycled materials reputations as two anlong a handfbl of the best-known ecotourism destina- (though not from St. John) and operate "off the grid," using solar and wind tions. They have done so largely on the strength of international awards, power and captured rainwater. The beams and girders are made from wood- press coverage, and the personal appeal of their owner and developer, scrap composites, the roof shingles from recycled cardboard and cement, the Stanley Sctlengut. Selengut claims that his advertising budget is zero, yet bathroom tiles from crushed lightbulbs, the doormats from old automobile Maho Bay and Harmony operate at nearly 90 percent occupancy. He has tires, and the decks from recycled newspapers. Each villa has its own com- filled Maho Bay and Harmony (the two destinations are often referred to puter, which keeps track of how much electricity and water guests have used collectively as Maho Bay, after their location) through word-of-mouth and when they might run out (as I did). referrals and repeat customers and by garnering more good media coverage Selengut decided to build Harmony after the National Park Service and - - and aw%ds than any other ecotourism project. Maho Bay and/or Harmony the Virgin Islands Energy Office in 1991 hosted a workshop on sustainable have won the British Airways Tourisin for Tomorrow Award, the first design at Maho Bay. The Park Service subsequently produced a how-to Condi Nast Traveler Ecotourism Award (1995),' and the ASTA/Smithson- manual on sustainable design: and Selengut put these principles into prac- ian Magazine Environmental Award (1997). Maho Bay's promotional tice. He has received help from the Energy Office, which provided the com- material includes a two-inch-thick packet of laudatory press coverage. The puters, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, New York Times called Maho Bay "an ecological showplace," Islands maga- which supplied experimental products such as solar ovens, solar ice-making zine's first Ecotourism Award went to Maho Bay, and Popular Science gave machines, and biodegradable detergents. "Harmony proves," says Selengut, it its 1995 grand award for environmental technology. The President's "a delightful solution to comfortable living within a fragile environment." Council on Sustainable Development presented Selengut with a certificate Across the island on a dry, barren, and hot hillside, in sharp coun- of appreciation. terpoint to the lushness of Maho Bay Camps and Harmony Resort, are 62 Part I. What Is Ecotourism? Chapter 3. Ecotourism Today 63

Selengut's other two properties. The newest project is the Concordia Eco- and tourist education. "I would give Maho Bay a mixed evaluation," said tents, perched on stilts overlooking Salt Pond Bay and a rough stretch of the Ray Ashton, director of Water and Air Research, a Gainesville, Florida, con- Caribbean sea. Each Eco-tent consists of a low-impact wooden structure sulting firm specializing in sustainable tourism program development for with mesh screens framing a full apartment that features solar- and wind- governments, private entrepreneurs, international agencies, and conserva- generated electricity, energy-efficient lutchen appliances, composting toilets, tion organizations. In summing up his assessment, another expert con- and space to sleep six. The Eco-tents, also made from recycled materials, cluded, "These are green lodges, not real eco-tourism." Joshua Reichert, blend the best features of Maho Bay Camps' close encounter with nature who heads the Pew Charitable Trusts' environmental program, contends and Harmony Resort's environmentally sensitive construction and upscale that sound ecotourism should meet four criteria: (1) it should be designed, living. Next tc I he Eco-tents is Estate Concordia, which consists of nine lux- built, and operated so that it leaves a "soft imprint"; (2) it should contribute ury condon~iil~umswith passive solar design. Selengut has abandoned his money to the local economy and local community services; (3) it should original scheme to build 120 such units, largely because, he says, they were contribute financially to environmental protection; and (4) it should educate costly and because they are far less environmentally innovative than either visitors and members of the local community. Reichert concluded that under Harmony or the Eco-tents. scrutiny, the Maho Bay properties, like much else that is advertised as eco- Selengut himself is the chief salesman for his ecoprojects; "the travel tourism, falls short on a number of counts. industry's green guru"3 is what United Airlines' in-flight magazine called Maho Bay and Selengut's other properties, for instance, employ very him. An engaging and affable New Yorker with a Bronx accent and signa- few West Indians. Even though the Maho Bay tents have been around for ture white golf cap, white sport shirt, and white beard, Selengut has become two decades, the vast majority of Selengut's forty-five-odd staff members are a popular speaker at ecotourism conferences and forums. "Ecotourism is a young, single, white North Americans working for low wages in exchange kind of theater, and I'm doing the choreography," Selengut is fond of say- for a stint in the Tropics. Selengut argues that he hires "off-island" because ing. Or, as he sometimes more bluntly puts it, "A lot of what we do [here] is the Virgin Islands have no unemployment; according to the U.S. Virgin show b~siness."