The Cyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador’s Amazon region is a protected natural area on the border with Peru and Colombia. The reserve is a complex of rivers, lagoon and floating forest and spans over 600,000 hectares. It is characterised by its rich biodiversity: it is, for example, home to over 500 types of birds and 240 species of plants per hectare. This area came under pressure from foreign oil companies and their exploration and drilling activities. Oil exports are an important source of income for Ecuador and provide much more income than tourism ever could. Still, the tourism sector (represented mainly by responsible tourism agencies) has played a big role in the lobbying activities of environmental pressure groups. It has also been shown that tourist activities in the area can increase the awareness of the local community about the value of natural resources and lead to the adoption of zoning and regulation schemes (Wunder, 1999). It can thus be said that although tourism activities can have a negative environmental impact themselves, a trade-off with an increased local and national awareness of environmental issues is sometimes possible.

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, situated on the south-eastern coast. From the 1980s, the city aimed to reinvent itself after a period of deindustrialisation and a rapid transition from agriculture to a service economy (Prytherch and Huntoon, 2005). Tourism was seen as a key sector that could support Valencia in its overall regeneration. Valencia has a number of established attractions, such as its sandy beach, historic buildings in the city centre and an authentic cuisine – Valencia is said to be the birthplace of paella. The city is also building a strong reputation as a host city for sports events. One of the latest additions is the City of Arts and Sciences: a culture and entertainment complex, designed by Santiago Calatrava, consisting of a science museum, an IMAX theatre, a planetarium, an oceanarium, a performing arts centre, and an urban garden. The whole complex is located in the dry river bed of the Turia, a river that was diverted away from the city after a flood in the 1950s, and which now runs as a green lung through the city. The aim of this project was to develop cultural attractions in Valencia of a national and international standard that would put the city firmly on the political and economic map (Lapunzina, 2005).