Tourism In Protected Areas Research Articles

Spatiotemporal tourism pattern in a large reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) range as an important factor in disturbance research and management

Tourism and recreation in protected areas may compromise conservation values if their forms and volumes exceed the area’s tolerance. Disturbance-sensitive species such as wild and semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in most mountain areas in Fennoscandia are particularly vulnerable to humans, but disturbance research seldom includes data on the human component of this co-existence. By estimating the visitor volume in space and time and visitor characteristics in the largest national park and wild reindeer range in Norway we analyzed reindeer trail crossing propensity and examined the spatial overlap between humans and GPS-collared female reindeer (n = 98) during summer. The data showed that female reindeer herds used areas with overall less human traffic and recreational infrastructure. Reindeer herds started avoiding crossing hiking trails used by more than 10–15 persons per day and avoided crossing trails when visitor volumes exceeded 30–50 persons per day. During the hunting season, the herds were largely dispersed and crossed over trails independent of visitor volume, indicating a collective flight response to hunters. We discuss how including data on human use can further our understanding of ecological effects in disturbance research and how it can improve management interventions for better co-existence between humans and reindeer.

Challenges Presented by Pilgrimage Sites and their Impact on Ecology of Protected areas: A Case Study of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan

The traditional pilgrimages to religious sites are evolving into large scale religious tourism in many protected areas across India. A growing influx of visitors leading to infrastructural development of these sites within protected areas has potential to immensely damage the natural ecological balance. There are significant changes in the scale and frequency of visits to religious sites over past few decades creating an undue anthropogenic pressure on the ecology of protected areas. The present study tried to estimate the impact of religious tourism on the local ecology inside Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR), India. Through direct field mapping and interview based surveys in RTR, 352 religious sites were documented. Out of 215 grids of 2x2 km laid down using GIS mapping, 135 (62.79%) grids had religious sites and the accompanying pilgrims in the critical tiger habitat. Disturbance indices for a subsample of randomly selected 42 religious sites were calculated considering ten potential disturbance factors. There was a positive correlation between number of annual visitors to the selected sites (N=42) and the amount of garbage found at the sites. Authors have suggested some measures to reduce the impact of religious tourism on local ecology.

Social big data informs spatially explicit management options for national parks with high tourism pressures

Nature-based tourism in protected areas is an easily experienced ecosystem service that humans enjoy, but it acts as tourism pressures on ecosystem. Some park managers, however, lack an understanding of the spatial distribution and ecological impact of these pressures. We analyzed the size and spatial distribution of these pressures in Korean national parks, using visitor statistics and social big data. In addition, by overlay it with endangered species distribution data, we analyzed areas where tourism pressures and ecologically significant areas could be conflicted. The tourism pressure differed according to the individual protected areas’ characteristics. Due to the unevenness of the magnitude and spatial distribution of pressures, the ecological impacts could be spatially differentiated. This study suggests that tourism pressure may be a decisive factor affecting protected areas' ecosystems with increased visitors. Using social big data, managers can establish spatially explicit management policies that consider tourism pressures on individual protected areas.

SWOT Analysis of Forest Protected Area Based Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case Study in the Lawachara National Park, Bangladesh

Lawachara National Park (LNP) is one of the most important protected areas in the Sylhet region included in the blessed with the natural beauty of the forest and diverse wildlife of Northeast Bangladesh. This paper explores the possibility of sustainable forest tourism development in the study area regarding the sensible usage of the resource and local resident communities. To plan and properly implement this, various managements and decision-making tools were used, including interviews of local residents, visitors and the staff of the park, with the help of survey questionnaire (primary data) and secondary data acquired from Bangladesh Parjontan Corporation, conference proceedings, books, and journals. Based upon these data the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) were analyzed to identify the required management strategies to improve the sustainable forest protected area tourism in the hilly area. While introducing both domestic and international tourist attractions in the area, the influential factors in the region categorized into the four headings of strengths; weaknesses; opportunities and threats were included in our considerations and strategies or guidelines for a sustained eco tourism development in the region provided. The research findings, the well-established area forest tourism destination with a variety of natural attractions and unique culture of local people retaining ancient culture are the strengths of the area while lack of infrastructures and fundamental facilities are significant weaknesses. To maximize the internal strengths and external opportunities and to minimize internal weaknesses and external threats on the several strategies have been suggested for the sustainable forest protected area tourism development and management. However, there is a scope for the continuous improvement of the SWOT analysis in identifying more viable options for the strategic management of sustainable tourism.

