Local environment can benefit from eco-tourism

Aired on WUFT on April 10th, 2012

Suwannee River scene
Suwannee River scene

Nature-based tourism can benefit an area’s environment and economy.  That’s according to a newly released University of Florida study.  UF Associate Professor of Ecotourism and Natural Resource Management, Taylor Stein conducted his research in the popular tourist destination of Costa Rica, an area with similar ecotourism opportunities as Florida. Stein found that tourists are more likely to go to places that are environmentally friendly and where the money they spend goes back to help preserve natural resources.  Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked with Stein about how his findings in Costa Rica can also apply to the Sunshine State.

Stein’s study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Environmental Conservation.