Geotourism as a tool of sustainable tourism

Geotourism is a relatively new phenomenon and it can be seen as a new tool for rural development, local community participation and poverty alleviation. In order to promote geotourism as a niche form of tourism it is necessary that geological heritage could be strategically organized through the creation of geoparks, geomuseum, geotours with the aim to promote both local economy and knowledge about geology. At the same time, it can be considered a form of sustainable tourism since it enhances methods for preserving the geological heritage. Seeing beautiful landscapes give emotion to tourists and, at the same time, give them the opportunity to get in contact with the deeper nature of our planet. In fact, falls, deserts, volcanoes, mountains are the results of very long and complex evolution process of the Earth whose possibility to gain comprehension of is linked to specific knowledge. The aim of this paper is to present geotourism as a new form of sustainable tourism and to underline the opportunities related to the logistic management of geological heritage.