Understanding Communities’ Disaffection to Participate in Tourism in Protected Areas: A Social Representational Approach

This manuscript uses a social-representational approach that allows for including social interactions, history and cultural background to explain and cluster resident attitudes to tourism in protected areas in developing countries. Based on the published evidence on the failure of community-based tourism programmes and projects that aim to achieve community engagement and benefits, and on scholars attributing those failures to the lack of consideration given to the perceptions and ambitions of the communities, that in turn are split into different groups that perceive tourism dissimilarly, we propose a pathway to encouraging community engagement and participation. Field work carried out throughout the settlements neighbouring the National Park of La Langue de Barbarie in northern Senegal allowed to identify three group profiles: The largest minority are reluctant to accept any type of tourism at all, a second minority actively supports another type of community-based tourism, more locally centred, and a third group consists of those mainly wanting to escape their unwanted existence and migrate. We conclude that, to achieve successful sustainable tourism development, interventions should capacitate the group that supports tourism to lead initiatives, seduce the reluctant ones, energise those who seek to migrate and negotiate with the external tourist agents to achieve more equitable tourism development in which locals actively participate.

Fatores que afetam o apoio dos residentes ao desenvolvimento do turismo em áreas naturais protegidas


 
 
 
 O objetivo deste artigo é analisar os fatores capazes de influenciar o apoio dos residentes ao desenvolvimento do turismo em Unidade de Conservação (UC) da Natureza. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um estudo hipotético-dedutivo, de natureza descritiva, com abordagem analítica quantitativa do tipo Survey. A amostra utilizada foi composta de 180 respondentes residentes na localidade de Natal/RN que se encontravam em visita a unidade estadual Parque das Dunas. Esta amostra foi coletada de maneira não probabilística por conveniência e utilizando-se a sistematização como critério de seleção dos respondentes. Os dados coletados foram analisados por meio da técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (MEE) para a verificação dos inter-relacionamentos entre constructos, baseando-se no modelo de verificação das intenções comportamentais proposto por Chen e Tsai (2007). Os resultados encontrados sugerem que a qualidade do local é o atributo que possui o maior impacto na explicação do apoio ao desenvolvimento do turismo em UC da natureza e observou-se também que o constructo Valor apresenta interações significativas com os demais constructos analisados, influenciando de maneira direta o apoio. Desta forma, como contribuição, esta pesquisa, possibilitou reforçar a compreensão de que quando há percepção do valor socioambiental os indivíduos estão mais propensos ao apoio ao desenvolvimento do turismo.
 
 
 

