Structuring challenges of sustainable tourism development in protected natural areas with driving force–pressure–state–impact–response (DPSIR) framework

Abstract

Protected natural areas (PA) are often regarded as areas of high recreational value; thus, many of them are increasingly threatened by tourism development. This has spurred interest in research across socio-economic and biophysical context to respond to the complexity of this global issue. This study applies the DPSIR framework to nature-based tourism development to discuss the cause–effect links and to consider a range of social responses to advance the objective of sustainability of these exceptional areas. Instead of site-perspective, the study builds upon an inductive and Ground theory approach to emphasise the need for (eco)system thinking to identify priorities for actions. The proposed framework delivers the analysis of global and local drivers of change to generate a profound understanding of Triple bottom line impact processes and response implications. The study demonstrates that sustainability of nature-based tourism and resilience of PAs are not possible in the absence of developed institutional capacity, multi-layer management system, monitoring, education and the consent of the community.