Estonian Ecotourism Association – ESTECAS is a non-governmental and non-profit membership organisation, that connects individuals, organisations and authorities for ecotourism development in Estonia. ESTECAS aims to unite different stakeholders for development of ecotourism – “responsible travel that contributes to the well-being of local communities and conserves the natural and cultural heritage”.
To achieve this aim ESTECAS has following objectives:
* to develop principles for ecotourism, strategies and action plans, industry guidelines and standards, suitable in the Estonian context
* to promote the ideas of ecotourism and sustainable tourism, responsible travel and tour operation
* to collect, organise, publish and provide the information and know-how of ecotourism
* to initiate and organise projects and actions for conservation of natural and cultural heritage through travel & tourism
* to organise educational, training and advisory programs for ecotourism
* to monitor social, ecological and economical impacts of travel & tourism
* to support activities of product development and marketing
* to participate in international co-operation and networking for ecotourism
* to seek the support of local and state authorities for objectives and programmes of ESTECAS