~Selengut is also fond of saying that good ecotourism Islands Department of Labor, unemployment averaged between 3.5 and 5.9 is good business. His Maho Bay tents cost only about $7,500 each to put percent between 1992 and 1997. Islanders I interviewed say that although up, and renting for between $60 and $105 double occupancy per night, unemployme~ltis not high, there are people seelung work in tourism estab- they earned back the investment in the first year. By 1993, Maho Bay was lishments. Employees, including senior staff members, at other resorts and taking in $3 million per year and its net income was close to $750,000. "It's tented camps on St. John are almost all West Indian. Rut, islanders say, almost like stealing," Selengut told Forbes magazine.5 Although the Maho Selengut does not attract West Indian workers because he pays less than Bay tents are billed as appealing to "vacationers of a Sierra Club bent," other hotel owners, requires employees to live in tents on-site, and does not Travel Weekly rates Harmony as the world's top "ecosensitive honeymoon allow tipping.7 re~ort."~Harmony cost $70,000 per unit to build and rents for between Those interviewed, including permanent residents and those with vaca- $95 and $195 double occupancy per night, making it impossible for Selen- tion homes on St. John, also complained that although Maho Bay is well- gut to recoup the investment quickly. This is a main reason why, Selengut known internationally, it has done little for the island in terms of con- says, he has moved to develop the far cheaper Concordia Eco-tents and is tributing to environmental or social welfare projects. Selengut says he has an negotiating to expand his ecoprojects to Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and informal fund from which he makes dollations when he receives requests Hawaii. ' from employees or islanders to help with personal emergencies or special When Selengut hosted The Ecotourism Society's International projects, but no percentage of profits is set aside for environmental initia- Ecolodge Development Forum and Field Seminar in October 1994, Maho tives or island development projects. Selengut himself lives in the United Bay came under close scrutiny by ecotourism experts from around the States and much of the staff works on short-term contracts, so few at Maho world. Virtually everyone in attendance praised Selengut for effectively and Bay have deep roots in the island or ties to the local community. creatively pushing the perimeters of ecolodge design in a blend of low- Although Selengut describes Harmony as balancing "both nature and impact construction, recycled materials, and renewable energy sources. But culture," local crafts are not promoted, either in the condos' decor or in the a number of experts interviewed at the conference were deeply disturbed to gift shop. Good ecolodges should convey "a sense of place" and stimulate discover that Maho Bay and Selengut's other properties paid little heed to local artisanship. Harmony, however, is decorated with handicrafts from other ecotourism principles involving the local community, conservation, Bolivia and Brazil, all for sale and all from a previous Selengut venture, 64 Part I. What Is Ecotourism? Chapter 3. Ecotouris~nToday 65

Pifiata Party, in which he imported South American handicrafts. He con- with adventure or nature tourism.13 In addition, tour operators and those tends that St. John has few crafts and that those available are too expensive who own and operate the accommodations, activities, and transportation all to display and sell. But the island's gift shops are full of locally produced bas- play a central role in whether the experience adheres to the principles and kets, pottery, and paintings, offered at a range of prices. American professor ethics of ecotourism. "No one can truly be called an ecotourist until they are Bernard ICemp, who has studied the local arts and crafts, says that "Selengut 'on the ground' at the destination, behaving in accordance with the princi- has made no effort to utilize, display, or promote them to Maho Bay visi- ples," says Canadian ecotourisin researcher Pamela Wight.14 tor~.''