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pp.77-87
Ecotourism has the potential to boost the energy of a village as it pays keen attention to the ecosystem and the residents of the village. It is empowered by participation of and cooperation among stakeholders who are closely involved in ecotourism. However, many of them express difficulty in striking a right balance between development and conservation with regard to promoting ecotourism. Against this backdrop, this research paper investigates the structure of conflict that the stakeholders, especially those in Stork Village in Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province of Korea, experience during the process of establishment of government-led ecotourism. In addition, this study examines the problems of government-led ecotourism model and how they can be addressed. To analyze conflict structure, this paper used Q methods and found out that the budget-related stakeholders are largely divided into four groups as who; a) complain about how business profits are distributed; b) secure profits by expanding programs; c) consider human settlement, and; d) broaden people's participation. The biggest contributor to the conflicts is found that compensation was given discriminately to different jurisdictions. The second finding is that residents became less cooperative when the financial compensation did not live up to their expectation. For instance, they would demand the tourism facility physically expanded, repeatedly complain about the process of the work, and even accuse the government of degrading ecosystem. In other words, unless the compromise is reached with the residents regarding financial compensation, it could be difficult to encourage their participation and develop as a program-oriented tour. Lastly, the tour program needs to induce voluntary participation of the residents and deliver proper information on ecosystem and natural resources so as to last as sustainable ecotourism. The success of ecotourism will be subject to the cooperation of stakeholders in a region, conservation of our fragile ecosystem, and realization of sustainable growth through sharing economic benefits. This study looks into the cause of the conflicts of ecotourism sites and their structure. If this paper can bring about cooperation of stakeholders, the management and operation of ecotourism sites would be more sustainable.
