Successful ecotourism planning and management are highly dependent on the ability of individual and organizational stakeholders to share information and resources and collectively solve problems and support the business. Understanding relationships among stakeholders can determine the conditions that enable or constrain social processes in ecotourism (Blokdyk, 2021).

Customers, communities, unions, faculty members, researchers, associations, NGOs, suppliers, shareholders, employees, government, conservation authorities, and financial bodies are some that should be taken into consideration in ecotourism ventures or projects (Durham et al., 2014).

Stakeholder management could be organized into 5 steps (Diamantis, 2021; Harrin, 2020): (1) identification, (2) importance and influence determination, (3) dialogues and participation, (4) intervention, (5) communication plan.

Stakeholder identification and participation: it is important to use methods and techniques to identify stakeholders at different levels (primary and secondary stakeholders) that can influence or have a stake in the ecotourism project and product by interconnecting them. Moreover, it is important to understand each stakeholder’s area of concern, document the stakeholder’s needs, and consider the characteristics of each stakeholder group (Fennell and Dowling, 2003; Michopoulou and Buhalis, 2010).

Stakeholder importance and influence: after the identification process, you need to determine the importance of each one and their influence on your project or enterprise. A simple tool that can help you is the importance and interest grid by Zubayr et al. (2014). Using a Likert scale, it is possible to define who are the key players (high importance and high influence) on ecotourism development. On the other hand, who are the crowd (low importance and low influence) (Lelloltery et al., 2021). Based on that (see Figure 1), you can define different strategies for the stakeholders of your ecotourism project or product. You can also develop an approach for each type of group and relationship the management wants to build. Partnerships and alliances, joint projects, and closer communication channels can be developed too, as well as actions to mitigate any damage caused to any group.

Figure 1. Matrix of the stakeholder importance and influence

Source: Zubayr et al., 2014

Stakeholder dialogues and participation: it is fundamental to build strategies to design a stakeholder participation process for the ecotourism project and product where the stakeholder´s positions and willingness to change are justified in a dialogue (Paletto et al., 2015). Each type of group and every relationship you want to build will require a different approach. Partnerships and alliances, joint projects, and closer communication channels can be developed, as well as actions to mitigate any damage caused to any group.

Stakeholder intervention: in this step it is important to analyse and explain the intervention of the stakeholder dialogue by evaluating and reflecting on how they can contribute to an ecotourism project or product.

Stakeholder Communication Plan: to determine effective communication practices for each stakeholder group, the following questions must be addressed: is this group providing requirements, using requirements, or supporting the ecotourism project work?, which elicitation technique(s) will be most effective?, which presentation format will be most comfortable for this group?, the Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet, when and where will communications with each stakeholder be most effective? What are the best communication techniques for each stakeholder?

The Stakeholder management can also benefit from a set of concepts and tools called social network analysis. They support the identification of stakeholders with influence, power, and prestige. Besides it helps to identify structures for group dynamics (measures of density, centralization, brokerage, reciprocity, and transitivity), and affiliations networks.

This analysis shows the relational attributes of social networks, which can help to contextualize stakeholders within a broader framework. It can be useful to analyse the density or general cohesion of groups, calculated from the total number of connections divided by the total possible connections (Rusen et al., 2021). Additionally, we can measure the centrality of certain individuals, as a high degree of centrality can be considered as focal points, ‘hubs’ or ‘stars of the network’, whereas individuals with a low grade can be considered peripheral. Finally, it allows us to analyse the distribution of relationships among individuals. This represents the extent to which social relationships are concentrated in a few stakeholders in the network or dispersed among all potentials involved. Based on measures of homogeneity/heterogeneity, it is possible to identify key social actors in the networks that act as ‘opinion leaders’ and can play a more strategic role in effecting changes or developing projects.

We live in a world where offering products and services is not enough. According to Pine & Gilmore (1998), “consumers – unquestionably – want experiences and increasingly companies are responding to this by explicitly designing and promoting them.” This phrase from 1998 may seem old and outdated, but the truth is that it still holds relevance today, especially in the tourism sector, and especially in ecotourism. Ecotourism needs to develop experiences that are differentiating and relevant to their customers, since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the sector to adapt to drastic changes, and consumers have changed their way of expressing consumption, forcing organizations to be attentive to these new needs and demands.

The first step to understanding customer needs is to know who my customer is, and for that, segmentation strategies can be developed based on demographic, geographic, psychographic, and attitudinal segmentation criteria. It is important to point out that what is relevant in segmentation is to know who my customers are, grouping them mainly by tastes and preferences, since segments with the same demographic and geographic characteristics can be completely different.

In the case of ecotourism, we can affirm that everyone is a potential ecotourist, has been or will be, and we can segment them into four large groups based on their relationship, knowledge, and level of interest in the activity they are developing. Some characteristics of each are described below (Dixit et al., 2022).

