Sustainable Tourism Activities Research Articles

Diversification of Municipalities Located in the Impact Area of National Parks in Terms of Environmental Requirements of Sustainable Tourism

The main objective of the paper was to show the diversification of Polish municipalities that have national parks within their boundaries in terms of implementing sustainable tourism priorities. The study focused on ecological and environmental aspects, primarily related to the shaping and maintenance of green areas, as well as waste and wastewater management. The assessment was based on statistical data taken from the Local Data Bank for the years 2012–2018. The authors determined their own set of indicators, describing green areas management, the environmental risk associated with waste and wastewater generation, and the reshaping of the forest and agricultural landscape. The obtained results were compared with the spatial diversification of the surveyed administrative units in terms of tourist attractiveness carried out by us in 2018. The study made it possible to indicate, among others, municipalities that are prime tourist destinations and have highly developed tourist facilities, but do not keep up with sustainable tourism activities. There are also units that carry out activities in the field of forest and agricultural land protection, invest in public green areas, properly manage sewage and wastewater, and, at the same time, are not attractive for tourists.

Assessing the conservation values and tourism threats in Barrientos Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctica has been witnessing continued growth of tourism, both in the overall visitation and in the diversity of itineraries and visitor activities. Expanding tourism presents unique business and educational opportunities, but it is also putting immense pressure on Antarctica's natural, and for the most parts, pristine environment. Understanding the effectiveness of different tourism management strategies and instruments, like the Visitor Site Guidelines adopted by the Antarctic Treaty, is fundamental to the sustainable management of Antarctic tourism. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Visitor Site Guidelines and other tourism management actions in reducing impacts to the natural environment and for this, we used Barrientos Island as our case study as this is one of the most popular sites for tourism activities in the Antarctic Peninsula Region. First, we conducted a literature review and biological inventories to enable a thorough description of Barrientos Island's ecological values. The results show that Barrientos Island occupies the third highest biological richness among the top 15 most visited sites in the Antarctic Peninsula Region. We then assessed how tourism use on Barrientos Island affected biodiversity and the environment, and how Visitor Site Guidelines and other management measures helped alleviate these impacts. As intended, these instruments has been positive and valuable by providing operational guidance. However, they may lack significant information for tourism decision-making processes. To this end, we propose an alternative adaptive management approach that can more efficiently conserve biodiversity and environmental values while allowing the development of sustainable tourism activities in Antarctica.

SOME FACTORS OF COMMUNICATION TOURISM TYPES AFFECT THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

The Central Highlands is an area with a large community of ethnic minorities to be living. In the process of integration into the world economy, community tourism are one of the economic sectors that are interested in developing in our country in general and the Central Highlands area in particular.Although the activity has not been long, but it can be said that tourism and community tourism are the basis and premise to contribute to the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands; contribute to restoring many traditional cultural values of ethnic groups. For a variety of subjective and objective reasons, tourism activity and community tourism have affected ethnic lifestyles, customs and culture in both positive and limited ways. This is an issue that needs to be considered for research, with practical implications for sustainable tourism activities to create momentum for economic development and cultural preservation of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands area in the period of accelerating industrialization, nationalization and international economic integration.

Green revitalization of historical settlements for responsible tourism in mediterranean areas: the multiscale approach of VIVIMED project and the experience of Albergo Diffuso

Is it possible to apply a multiscale approach to implement a really green and sustainable revitalization of historical settlements? Is there a strategy to link the needs of social innovation and responsible touristic use of inner territories? How can we support territories that require strategies for intervention and tourism development capable of enhancing the geographical characteristics of places, environmental factors and understanding of economic and social values? This paper presents the experience of ViViMed international research project to implement sustainable tourism activities in Tuscany Region as driver of new opportunity to develop a new story-telling of the hinterland territories, stimulating the networking of natural, architectural and cultural resources to build a successful tourist experience for new scenarios of green and social innovation. The experience of Albergo Diffuso was implemented in two inner villages, Guinadi and Seggiano, stimulating a deep involvement of local communities to define different scenarios of services and network, testing new and traditional bioclimatic technologies for green rehabilitation.

