Sustainable Tourism And Visitor Satisfaction:Social Carrying Capacity In ‘Sierra DeGrazalema’ Natural Park (Spain)

Abstract

The increasing recreational use of protected areas regarding leisure activities usually involves negative impacts, both in natural resources and visitor experience, which are to be identified and monitored in order to achieve a sustainable tourism system. A number of planning and management decisionmaking frameworks have been developed to cope with the challenge of balancing recreation use and preservation. Carrying Capacity, one of them, mainly includes ecological and social parameters, such as environmental quality and visitor experience, respectively. The present research focuses on Social Carrying Capacity, defined as the level of use beyond which the recreational experience is negatively perceived. A survey on 400 visitors has been carried out during two years in ‘Sierra de Grazalema’ Natural Park, one of the most emblematic sites in Andalusia. This area was declared as Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1977. The results show deep visitor satisfaction and high environmental quality assessment. In addition, other interesting information has been obtained from the questionnaire such as visit profile, optimal interval between groups along pathways, valuation of existing visitor facilities, influence of encounters on recreational experience, etc. These data will allow a better understanding on user’s perception and will provide a helpful tool for planning and management.