Discourses of ecotourism: the case of Fraser Island, Queensland

The importance of language in the changing usage of particular environments is a topic worthy of greater attention than hitherto. Fraser Island has pa ssed through a period of intense political conflict to one in which it is d ominated by the new discourse of ecotourism. It is now part of that global development in which it is claimed that tourists can become properly inform ed about, and become particularly sensitive to, the complex and the fragile nature of the places which they visit. In this paper, which concentrates o n the discourse of ecotours and whale watching, it is argued that such clai ms fall a long way short of being realised in one of Australia's prime ecot ourism destinations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.