Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate the social carrying capacity (SCC) of Kawdulla National Park (KNP) in terms of vehicle crowding. Crowding was considered as the social norm to estimate the standards for SCC. The normative theory approach was applied in this study and a social norm curve was prepared. Based on the hypothesis visitor acceptability or tolerance influenced by vehicle crowding, images with different number of vehicles were generated. The crowding standard for SCC was estimated as 9 vehicles within 25 m radius by asking each respondent whether the presented scenarios were acceptable or not. Statistically, it was proven that socio economic status of visitors mainly affect on the acceptability of vehicle crowding. The average visitor acceptability for enjoying elephant watching has decreased with the increasing number of vehicles (crowding). Therefore the results of the present study could be applied in decision making to diversify the tourism activities in order to maintain the visitor satisfaction on enjoying elephant watching. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/suslj.v12i1.6984 Sabaragamuwa University Journal 2013; V. 12 No. 1 pp 23-39
Highlights
In Sri Lanka, national parks are the only protected areas, which permit recreation
This study explores the theory and application of carrying capacity to two national parks in Sri Lanka
The results showed that the positive intercept indicates that the majority of the recreational scenarios were deemed as not contributing to displacement by the respondents
Summary
In Sri Lanka, national parks are the only protected areas, which permit recreation. The national parks get more than half a million visitors a year, about 20% of who are foreigners. Tourism is the fourth revenue earning industry in Sri Lanka (CBSL, 2010). National parks have been charged with the dual mandate of providing for quality recreation opportunities and protecting park resources. Protected area managers in many parts of the world share similar responsibilities. Tourism management in national parks and other protected areas is done for achieving the objectives of maximizing people’s enjoyment of their stay, through education and recreation, minimizing impacts on habitat and wildlife and increasing the visitor’s concern for conservation (Sale and Berkmueller, 1988). The ultimate goal of tourism management, tourism planning
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