When the subject of teaching ecotourism comes up, two responses seem to independently arise: First, this is not a major topic in tourism departments like catering or transportation; Second, specialized knowledge of nature is beyond the scope of tourism English departments. Regardless of which of the two major concerns come up, or other less common ones, a lack of concern or understanding for this rapidly growing industry niche comes to the surface. In a brief survey of public and private colleges and universities here in Taiwan, in which there are Tourism departments existing, ecotourism classes never exceed 1 two-hour elective class. This lack of emphasis ignores the recent government data that shows that many foreign tourists are not here to shop but to experience Taiwan's natural beauty and scenery. Surveys and studies indicate that ecotourists usually come from higher-income brackets than many other tourist categories and they are highly interested in learning about and being educated in the places and things that they see. In fact, they almost always gather information in choosi...
