НЯКОИ ПРОБЛЕМИ И ОСОБЕНОСТИ В РАЗВИТИЕТО НА ЕКОЛОГИЧНИЯ ТУРИЗЪМ В БЪЛГАРИЯ

Bulgaria is one of the countries on the European continent, possessing rich biodiversity, including plant and animal species. Together with the existing network of protected and protection areas the biodiversity constitute a significant basis for ecotourism development. This paper ecotourism is treated as nature-based form of tourism. The emphasis is laid upon the fact that for the last several years the professionals working in this field interpret it as a tool for sustainable development. As a result the term “ecotourism” is used on the one hand as a definition, concerning the principle of sustainable development, while on the other hand it describes an individual tourism market segment. A comprehensive analysis is made investigating the evolution of the term ecotourism at global and local scale. Under observation are some of the existing problems concerning its development in Bulgaria.