Ecotourism development in a wetland area: between theory and practice

This paper analyses tourism development in the Agmon Lake site in Israel. Demand was assessed by analysing the perceptions of the site held by four different groups of respondents: tourism agents, tourism providers, visitors, and non–visitors. The study applied a methodology of comparative interview analysis to the four surveys. Supply–related aspects were assessed by examining the characteristics of the Agmon Lake site and its development process. The findings show that the differences between mass tourism, ecotourism, and niches such as bird watching continue to narrow and that it is currently extremely difficult – if at all possible – to distinguish between these types of tourism in theory and in practice.