Discussion of the Issue of Wolf Expansion with an Impact on Landscape Management and Farming

Abstract The coexistence of people and large carnivores, especially wolves, tend to have an adverse impact on regional sustainable development of ecosystems and rural areas, negatively influencing mainly traditional farming, sustainable tourism and other socioeconomic activities. Although the viewpoint on current situation is not quite clear from the conservative institutions’ perspective, an increase in compensations and support of protective measures results in expenditure displacement instead of proper problem solution. The same displacement logic applies not only to livestock grazing subsidies in the open landscape but also to subsidies determined exclusively for the protection of the predator itself, the wolf. The paper aims to address the key impacts on cultivated landscape caused by a progressive spreading of the predator, focusing on the comprehensive perception of the issue as a whole while also using farming examples to highlight the main issues of gradual wolf spreading in the cultivated area. The research is based on the authors’ monograph (2018) positively accepted by both politicians and specialists’ community which promotes basis for further discussion across other interrelated sectors.

Propuesta de acciones turísticas para el Sur de la Isla de la Juventud.

El desarrollo de una actividad turística sostenible es de vital importancia para cualquier destino. Pero se debe aplicar una correcta gestión para aprovechar sus recursos y atractivos. No se debe hacer un uso abusivo de sus recursos, tampoco se debe desaprovechar las potencialidades que estos tienen, para que se desarrolle un turismo que beneficie al territorio donde se realiza. La Zona Sur del Municipio Especial Isla de la Juventud, es un sitio de inmensa riqueza natural que no queda exento de esta problemática; por lo que el objetivo de este estudio fue diseñar un plan de acciones turísticas para el aprovechamiento de los recursos del Sur de la Isla. La mayor aportación de esta investigación ha sido la elaboración de un plan de acciones, a fin de poder analizar las posibilidades económicas que este tipo de actividades pueden reportar a la zona, conservando su carácter de economía sostenible sin que se comprometa el medioambiente para las futuras generaciones, de manera que puedan disfrutar y admirar la belleza de los recursos naturales existentes.

Determination of Managers’ Attitudes Towards Eco-Labeling Applied in the Context of Sustainable Tourism and Evaluation of the Effects of Eco-Labeling on Accommodation Enterprises

The attitudes of departmental managers towards eco-labels are extremely important for the realization of sustainable tourism practices in accommodation enterprises. Research focused on determining the attitudes of hotel managers towards eco-labels is very limited. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to determine the attitude of departmental managers towards eco-labels applied in the context of sustainable tourism. The second purpose of this study was to determine whether the sustainable tourism and management activities of accommodation enterprises that did and did not have an eco-label were differentiated. To this end, this study was designed and conducted with a sample of 408 hotel managers in 83 different accommodation enterprise. Data were collected through questionnaires using convenience sampling, which is a non-probability sampling method. As a result of this research, it was determined that the attitudes of managers towards eco-labels differed according to their personal and professional characteristics. Another important finding of this study was that the sustainable management and operation activities of the hotels differed significantly according to whether or not they were eco-labeled certified. Overall, it is obvious that eco-labels have a significant impact on the implementation of environmentally friendly, responsible, and sustainable tourism practices in the accommodation sector.

Innovation of New Knowledge in Sustainable Tourism through Social Innovation

The goal of our paper is to present the knowledge management process of social innovation endeavour undertaken in the field of sustainable tourism of the capital of Slovenia. We present all phases of social innovation and focus on the findings of the second phase. We use the methodology of social innovation that is composed of structured open-ended questionnaires. Questionnaires took 30-40 minutes to be filled out. The answers were transcribed and analysed with NVivo 10 software. We conclude that social innovation is a beneficial methodology that provides the inclusion of key stakeholders in sustainable tourism. That is, local community has an opportunity to be heard, empowered and engaged in sustainable tourism initiatives and activities that not only enrich the spectre and essence of sustainable tourism offer but also preserve, cultivate and nurture the human potentials of the locals by including and valuing their ideas and creative solutions to social and environmental challenges.

