Letter from President

Ecotourism Society Pakistan (ESP) is a group of professionals, dedicated to the cause of integrated tourism research and poor people living in mountain areas.  ESP mainly concentrates on problem-oriented multidisciplinary field research in tourism, distribute  literature on tourism and offers consultancy.  ESP also offers ecotours all over Pakistan for families, researchers, students and scholars providing them in depth knowledge about culture, heritage and people of mountains.  It also promotes small stakeholders in the field of tourism by promoting their products through ESP networking.

ESP is Regional Partner of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) United States and Friends of Nature International Austria which have been working for the better future of tourism and Nature world over.

ESP can be considered  as an association  for the purpose of advancing knowledge and disseminating information about mountain research and mountain development throughout the world. The ESP tries to promote sustainable mountain development through improved communication among institutions and individuals, with a particular focus on mountain eco-regions with Pakistan and abroad. In pursuing this purpose, it collaborates with like-minded institutions. The core duty of ESP can be considered as that  ESP is a group working for the "advocacy" for poor people living in remote mountain areas through international networking.

The ESP links people concerned with mountain development and research and is also running On-line Information Sharing Capacity Data Bank . It provides guidelines and information on mountain initiatives and alerts the  communities to timely actions, as well as the value of sharing information about mountain environments. It thus plays a direct role in fulfilling the objectives of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21.

The Society has "Full members" and "Half members" while 6 "Core members" are office bearers of the Society. “Full members” are persons who are regularly participating in its activities through their research works, articles and news items while “Half members” are those who are just supporting its cause. “Half membership” is free and Society is not taking any grants, contribution or financial support. Core members are bearing running expenditures. This arrangement has been followed to inform people that if there is a will to do something good for a good cause, there is no need of huge donations or funds.

ESP is devoted to multidisciplinary research having the academic support and expertise of over forty known tourism scholars world-wide, representing various disciplines. It has identified some relevant themes concerning economics, geography, environment and management in connection with integrated tourism activities. One of the objectives of the ESP is to produce and publish worthy research literature on-line on tourism. 

ESP conducts researches on environmentally critical areas where tourism has posed a problem or may interface with the sensitive resources. Such projects should be financially supported by funding agencies and research organizations in Pakistan and overseas. Findings of these projects are published for wider dissemination of information, and the results are fed to the decision-making authorities. ESP has full capacity of holding research and events in the field of integrated tourism and regional development. Therefore ESP is essentially a place of learning where scholars, particularly of tourism, exchange views, opinion and knowledge. Come and join us for helping Mother Nature----Our Future.