Going beyond tourism

The eco-tourism trips offered by the likes of Beijing-based tour company EcoAction can educate travelers while creating sustainable economic growth in protected areas

Mass tourism has always been the dominant force in the country's tourism sector. It is so dominant that you can hardly find a real eco-tourism product on the market.

Very few tour operators are willing or able to tap into the niche market because ecotourism involves visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, is intended as a low-impact and often small-scale alternative to standard mass tourism, and needs leaders with expertise on conservation to design and guide a tour, and therefore, are usually much more expensive.