Sustainable Urban Tourism: Reflections on the Need for Building-Related Indicators

A solid and consistent research production has, up to now, considerably contributed to the identification and exploration of the meanings, theoretical foundations, and possible implications of tourism in the cities. The focus on pursuing sustainable tourism activities has also inspired different approaches (eco-tourism, responsible tourism, pro-poor tourism, among others). Nevertheless, difficulties still exist in the definition of concrete solutions to the complex problem of how to activate and facilitate the diffusion of sustainable urban tourism practices. Given the central role of indicators in the monitoring of transformation and defining impact mitigation measures, this article proposes an unexplored interpretation of such tools, which are specific for the built environment as a main component of the urban context. Starting from a broad examination of the literature on urban tourism and its related impacts, and focusing on heritage destinations, the authors highlight the potential of the built environment to play an active role in reducing the extent of potential flow impacts upstream of their actual occurrence. As a result, possible building-scale indicators that could integrate current downstream evaluation and mitigation practices are identified and suggested, and their possible implications are discussed alongside those of existing indicators. Finally, further developments for future research are suggested.

A study on the determination of the natural park's sustainable tourism potential.

The surface site of Yesilyuva Nature Park encompasses natural, social, economic, and cultural characteristics and has become a marker of the region's natural and cultural heritage. To support the preservation of this site, promotional activities should be planned. In this study, because of tourism and related opinions of residents and visitors alike in terms of their natural determination, an important cultural and historical feature is aimed at evaluating the tourism potential of Yesilyuva Nature Park. This framework is designed to establish prospective tourism sustainability. As a result, Yesilyuva Nature Park's natural and cultural properties have been determined to be suitable for sustainable tourism activities using geographic information systems (GIS). This protection in the field, which balances sustainability and landscape design, will provide for the development of tourism activities. In the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis and survey, residents and visitors reported that the most important feature of the Yesilyuva Nature Park was its natural beauty. Visitors often come to observe traditional and natural life and to engage in tourism activities. All the data, which includes maps derived from GIS, represents landscape planning for sustainable tourism areas in Yesilyuva Nature Park.

As far as the eye can see: Scenic view of Cerrado National Parks

Buffer zones around protected areas (PA) can minimize negative human impacts and stimulate the sustainable use of natural resources. To fulfill these goals, it is important to ensure the participation of local communities on resources management and to support local economies. Sustainable tourism activities have the potential to reconcile the apparent conflict between protection of nature and socioeconomic benefits, but it has not been fully developed in Brazilian PA network. The objective of this study is to address opportunities to expand and complement the touristic attractions in areas surrounding eight Cerrado National Parks opened for visitation, by taking advantage of their scenic views. The analysis was based on remote sensing derived landscape biophysical attributes, including three key categories related to visual and ecological qualities and six indicators. Results allowed the identification of profiles for the selected parks, relating their biophysical characteristics to their main touristic potential. Strong hilly topographies, in general, were associated with wide visual scale and high complexity while flat topographies favor water related recreational services. Although focused on National Parks located in the Brazilian Cerrado, the study area is representative of tropical ecosystems with relevant species richness and high land conversion pressure.

ANALYSIS OF TOURISM POTENTIALS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF DUMARAN, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES

Dumaran is a 3rd class municipality in the northwestern section of Palawan. It is composed of 16 barangays, seven of which are part of Dumaran Island, and nine are located in the mainland. It is bounded by municipalities of Taytay, Roxas and Araceli. Dumaran is enriched with natural potentials coming from coastal, forest, and agricultural resources. One of the municipality’s development goals is to explore its vast ecotourism potentials, however, it has not yet been achieved due to poor road networks and other support infrastructures. A pool of multidisciplinary researchers and planners from the University of the Philippines Los Baños conducted an exploratory study to identify and analyze the potential tourism sites and activities in Dumaran. Through secondary data gathering, on-site validation, focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the research team identified and characterized Dumaran’s different potential eco-tourism sites. Recommendations were made on sustainable community-based tourism activities and strategies that would greatly contribute to the municipality’s economic development.

