Ecotourism is a valuable but contentious concept. The underlying idea is that under some circumstances, tourism could make a net positive contribution to conservation of natural (and cultural) environments. Since tourism is probably the only profit-making commercial industry which can make any such claim, even if rarely, this justifies the construction of the term ecotourism, even though there are no parallel or analogous terms in other industry sectors. Since conservation is important to human and planetary survival, and other conservation mechanisms are perpetually underfunded and under political pressure, any contribution which tourism can make is worth pursuing. The concept of ecotourism is hence potentially valuable.