Ecotourism encompasses camping, hunting, hiking, wildlife tours, certain extreme sports, and all the lodging, transportation and merchandising marketed alongside them. Ecotourism money is dependent on the continued health of the ecosystem, which potentially gives environmental concerns more political backing in opposition to mining, logging, and other interests competing for the same land.
Ecotourism money also creates an incentive to bring in more and more ecotourists. This leads to road building; resort, hotel, or even campsite construction; increased road traffic; and inevitably causes some pollution and habitat destruction, even if only from human foot traffic.
The seafood sector of a tourism industry may promote overfishing. Beachcombers and tide-poolers who remove starfish or other sea creatures as souvenirs can seriously impact coastal ecosystems. Cruise ships and airplanes pollute the air and water and release greenhouse gasses. Development of marinas to accommodate cruise ships often leads to the destruction of estuaries and damages fisheries. Traveling golfers create incentives to destroy habitat, deplete groundwater, and apply fertilizer, which creates polluted runoff into streams, rivers and wetlands.
