The ecotourism literature is focused on market segmentation, ecological impacts of wildlife viewing, and community-based ecotourism, but there has been minimal attention to critical areas such as quality control, the industry, external environments or institutions even as the components and parameters of ecotourism are being extended. This imbalance, combined with the fragmentation and lack of integration within the literature, suggest that ecotourism, as a field of academic inquiry, is still in a state of adolescence.

Very little is known about the characteristics of overnight ecolodge patrons. This study reports on the results of a questionnaire that was completed by 1,180 individuals who had stayed at least one night in either of two well-known ecolodges in Lamington National Park, Australia. A cluster analysis on 37 items pertaining to ecotourism behavior revealed three distinct groups. “Harder” ecotourists reflect a high level of environmental commitment and affinities with wilderness-type experiences, while “softer” ecotourists are much less committed on either dimension. “Structured” ecotourists, by comparison, reveal a strong pattern of commitment but a level of desire for interpretation, escorted tours, and services/facilities that is usually more associated with mass tourism. The marketing implications of these findings are considered.

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Visitor loyalty is necessary to generate a virtuous cycle of people—park symbiosis, but knowledge about loyalty expectations is insufficient. A survey of 300 repeat visitors to South Carolina’s Francis Beidler Forest, a private protected area, yielded a hierarchical pattern of loyalties, with positive overall place identity attitudes and positive intentions on site referrals, future visits, and engagement in advocacy. However, also evident were ambivalent place dependency attitudes, ambivalent intentions about donating and paying higher entry fees, and unwillingness to volunteer. Cluster analysis yielded exclusive loyalists (23%) preferring Beidler above other sites, nonexclusive loyalists (31%) not preferring the site, referral and repeat loyalists (33%), and ambivalent loyalists (13%) displaying low levels of loyalty uniformly. Attribute satisfaction levels were very high across clusters. Income, education, residency, and birding skill level all significantly differentiated the clusters. Implications for the marketing and product development of such sites are considered.