• Occasional ecotourist: This is the tourist that accidentally takes an Ecotourism service, as a product of the contracting of another larger service, and their interest in the environment is low or null.
• Natural landmarks ecotourist: They visit certain points of interest, with the intention of getting out of the routine, where their main motivation is to live an adventure in a natural environment.
• Interested ecotourist: Tourists who are mainly looking for Ecotourism activities, because they love nature and do not want to spend their vacations in big cities or popular beaches.
• Dedicated ecotourist: They are mainly scientists, researchers and nature scholars, as well as people with a high environmental vocation, who want to learn or help in the conservation of the environment. They are people who see Ecotourism as an instrument of conservation and want to contribute a grain of sand.

After understanding broadly how to segment customers, the next step is to understand what their needs are. For this, there are several methodologies. One can be to create what is known as the customer archetype or buyer persona, which is to humanize the ideal customer in a semi-fictional representation where patterns of behaviour, motivations, lifestyles, needs, and interests of people are represented, allowing to design ecotourism experiences that are of value to customers.

On the other hand, when we talk about identifying needs, it is important to remember that needs are discovered, not created. So, the process involves discovering a latent need, stimulating desire, and generating demand with a product that adapts to the needs of customers.

In this same sense, when a customer has a need, that is, he/she has a lack and begins a process of searching for how to satisfy that need, and in that process will be the total set of companies he knows. Then, he will advance to the companies of consideration since, from the total set, there are companies or services that he will not access for multiple reasons. Finally, he will make the decision and evaluate the service, creating a perception either positive or negative.

From the point of view of organizations working in ecotourism, understanding this is key. So, the application of tools such as Customer Journey Maps will help to identify each and every one of the points of contact that the customer will have, from the search that today we know begins in the digital world, to navigation, booking, or payment, and then the experience in the physical world (Brewer and Holmes, 2021).

Many companies make the mistake of generating a very good brand image but not properly managing the customer touchpoints, being inconsistent with the value proposition. This is of vital importance since companies must identify these points of contact and analyse in-depth how their customers relate to them, detecting failures in the flow to eliminate the frictions that prevent their proper functioning to generate positive experiences (De la Riva et al., 2020).

Thus, it is imperative to speak of excellence or quality in tourism service. When we speak of quality in tourism, this is mainly associated with the tourist experience. But what is quality in tourism? According to the WTO, it is “the result of a process that implies the satisfaction of all legitimate needs, demands, and expectations of consumers with respect to products and services, at an acceptable price, in accordance with mutually accepted contractual conditions, and with the underlying factors that determine quality, such as safety, hygiene, accessibility, transparency, authenticity, and harmony of a tourism activity concerned with its human and natural environment” (WTO, 2003).

In ecotourism, quality is much more demanding, almost as a basic and implicit attribute in the service. It is assumed that quality is a must in this type of service since people who practice ecotourism are generally more demanding than traditional tourists. Ecotourists want to see the species of flora and fauna they have paid to see, seek tranquillity to enjoy the natural attraction, need a lot of information, well-prepared and excellent guides, transportation, and comfortable accommodations, among other major demands.

Delivering ecotourism experiences based on the needs of consumers translates into growth for companies since it provides greater satisfaction and memorability, building customer loyalty in an organic way. Customers are likely to buy again and recommend the brand.

It is imperative to measure the customer experience in ecotourism since something that cannot be quantified and measured cannot be managed. Companies that do not measure their customer experience cannot make informed decisions. It’s like trying to drive a car without a speedometer, rear-view mirrors, gas meter, etc. and want to get to your destination safely.

Many companies do not measure their customer experience, and even more serious, they believe they deliver an excellent service, but only a very low percentage of their customers. Customers tend to keep silent without giving feedback to the company about their bad experiences. They will talk about them with their close ones, which can increase the impact of the negative experience by up to 10 new people who will not consider the company’s services after a bad recommendation.

Companies that design and measure the customer experience use methodologies to design the customer journey within the purchasing process. They use the most common metrics such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Advocacy (CA), and Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT) to measure customer satisfaction and recommendation. However, these metrics do not reflect whether the customer will buy again or will be loyal.

The metric that best predicts repurchase and increased consumer spending is the Customer Effort Score (CES). The CES aims to know the level of effort incurred by a customer in a purchase process since customers today more than ever are looking for companies to give them solutions quickly and simply.

Thus, it is of utmost importance for ecotourism companies to design and measure the experience of customers in contact with the organization, making room for disciplines such as User Experience (UX) and Service Design (SD), both within what we know as Customer Experience (CX). The purpose of CX is a holistic view of the customer, putting them at the centre, seeking to make the entire purchasing process and all possible interactions, whether with staff or contact channels, positive experiences.