ГАСТРОНОМІЧНИЙ ТУРИЗМ ЯК ЗАСІБ АКТИВІЗАЦІЇ ТУРИСТИЧНИХ ДЕСТИНАЦІЙ

Trends in tourism development of the XXI century suggest that one of the promising areas related to the acquaintance with the production, cooking technology and tasting of national dishes and drinks is gastronomic tourism. The concept of forming a tourist product in the form of a gastronomic or culinary tour combines economic, social and cultural values of the territory, covers the climate, traditional agriculture and crafts, art, national customs, traditions and life. That is, gastronomic tourism fully contributes to the development of the tourism sector and is a means of activating the tourist destination. The article deals with the directions of gastronomic tourism development as a means of activating tourist destinations and supporting national producers through the integration of gastronomic tourism into local event resources. The relevance of these issues is determined by the lack of a holistic understanding of the concept of gastronomic tourism, the imperfection of existing recommendations and conclusions on its formation. The purpose of the article is to study the features of gastronomic tourism as a means of enhancing the development of tourism. The article determines that the basis of gastronomic tourism is the features of regional cuisine and culinary traditions of the tourist destination. The scientific novelty of the research results is the deepening of theoretical approaches to the study of gastronomic tourism - a new direction of cultural and cognitive tourism, which is relevant to combine with eco-tourism, tourism in protected areas, rural green tourism. After all, the latter have a large stock of cultural, culinary, authentic traditions that should be revived and developed. Gastronomic tours will form a new vision of tourism in the context of destination development. The article notes that from the point of view of organizing tourist activities, gastronomic tourism includes not only acquaintance with local cuisines of the region, original technologies of local food organization, culinary processes and food traditions, acquaintance with local products, but also the opportunity for tourists to participate in cooking. national dishes, visiting culinary festivals, various types of tastings and competitions. Key words: gastronomic tourism, culinary tour, gastronomic tour, regional cuisine, local product, authenticity, environmental friendliness, event resources

Spatial distribution of tourist resources in Drina national park

The natural features of the protected areas offer such attractions that in many countries became the framework of tourism and recreation development. Tourism in protected areas promotes nature and contributes to raising the level of knowledge and ecological awareness and is important for the economy and employment of the local population. The aim of this paper is identification and valorisation of tourism resources in the Drina National Park. The most important economic activity in the Drina National Park, which should be developed and improved in the next period is tourism, as the main driver of development. Therefore the focus of this work is on proposals for the improvement of existing and finding new tourist facilities in Drina National park, in order to enrich the tourist offer. For this reason, the possibilities of building educational, cycling and hiking trails as well as adequate promotion and protection of the cultural and historical heritage that would be self-sustainable were analyzed, enabling the use of such facilities and sites as new resources for the development of tourism.This paper describes the concept of protection and management goals, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that need to be improved in the future and which reduce the competitiveness of the Drina National Park.

Stavovi turističkih zajednica o uključivanju lokalnog stanovništva u razvoj turizma u zaštićenim područjima prirode: primjer Regionalnog parka Mura-Drava

Zaštićena područja prirode imaju dugu povijest, a tijekom ovoga stoljeća dolazi do značajnog povećanja broja i vrsta. Razlog tome je povećanje svijesti ljudi o prirodnim vrijednostima, ali i nužnost zaštite zbog eksploatacije resursa kojima su takva područja bogata. Početak razvoja turizma u zaštićenim područjima prirode vezan je uz osnivanje nacionalnih parkova te predstavlja proces povezivanja posjetitelja s prirodnom i kulturnom baštinom prostora koji se posjećuje. Njime se stvaraju brojne koristi za lokalnu zajednicu, ali i potencijalni troškovi koji, ako se njima loše upravlja, mogu imati značajne ekološke, socijalne i kulturne posljedice. Stoga je važno odrediti koje se turističke aktivnosti mogu provoditi u takvim područjima te posvetiti posebnu pažnju održivom razvoju, pogotovo kada je riječ o potrebama lokalnog stanovništva. Primjenom određenih alata održivog turizma može se potaknuti aktivno uključivanje lokalnog stanovništva u razvoj turizma u zaštićenim područjima, kao jednog od najvažnijih dionika u njegovu razvoju. U skladu s tim cilj rada je utvrđivanje mogućnosti i oblika uključivanja lokalnog stanovništva u razvoj turizma u zaštićenim područjima prirode, razlozi podržavanja turizma od lokalnog stanovništva te način njihove komunikacije s turističkim zajednicama, uz prethodni pregled važnosti njihova uključivanja.