The use of Geographical Information Systems for Tourism Marketing purposes in Aveiro region (Portugal)

Geographical Information Systems are tools that allow a better decision making process, accessing politicians and managers in tourism development and providing integrated touristic information. Furthermore, these are powerful tools for the development of destination marketing strategies. Aveiro web-based Geographical Information System was developed, with the purpose of integrating tourism resources in a common platform. Aveiro region is an important coastal wetland of Portugal that presents unique features which allow the development of a sustainable tourism activity, based on natural and cultural characteristics. Despite the diversified resources, it is observed that the Aveiro region needs a strong improvement regarding tourism development and marketing strategies. In this paper, it will be presented the methodology used for the implementation of the first step of this GIS (inventory of resources and creation of the database) and the potential of this tool for the development of a sustainable tourism marketing strategy.

Evaluación, condición sin la cual no hay calidad

El artículo que a continuación se presenta muestra –por medio de las teorías de sistemas, eficacia escolar y educación de calidad, según la UNESCO, los modelos de sistema de gestión de calidad y la Guía para el mejoramiento institucional– la importancia de la evaluación como mecanismo para mejorar la educación en el país y, en especial, para ofrecer una formación pertinente, equitativa y contextualizada, teniendo en cuenta no solo a la persona, sino la relación que esta posee con su entorno. Luego, acorde con la Guía 34 propuesta por el Ministerio de Educación Nacional para que se adelanten procesos de evaluación en las instituciones educativas del país, y teniendo en cuenta los procesos de gestión directiva, pedagógica, administrativa y comunitaria, se presentan los resultados de la intervención realizada a veinte instituciones educativas en el marco del Programa Nacional Colegios Amigos del Turismo, bajo la asesoría de la Facultad de Administración de Empresas Turísticas y Hoteleras de la Universidad Externado de Colombia, con el objetivo de plantear reflexiones que aporten al mejoramiento, la sostenibilidad y buena marcha del mencionado programa. A partir de una escala de calificación de 1 a 4, se observará que en algunas instituciones se alcanzó un mayor desarrollo del ejercicio que en otras, pero que, de manera global, la labor realizada resultó ser un proceso serio, sistemático y aportante, tanto de consultoría como de evaluación de esta, con un enfoque integral y en beneficio de la sostenibilidad de la actividad turística de Colombia.

Tourism Development Based on Geopark in Bakkara Caldera Toba, Indonesia

Bakkara Caldera Toba is an outstanding product of natural phenomena of Toba Supervolcano which has fascinating nature and culture. Bakkara has a great potential to develop world tourism further. It requires a model of sustainable planning Geopark to develop Bakkara. This sustainable concept helps to improve the local community and tourist’s quality of life and also still maintain the quality of the environment. through field observation and depth interview. The Collected data with a triangulation method. Development tourism destination such as attractions and environment; facilities and services; accessibility; image; and price to consume. It associated based on Geopark aspects there are; geological heritage; geo-conservation activities; sustainable tourism activities; educational; activities; community involvement products; strong management structure; and secure basis, infrastructure, and activities. The results of this study indicate that the Bakkara has the potential to become a tourist destination by applying the concept of Geotourism which accentuate its natural side, by optimizing the management of its destination attractions, its facilities and services, and its accessibilities.

Emerging bicycle tourism and the theory of planned behavior

ABSTRACTIn this study, we investigated the process of travelers’ decision formation for bicycle touring as a form of sustainable tourism activity. We extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB), using personal norm and past behavior as predictors and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives as a moderator. Results of the modeling comparison showed that our extended TPB model was superior to the original TPB in predicting intention. Our results from the structural analysis revealed that the hypothesized paths linking attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, personal norm, and intention were supported; and personal norm significantly mediated the impact of subjective norm on intention. Moreover, our proposition that bicycle travelers’ decision-making process would differ based on their level of the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives was generally supported. Overall, our results help us clearly understand the role of volitional and non-volitional processes, personal norm, past behavior, and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives in explaining the intention formation of bike traveling.