Policymakers, businesses, and destination management authorities, tourism operators, local communities, and visitors each have a role to play in ensuring that tourism enhances, rather than diminishes destinations as places to live, work, visit and enjoy (Seba, 2012). Making ecotourism a reality is a process, not a goal. Developing and implementing practices that help to enhance the positive effects and reduce the negative effects of tourism activity on a daily basis is an important part of this process, where consumers are demonstrating that they are increasingly influenced by ethical and sustainability issues in their purchase decisions (Goodwin, 2011). This applies to travel and tourism too, where several consumer-driven trends are demonstrating consumers’ increasing interest in embracing ecotourism practices.

Ecotourism practices are therefore about planning, developing, and managing tourism in a way that ensures that (World Tourism Organization, 2020; Wood, 2017): negative impacts are managed and minimized, and the net benefits tourism can create for places and people are enhanced; natural resources are conserved, and biodiversity is protected; cultural traditions and heritage are respected, celebrated, and preserved; local economies and livelihoods are strengthened; the well-being and quality of life of communities are enhanced, and they are involved in tourism decision-making. Therefore, ecotourism is not a product, a niche, a market proposition, or even a ‘form’ of tourism – all types of tourism can be made more sustainable.

Ecotourism could adopt the following practices at company level to promote sustainable travel (European Travel Commission, 2021, Bien, 2006, Charters et al., 2003):

• Developing a shared vision for the destination based on cross-sector consensus creating mechanisms for long-term and deep cooperation between private, public and community stakeholders;
• Building sustainability into tourism strategy and planning identifying the impacts of tourism and an understanding of its costs and benefits will help shape and prioritise strategic actions, as well as those who can lead and contribute to them including environmental aspects, such as responsible resource consumption, investment in green infrastructure, application of circular economy principles, reducing water and energy use, low carbon transportation and renewable energy; and social impacts as resident views on tourism and host-guest interaction; economic issues, including decent work and strong supply chains;
• Developing tourism within a broad-based economy ensuring that tourism is firmly aligned with the place’s environmental and social objectives;
• Consulting and placing local communities at the centre of tourism planning and development carrying out actions to raise awareness of the importance of tourism to the local economy, and help to demonstrate the benefits that it brings to local community life;
• Regenerative tourism: using tourism to positively contribute to the destination and its environment as part of a broad “ecosystem” recognising that there is an opportunity to go beyond mitigating negative impacts and generate positive social and environmental benefits for people and place when developing tourism strategies and action plans;
• Creating sustainable financing mechanisms for tourism development and management ensuring that revenues generated contribute to reducing negative impacts of tourism, enhancing the destination and protecting its assets, and raising living standards and the quality of facilities for local residents;
• Setting new measures of success: prioritising local wellbeing and value over volume developing metrics specifying benefits for the destination, such as small business development, sustainable supply chains, local sourcing, income distribution, protection of natural and cultural resources, environmental management and progress;
• Identifying climate risks and aligning tourism development objectives with carbon reduction commitments identifying and advocating for how tourism can contribute to national and regional carbon reduction objectives;
• Using tourism revenue to protect and conserve natural and cultural heritage assets identifying ways in which tourism revenues can contribute to the conservation, protection and celebration of cultural and natural assets on which destination attractiveness is based, and serve to mitigate negative impacts of tourism;
• Monitoring visitor demand pre-visit and in-destination to predict and manage visitor growth;
• Promoting a strong sense of place working with local people to identify what is special about the destination, to engender community cohesion and local pride as well as increased support for the type of tourism local people would like to see;
• Embedding sustainability into industry practice to make it part of ‘business as usual’ supporting tourism and hospitality businesses to adopt sustainable practices to create benefits for the destination, particularly in respect of resource consumption and environmental management but also in relation;
• Building responsible, transparent and inclusive supply chains and procurement policies;
• Providing consumers with information to make responsible choices creating accessible platforms where consumers looking for products and services, and operators looking for suppliers, can find information on the sustainability performance of tourism businesses and low-carbon transport options.

Moreover, there are many tools available to ecotourism companies that can help them develop sustainability (Bustam, 2010): sustainable management strategies, such as tourism certification, eco-labelling, and eco-costs (levied as charges and taxes); measures for mitigating the impacts of tourism supply, demand, planning, and development, such as regulatory pressure and environmental management, including water- and energy-saving measures, waste minimization, use of environmentally friendly materials, green advertising/marketing guidelines, green events, and business events; conditions necessary for sustainable tourism, such as the involvement of local communities in tourism development and operation, which is an important condition for sustainable tourism; and other tools such as life cycle management, eco-business, environmental management, social sustainability management, sustainable procurement, supply chain sustainability, product stewardship, extended producer responsibility, environmental claims, labels, and declarations.