Birding Festivals, Sustainability, and Ecotourism: An Ambiguous Relationship

A survey of 108 U.S.-based birding festivals reveals overall basic adherence to ecotourism criteria, although cluster analysis reveals four distinct subgroups whose members are labeled as normatives (47%), minimalists (30%), recruiters (15%), and fund-raisers (8%). Formal identification with ecotourism through promotion or membership was low and did not predict cluster membership or increase in visitor numbers. Hence, while ecotourism organizations could benefit from an influx of birding festival memberships, the reciprocal benefits for birding festivals with regard to performance and sustainability outcomes are unclear.