This chapter reports on an empirical study that reveals that New Zealand ecotourism business operators hold clear views on the merits of environmental certification, and the relative merits of other environmental management initiatives such as self-regulation through voluntary codes of conduct. The study confirms that membership in environmental certification programmes is most likely if businesses have been in existence for more than 10 years and if they account for five employees or more. However, at present, a minority of New Zealand ecotourism businesses fit this description. As such, most ecotourism business operators continue to view investment in environmental certification as a potentially ineffective use of limited human and/or financial resources. It is concluded that investigating and overcoming barriers to the environmental certification of ecotourism businesses in New Zealand remain a priority for the sector.

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