The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is an American organization dedicated to promoting

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

globally. The organization was founded in 1990 and contributed significantly to the growth and development of ecotourism, providing guidelines, technical assistance, training, research and publications. TIES' global network of ecotourism professionals and travellers, with members in more than 190 countries, aim to use tourism as a tool for

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

, protection of bio-cultural diversity and sustainable community development. In 2015, TIES lost its 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt status with the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

as a result of failure to file

Form 990 Form 990 (officially, the "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax") is a United States Internal Revenue Service form that provides the public with financial information about a nonprofit organization. It is often the only source of such i ...

in three consecutive years, and in the same year the organization’s board of directors resigned.

References

Ecotourism Environmental organizations established in 1990 1990 establishments in the United States {{Org-stub