Identifying Temporal Patterns of Visitors to National Parks through Geotagged Photographs

Visitor data is essential for decision-making, policy formulation, and monitoring of protected areas. In this context, the data on the temporal distribution of visitors is essential to characterize influx and seasonality, and even to measure the carrying capacity of a site. However, obtaining information from visitors often involves high costs and long production times. Moreover, traditional visitor data has a limited level of detail. New sources of data can provide valuable information regarding the timing of visits. In this study, we tested the use of geotagged data to infer the temporal distribution of visitors to 15 Spanish national parks, and we identified temporal patterns of the visits at three levels: monthly, weekly, and daily. By comparing official monthly visitor counts and geotagged photographs from Flickr, we observed that the number of monthly users who upload photos significantly reflects the number of monthly visitors. Furthermore, the weekly and daily distributions of the Flickr data provided additional information that could contribute to identifying the periods of highest visitor pressure, design measures to manage the concentration of visitors, and improve the overall visitor experience. The results obtained indicate the potential of new data sources for visitor monitoring in protected areas and to open opportunities for future research. Moreover, monitoring tourism in protected areas is crucial to ensure the sustainability of their resources and to protect their biodiversity.

Tourism and local welfare: A multilevel analysis in Nepal’s protected areas

Abstract While environmental conservation is sometimes criticized for limiting the sources of income for the poorest populations, tourism in protected areas is often viewed in the literature as a mechanism that helps to increase local welfare and reduce poverty in developing countries. However, there are still few quantitative studies assessing how nature-based tourism is directly linked with welfare. In this article, we examine the relationships between: (1) tourism and the monetary welfare of local populations in Nepal’s protected areas and (2) self-reporting being constrained in the use of natural resources, and the welfare of the same population. We develop a two-level hierarchical linear model to take into account the database structure. We estimate that households involved in a self-employed occupation directly linked to tourism are associated with a significantly higher consumption compared with non-involved households. In addition, results suggest that tourism may generate positive externalities on the community’s welfare. We conclude that tourism development in Nepal’s protected areas should be included in a broader sustainable development agenda.

Pungent parks: smell’s growing relevance in park tourism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the growing relevance of natural smells – both pleasant and unpleasant – to park and protected area tourism and the need for more consideration of their role in the visitor experience. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents four observations – selected via an informal review of the tourism literature – relevant to the future of smellscapes research concerning tourism in parks and protected areas. Findings An emerging body of literature is indicating natural smells are central to the sensory experience of parks and protected areas. The iconic nature of park smellscapes underscores their role in the tourism experience. Originality/value This paper extracts the current trends in smellscapes research relevant to park and protected area tourism. It therefore provides value to both tourism practitioners and researchers, alike, through its attempt to compile significant trends.

A profile of visitors to Brazil Amazon Protected Areas:

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of visitors at two touristic settings and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon Basin: Tapajós National Forest (Pará) and Anavilhanas National Park (Amazonas). An onsite survey was conducted across the two areas. The total of number of usable data points from the two areas of study used in this paper is 2512 surveys (1255 at Tapajós and 1257 at Anavilhanas). The data collected offers an important source of information for managers so that they may better understand the recreational needs and current capacity for use at both protected areas. One of the aims of this study was to gather data to understand the current flow of visitors in the Amazon by focusing on their specific characteristics. This type of information is crucial for managing public use and developing tourism in protected areas. The project team is grateful to the US Forest Service—International Programs (USFS—IP), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) who made this study possible. The authors are also grateful to the Instituto Chico Mendes (ICMBio), Tapajós National Forest, Anavilhanas National Park team and local community members who have collected data and supported this research.

PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOURISM IN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL TERRITORIES OF THE MIDDLE PRIDNIPROVIA

The article considers the essence of ecological tourism and the preconditions for its development in protected areas. The problems of development of ecological tourism in protected areas of Ukraine are identified, among them: monitoring imperfection of protected areas, absence of environmental status in natural complexes and objects to be preserved and protected, delay in establishing of administrations of NRF facilities and land allocation, poor infrastructure, lack of routes and programs for ecological tours in these territories, insufficient number of professional staff specializing in ecological tours, lack of consumer awareness about ecological tours and imperfect mechanism to attract local residents to the provision of eco-tourism services. The resource base has been analyzed and the main directions of using of protected areas for the organization of ecological tourism are defined. The natural and anthropogenic potential of the Middle Pridniprovia and its use in ecological tourism are investigated. In the framework of the research the general structure, number and features of recreational use of environmental objects of the Middle Pridniprovia are determined. On the territory of the Middle Pridniprovia there are 773 objects of the NRF, which is 9.28% of the national fund. The total area of the lands of the nature reserve fund is 175.7 thousand hectares, which is 4,02% of the total area of the NRF, of Ukraine. The main directions of ecological tourism within the Middle Pridniprovia are determined and perspectives of its development in the region are substantiated. The main directions of ecological tourism within the Middle Pridniprovia region are defined: research expeditions, specialized tours, scientific conferences, seminars and congresses, as well as student field practices; cognitive tourism with ecological, landscape-based, biological, geological and other directions; Educational and socially educational programs, which include a set of educational, popular scientific and thematic excursions on ecological tracks, as well as the development of a network of summer environmental children's camps; sports and health tourism within the territories that include the necessary resources and obstacles for tourist trips of different levels of difficulty; entertainment and event tours within objects with a high level of attraction, recreational development and resistance to anthropogenic burden, such as arboreta and park-monuments of garden art; and health care activities within the territories provided with balneological, phyto-curative and other healing resources.

Living on the edge: benefit-sharing from protected area tourism

Tourism in protected areas not only plays an essential role in terms of contributing to the financial sustainability of protected areas but through effective and efficient benefit-sharing can positively impact numerous stakeholders within and beyond the protected area. This paper provides a brief analysis of the evolution of benefit-sharing from protected area tourism, discussing tangible and intangible benefits and highlighting that revenue-sharing is only one way of sharing benefits from tourism and protected areas. The paper highlights the complexity of benefit-sharing, the importance of identifying all relevant stakeholders, the challenges of ensuring equity and sustainability and the critical importance of good governance. The evolution of benefit-sharing mechanisms over time emphasises a continuing need to evolve and adapt to each unique situation, as much evidence indicates that little has changed for those living on the edge. Although this paper focuses on benefit-sharing from protected area tourism, it is essential to acknowledge that along with these benefits are costs associated with tourism, including possible increased local prices, loss of access to land, human-wildlife conflict, and other related costs. Recommendations for future research are included to encourage an ongoing evolution and improvement in benefit-sharing mechanisms.

A decision framework on the choice of management models for park and protected area tourism services

There are two categories of management approaches for the delivery of tourism services; insourcing or outsourcing. This paper presents a decision framework for the choice of a management model for the delivery of tourism-related services in protected areas. The research used the expert opinion of 28 PA senior tourism managers from the protected area and tourism authorities of 11 countries in the Southern Africa Development Community to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the use of 5 different management models for the delivery of tourism services: 1) outsourcing to private, profit-making companies; 2) outsourcing to a community; 3) outsourcing to a nongovernment organization; 4) outsourcing to a joint venture company; and, 5) insourcing to the PA authority. The comparisons utilized 7 themes: 1) finance; 2) tourism operations; 3) socioeconomic impact; 4) governance; 5) risk; 6) human resources; and, 7) environment and conservation. A total of 190 comparative findings were identified. The 28 senior tourism managers provided comments on the advantages and disadvantages of each management model according to all themes. These comments were summarized into a table of findings.The research found that all five management models are useful, but the decisions to choose the management model are highly influenced by the current legal and policy structure of the PA authority. This research provides information that can assist PA managers in the decision structure for the choice of and implementation of the various management approaches for the provision of tourism services in protected areas.This is the first paper of its kind to compare and analyse different management models using literature, research, as well as practitioners' experience and technical knowledge. Further research on all the models and the different potential options would be useful in providing a greater understanding of all the options to finance protected areas through tourism.

