Final answer:
Tourism can reduce regional landscape distinctiveness by creating ethnicity based tourist landscapes that emphasize stereotypes, which may harm cultural understanding and contribute to environmental degradation, despite efforts to promote sustainable ecotourism practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
One way that tourism has diminished regional landscape distinctiveness is through the creation of ethnicity based tourist landscapes. These are areas developed specifically for tourism that often exaggerate certain cultural or ethnic traits to cater to tourists' expectations. This can lead to a process known as othering, where stereotypical and simplified ideas about ethnic minorities are reinforced, and a true understanding of cultural differences is eroded.
Additionally, these tourist landscapes can sometimes fail to benefit local economies and contribute to environmental degradation. With the rise of ecotourism, there is an effort to promote tourism that respects and preserves unique environmental and cultural areas. However, without proper management and global standards, some ecotourism practices may not be sufficient to protect the distinctiveness of regional landscapes and could still result in harmful impacts.