EKOLOGINIO TURIZMO PLĖTROS GALIMYBĖS MARIJAMPOLĖS SAVIVALDYBĖJE.

The article presents the situation of ecotourism as one of the types of active recreation and development opportunities in Marijampolė municipality. Over the years, tourism as a promising branch of investment has expanded into many different types: sports tourism, religious tourism, cognitive tourism, green (ecological) tourism, recreational tourism, and many others. Considering the fact that the preservation of natural resources, flora and fauna has recently become the most important problem for mankind, ecological tourism has become one of the most popular branches in tourism. This form of tourism is distinguished by the desire to preserve natural nature in various parts of the world. There is relatively little talk about ecotourism in Lithuania. It is understood that in order to integrate into the European context, Lithuania needs to clarify and self-assess the directions of application and development of ecological tourism. In Marijampolė municipality, ecological tourism is also not widely developed and known, it is not characterized by large flows of tourists. This paper solves the problem: what is the situation of ecological tourism in Marijampolė municipality and by what means can this activity be developed? The analysis of tourism activities in Marijampolė municipality pointed out various activities and entertainment abound in this area, but they are not fully used due to insufficient attention to advertising and popularization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]