Designing Ecotourism Facilities Lesson

Designing Ecotourism Facilities: On-Line Lesson

Facilities found at ecotourism areas face many unique challenges. They should reflect the local building styles and materials without creating a negative impact on the local building materials resources or increasing the costs to the local community for the same building materials. Facilities also have the opportunity to enhance the enjoyment and learning experience for the visitor.

Financial Issues in Building Ecotourism Facilities

Global ecotourism is still small, when compared to the overall tourism market, but growing. One reason for the slow growth is a lack of facilities and infrastructure in and surrounding ecotourism destinations. The relatively modest size of most ecotourism lodging operations of 12 to 20 units, keep most operations under local ownership because major hotels requiring a minimum of 50 units to offset basic operating costs.

Sustainable Design

When planning a new facility it is important that the size of the facility must not exceed the ability of the environment to sustain it. The long-term objective of sustainable design is the minimization of resource degradation and consumption on a global scale. For more information read the National Park Service publication, "Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design."

New Mexico cliff dwellings

Environmental Designs

Architectural designs should be integrated into the environment in which they are constructed. They should fulfill the visitor's expectations, often through a spectrum of lodging options from minimum conveniences such as tents to individual rooms with private baths and other amenities.

Facility designs should go beyond the basics of a shelter to mirror the setting and meet the requirements for visitors needs and comfort.

Ice Hotel

Imagine a hotel which is built from scratch every year. A new design, new suites, a brand new reception area - in fact everything in it is crisp and new.

Well, there is such a hotel; the Ice Hotel, situated on the shores of the Torne River, in the old village of Jukkasjärvi in Swedish Lapland.

10,000 tons of crystal clear ice from the ‘ice manufacturing plant’, the Torne River, and 30,000 tons of pure snow generously supplied by Mother Nature are needed to build the Ice Hotel every year. The hotel sleeps over 100 guests, and every bedroom is unique.

Covering a total of 3,500 meters, the Ice Hotel includes an Ice Chapel, the hotel itself, an ice art exhibition hall, a cinema and last but not least, the world famous ‘Absolut Ice Bar’.

ice_hotel.jpg (9624 bytes)
Ice Hotel

Working With Local Resources

Three outcomes of involving the local community in developing ecotourism facilities are:

Local cultural and ecological knowledge can contribute to the proposed design.
Local involvement increases the chances for long term community support for the ecotourism facility.
Local community involvement may reduce negative cultural impact.

Existing community/culture structure

recognize the values of the local people Traditional Navajo Hogan

identify the availability and type of human resources in the community

identify the availability and type of local building materials

Traditional Navaho Hogan, AZ

Components of Developing Ecotourism Facilities

	Site Planning Issues
	Building Design Issues
	Energy Resource and Utility Infrastructure Issues
	Waste Management Issues

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