~ Nevertheless, experts say that ecotourists in the United States do fit a Selengut preaches that an ecoresort is far more profitable than a tradi- broad profile. Most are between thirty-one and fifty years of age, but there tional resort. "What makes sense from an environmental and conservation is also a considerable number of "mature" adults (older than fifty-five), point of view also saves money," he tells his audiences. Certainly, collecting equally divided by gender, and most are physically active. They tend to be rainwater and recycling wastewater at Harmony make environmental and better-educated professionals or businesspeople, often from dual-income financial sense, but as Ray Ashton warns, "There's a thin line between what's families with a combined income of $50,000 or more who have a genuine ecologically sound and what cuts overhead." He argues that although the interest in learning something about nature.15 Tour operator ICurt ICutay h?aho Bay tents "could use solar power to heat the showers and light says that ecotourists fall roughly into two main categories: "DINCs" (dual the wallways," such upgrades may not be cost-effective because the prop- income, no children) and "empty nesters" (couples with grown children).16 erty is leased. "If you're an ecologist you should go above and beyond and They are discriminating, and' they recognize quality and are willing to pay do more than just a cheap tented camp if you want to be touted as a model," for it. Many come from the some 30 million Americans who belong to envi- says A~hton.~ ronmental organizations or profess an interest in conservation.17 Many are also socially minded and interested in the culture, history, and people in Tracking True Ecotourism developing countries. Geographically, "the ecotourism market exists in vir- tually every major metropolitan area in North America," concludes Wight, As Maho Bay illustrates, the difference between good ecotourism and eco- from her survey in the United States and Canada of "experienced eco- tourism lite or even "green" tourism projects may be difficult to discern. tourists"18 and global companies offering nature, adventure, and cultural Throughout the entire ecotourism chain, in fact, there is frequently a blur- tours. ring of the boundaries between nature tourism and the more multidimen- In recent years, as the number of ecotravelers has grown, the industry sional concept of ecotourism. This lack of precision makes it difficult, for has attracted a less experienced clientele, which author Mary-Lou Weisman instance, to quantify with scientific certainty the growth in the number of calls "neo-ecotourists." In "Confessions of a Reluctant Eco-Tourist," If -. ecotourists. By the mid-1990s, estimates were that more than one-third Weisman, a sixty-year-old American, recounts her ecovacation at Lapa Rios, of the U.S. traveling public (some 43 million people) had taken at least one an ecotourism resort on a 1,000-acre private reserve in Costa Rica's Osa ecotour, according to a U.S. Travel Data Center survey.10 On the basis of Peninsula. Described as "the most deluxe jungle and beach hide-away these findings, ASTA's Environment Committee concluded, "The consumer in Costa Rica," Lapa Rios has won various international awards for its ad- preference for culturally and environmentally sound travel is well illustrated herence to ecotourism principles of sustainable construction, educational by a 30 percent annual increase in ecotourism, compared to a growth rate hikes with naturalist guides, and contributions toward conserving the rain of 4 pe?cent in the U.S. travel industry."ll In 1996, the World Tourism forest. Weisman writes that she and her husband "suffer from bipolar vaca- Organization predicted that by the year 2000, most of the 86 percent tioning disorder": they seek physically strenuous daytime activities and com- increase in worldwide tourism receipts would come from active, adventur- fort at night. "The oxymoronic pairing of the adjective 'luxury' with the ous, nature- and culture-related travel.12 These statistics and projections are noun 'jungle' appealed to our manic-depressive travel style. We booked imprecise because they lump together nature travel, ecotourism lite, and real three nights." However, after three hours of jungle hiking, Weisman deter- ecotourism, but they do demonstrate a growing public commitment to this mined that ecotourism wasn't really for her. "I opted out of the eco part of type of travel. . eco-tourism. Me no Jane. Instead, I headed for the pool, or the beach, Who are these ecotourists? Until recently, solid studies and statistics where I spent one blissful afternoon kayalung and swimming with the other were few, and as discussed earlier, ecotourism was often lumped together eco-flops."19