The role of social marketing, marine turtles and sustainable tourism in reducing plastic pollution

Environmental plastic pollution constitutes a significant hazard to marine turtles, human health and well-being. We describe a transdisciplinary approach to draw together findings from diverse disciplines in order to highlight key environmental pollution problems and their consequences, together with social marketing-based strategies to address the problems. The example of plastic pollution and impacts to marine turtles illustrates the severity of the problem. Wildlife tourism and sustainable tourism activity have not focussed on specific behaviours to change and have had minimal impact on subsequent human behaviour regarding environmental issues, indicating the need for new strategies. Social marketing principles offer promise, but there is a need to investigate the utility of various theoretical foundations to aid the design and implementation of interventions. We offer insight towards using sophisticated multi-method research to develop insights into behaviours and segmentation-based strategies, that can aid the identification of barriers to, and enablers of, sustained behaviour change.

Tipicità agroalimentari e patrimonio culturale: il caso della dieta mediterranea

There are no doubts that typical foods (and traditional popular dishes) are part of the cultural heritage of a place and of a people. As Massimo Montanari says, food and above all typical and quality foods constitute culture. But can typical dishes and above all the Mediterranean diet which is made up of typical dishes, be considered to be cultural heritage and as such be subject to the same forms of protection that apply to material cultural heritage? Although being part of the intangible cultural heritage, the Mediterranean diet is much more than a cultural asset: the regional laws (Campania 6/2012 and Calabria 45/2013) that deal with this matter embrace a series of tangible elements that range from the promotion of multifunctionality in agriculture to the protection of the landscape, of natural historic and cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, healthy diets, health protection and cultural activities. If there is any sense in keeping the regions, some matters must necessarily be of exclusive competence of such autonomous bodies. This is undoubtedly the case of intangible cultural assets that arise from the local reality and that deserve adequate promotion and appreciation by such local entities.

Ecotourism Development: Educational Media of Environmental Care

One of appropriate tourism management models to be implemented while maintaining the sustainability and the beauty of the nature is sustainable tourism activities that have low impact on the environment, otherwise known as ecotourism. With the concept of ecotourism, which combines tourism with nature conservation, is believed to develop the rest of the environmental potential. Developing the natural ecotourism with alignments principles on nature and will be very beneficial to humans. Its usefulness is not only availability of a healthy environment and climate, maintaining flora and fauna that increasingly rare, but also can be a direct lecturing media, both formal and informal levels. Availability of valuable educational ecotourism area has to be monitored seriously so that the chain of intergenerational education of nature is not interrupted. Through ecotourism promoting the values of education, future generations will be more familiar with nature as an integral part of life. Keywords: Ecotourism, educational media, environmentCopyright © 2015 by Al-Ta'lim All right reserved

The protected areas: are they still in the ‘pleasure periphery’ or are they destinations for sustainable tourism activities?

The protected natural areas play an important role in recreation. This paper discusses the issue of recreational activities in these areas. The National Park and Protected Landscape Areas in the southern part of the Czech Republic were selected for the purposes of illustration. It has been revealed that relaxation is the most important activity among tourists in the large-area protected natural territories, according to a recent survey of 1,500 participants. Entertainment is the second most important activity. Recreational sport activities (such as swimming, tennis, etc.) are respectively in the third and fourth places. We can talk about the large-area protected natural reservations as destinations for “nature-based tourism”, whose prerequisite is the existence of a pristine natural environment, which is primarily bound to protected natural areas in today’s world, and it is not for sustainable tourism. According to the participation in recreation activities, four segments of demand have been identified in visits to these large-area protected natural territories: (1) passive visitors, (2) visitors focused on exploring but not participating in any physical activity, (3) active visitors with a dominant interest in bicycle touring, and (4) active visitors with a dominant interest in history.