The Role of Tourism Impacts on Cultural Ecosystem Services

Parks and protected areas are recognized for the important ecosystem services, or benefits, they provide society. One emerging but understudied component is the cultural ecosystem services that parks and protected areas provide. These cultural ecosystem services include a variety of benefits, such as cultural heritage, spiritual value, recreation opportunities, and human health and well-being. However, many of these services can only be provided if people visit these parks and protected areas through tourism opportunities. However, with this tourism use comes a variety of inevitable resource impacts. This current research connects potential impacts from tourism in parks and protected areas to the health and well-being aspect of cultural ecosystem services. We used an MTurk sample to record affective responses across a range of resource conditions. Results demonstrate that as tourism-related ecological impacts increased, positive affect decreased. Decreases in positive affect were more severe for park and protected area scenes featuring informal and/or undesignated social trails when compared to scenes with increasing levels of trampling/vegetation loss. Collectively, the results show that managing tourism in parks and protected areas in a manner that reduces impact is essential to providing beneficial cultural ecosystem services related to human health and well-being.

Tourism in protected areas and the impact of servicescape on tourist satisfaction, key in sustainability

Abstract Natural areas, when protected, conserve the natural environment and function as social spaces in which tourism brings increased income, employment and financial support for conservation. In this context, the satisfaction of tourists through their experiences in the protected area (PA) is an important objective that not only depends on the PA tourist site, but also on the services that are provided. This paper addresses the impact of the service environment (servicescape) on tourist satisfaction in the context of a PA through the perceived value of a PA tourist site. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 520 tourists visiting the PA of the Natural Monument Saltos de la Damajagua in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic). Using variance-based structural equation modelling based on the partial least squares method, facilities were identified as satisfiers, while informational services and food were perceived as dissatisfiers. The dissatisfiers are essential services and their absence/poor performance produce dissatisfaction, while improvements in the satisfiers will increase tourist satisfaction in the PA. These results have implications for the management of the PA, providing tools that can inform PA managers on how to fulfil their goals: the protection of the ecological integrity of the PA and tourist satisfaction.

Willingness to pay for electric boats in a protected area in Italy: A sustainable tourism perspective

The relationship between tourism development and environmental degradation is one of the policy agenda for sustainable tourism. Tourism in protected areas is a complex phenomenon, which brings both positive and negative effects on the environment and local communities. The transition toward forms of sustainable mobility, such as electric boats, allows to reconcile tourist activities with preservation of protected areas, strengthening the links between land use and transport. The aim of this paper has been the investigation tourists’ preferences to elicit their willingness to pay for the introduction of electric boat fleet in the Regional Park of Trasimeno Lake, a protected area in Italy, in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Data were collected by means of questionnaires. The impact of uncertainty on contingent valuation responses using three different approaches has been used. Also the effects of pricing CO2 emissions from boating activities have been investigated. The research results show that variables such as sex, age and visits’ duration of stay have an impact on the respondents’ willingness to pay and the related uncertainty. Considering two electrification options of the fleet, simulation results indicate that both price premiums and a subsidy policy are needed for electric boats deployment. This paper showed the need for public and private authorities to implement instruments including an important role for education to achieve a new tourism model based on natural features and sustainability.

Advantages and Limitations of Using Mobile Apps for Protected Area Monitoring and Management

Digital technologies, including participatory Internet mapping, social media and smartphones, provide new avenues for research in outdoor recreation and tourism. The potential to reach a greater audience and collect visitation data on a broader scale, with less costs than traditional paper surveys, are key advantages that have increased the use of these novel technologies. Using of mobile apps for data collection is still at the experimental stage. We evaluate previous attempts to use apps for monitoring recreation and tourism in protected areas, as an alternative to other in situ or online methods. We present a pilot study implemented in Jotunheimen National Park (Norway), where we developed a mobile app for visitor monitoring and real-time mapping of values and experiences. We present the lessons learned, give suggestions on how and for what apps can be used, and discuss the advantages and limitations of using smartphones for visitor monitoring in protected areas.