Enabling ecotourism: Principles, challenges and achievements from Tambopata, Peru

This chapter presents a case study of a single ecotourism initiative in Amazonian south-eastern Peru, analysing the operation of one of its lodges in detail (Posada Amazonas Lodge), and reflecting on the extent to which it can be considered a successful and sustainable ecotourism enterprise. Implicit in the term sustainability is a time element, so rather than providing a single snapshot of the venture, the case study has been carried out in two stages, five years apart. The objectives of the study are to: 1 outline key principles necessary to enable the successful achievement of ecotourism in a little developed rainforest region; 2 identify obstacles to the development and practice of ecotourism within such a region and examine the mechanisms that allow any such obstacles to be surmounted; 3 evaluate whether Rainforest Expeditions has successfully managed to balance the intricate relationship between ecotourism, environmental conservation and local community development through its operation of Posada Amazonas Lodge in the Tambopata rainforest; 4 monitor the progress of the initiative over a five-year period with particular reference to sustainable tourism development