External links
- Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism
- Green Olive Tours - Travel Agency for Alternative Tourism in Palestine/Israel
- Arttours - Artists exploring alternative tourism in Stuttgart
Alternative tourism refers to forms of travel that differ from conventional mass tourism, typically emphasizing small-scale, locally rooted, and socially or environmentally responsible practices. [1] [2] It is sometimes positioned as an approach that seeks to balance visitor experience with community well-being and environmental sustainability. [3]
Scholars note that the term alternative tourism is broad and sometimes ambiguous, encompassing a range of travel practices that contrast with standardized mass tourism. [4] [5]
Commonly discussed forms include:
Since the term alternative is ambiguous, there are numerous critical remarks stating that the concept is only " (...) a fashionable idea among those who are dissatisfied with the nature of mass tourism (...)". [6] The critics state, that alternative tourism lacks a clear definition of what is the tourism style alternative to. The origins of the term can be found in two alternating concepts:
Others express their critical opinions regarding the term as fetish-adjective, miracle-word, mythical-term.
