(introduction...)

This section contains a variety of country reports, arranged alphabetically. Due to the difficulty of obtaining current and/or detailed information without site visits (which were not possible for this project), the amount of information inevitably is limited. In addition, the statistical limitations discussed in Section 3.3 make it impossible to provide meaningful quantitative trends in ecotourism. Some country-level trends in general tourism are provided for 1994 to 1996 in WTO (1997).⁵

⁵ Country-level tourism estimates in this section generally are from national tourism offices and may differ somewhat from WTO estimates in Sec 3.3 due to differing years, differing definitions, and other factors.

Many of the countries exhibit the trends and qualities discussed above, such as non-existent or under-funded interpretive programmes. Because they were incorporated into previous sections, and detailed country-level information was largely unavailable, these trends and qualities will not be presented in detail for individual countries. The country reports are not comprehensive, but are included to further illustrate concepts and provide basic background information regarding ecotourism in each of the countries.