Global Geotourism – An Emerging Form of Sustainable Tourism

Geotourism is a new form of tourism based on the geological environment. Whilst ecotourism and biodiversity have been described in the academic literature for over thirty years, geotourism and its attendant concepts of geoheritage, geodiversity, geoconservation, and geotours , is relatively new. Geotourism is defined as tourism which focuses on an area’s geology and landscape as the basis of fostering sustainable tourism development. It begins with an understanding of the Abiotic (non-living) environment, to build greater awareness of the Biotic (living) environment of plants and animals as well as the Cultural environment of people, past and present. It is argued that geotourism offers a new form of sustainable tourism which is more holistic than previous niche forms of tourism.