Sustainable Tourism Online: Parks and Culture
Sustainable Tourism Online (STO) is a comprehensive online information resource in initiated by EarthCheck, delivering substantial research, data and tools within sustainability themes. STO also offers relevant information and knowledge on broader sustainability tourism topics.
Parks and Culture
This portal provides ready access to information on managing nature-based and cultural tourism in natural areas with a particular focus on national parks. Much of the content is also relevant to municipal parks, walk trails on private lands, and nature based tourism opportunities on private lands. It has been designed for a broad audience: tourism operators, park and cultural heritage managers, environmental consultants, researchers and students. The content is derived from over 200 research publications by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) and other researchers and research institutions working in this field.
‘Natural areas’ includes national parks, marine parks and other protected areas, private conservation reserves and local reserves and managed bushland, while ‘park’ is a general term that encompasses a wide range of parks reserved for public purposes, including national parks, marine parks, local green spaces which may encompass both local playing fields or natural bushland. Where the term park is used it means the full range of parks.
National parks and protected areas
Since the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the very first national park, almost 140 years ago, national parks have provided opportunities to recreate in natural areas enjoy the majesty of nature and contemplate our very being. They provide opportunities to relax, reinvigorate and energise and for many, to make spiritual and emotional connections with the earth. For much of their history tourism has been a constant companion of national parks and through education programs and interpretation of the wildlife, landscapes and culture, provided meaning, appreciation and understanding of these and many other values that these parks provide.
While national parks and other protected areas (see IUCN) play a primary role in protecting the world’s biodiversity by safeguarding nature, wildlife, and natural landscapes they also provide important socio-cultural and economic values. National parks have become important resources worldwide for ‘nature-based’, ‘cultural heritage’ and ‘ecotourism’.
Today protected areas are an international phenomenon with over 100,000 protected areas in over 200 countries. The Australian National Reserve System (NRS) covers more than ten per cent of the country’s land mass and coastal waters, representing over 9,000 protected areas. These areas epitomise Australia’s iconic natural landscapes, significant ecosystems, endemic wildlife and cultural identity.
These areas are the epitome of Australia’s iconic natural landscapes, significant ecosystems, endemic wildlife and cultural identity. Australia’s national parks are internationally renowned and are major attractions for both international and domestic tourism. Many of Australia’s protected areas are inscribed as international world heritage sites and national heritage sites for their outstanding natural and cultural heritage values.(Also see the UNESCO).
Today protected area management is changing in recognition of triple bottom line sustainability where social (better health through ‘recreation’), economic (tourism contributes to the livelihoods of communities) and environmental (conservation of landscapes and biodiversity) benefits are interconnected and pave the way to a better future for following generations.
Nature-Based Tourism
Nature-based tourism is tourism that relies on experiences directly related to natural attractions. Australia is blessed with a diverse range of ecosystems, breathtaking landscapes and unusual wildlife. These natural attractions make Australia one of the leading providers of nature-based tourism in the world, attracting over 5.6 million international visitors in 2009. Australia’s national parks and protected areas are the basis for nature-based tourism experiences and underpin Australia’s $80 billion tourism industry.
Values of Parks
Protected areas contain a range of values. Understanding the values and benefits of protected areas is essential for park management. Values provide meaning and allow us to better understand the worth of a park or place. They provide the initial motivation for creation, determine the direction for management and allow evaluation of effectiveness.
Visitor Communication
Visitor communication includes all forms of information provided to visitors prior to, during and after a visit, which can be either personal or non-personal and includes signs, brochures, fact sheets, newsletters, presentations and talks, websites, interpretation, guided tours, visitor centres, museums and displays, marketing and advertising material. Interpretation is broad term given to the educational activity that seeks to bring about meaning and enriching visitor experiences (see Natural Area Tourism).
Recent research undertaken by the STCRC has focused on developing interpretation strategies to aid in the sustainability of tourism in Australia’s national parks and protected areas, including research on interpretation to:
mitigate visitor impacts;
enhance tourist’s experiences and satisfaction;
encourage positive attitudes towards nature conservation, and
link outcomes to corporate/strategic objectives.
Key findings include:
interpretation and communication can be a powerful tool to mitigate the effects of visitor use on the natural environment and support management goals;
interpretation and communication programs should be included as an important part of management goals, and
research, monitoring and evaluation of interpretation programs is necessary for effective management.
As a result of the increasing influence of tourism, protected area management is evolving from one primarily focused around onsite management and conservation to one that more broadly encompasses a greater range of holistic recreation and tourism experiences. In dealing with this evolution, national parks and protected area managers are now required to balance onsite interpretation activities with broader marketing and demand management activities.
Visitor Impacts
The growth in tourist numbers in many parts of Australia and worldwide is putting significant pressure on national parks. Care is required in planning for tourism and recreation to minimise environmental impacts, provide desired experiences for visitors, achieve sustainable use and secure economic benefits for protected areas and local people (see Natural Area Tourism and Managing Protected Areas).
The environmental impacts of tourism and recreation fall into three main types: those related to transport, accommodation and shelter, and recreational activities. ‘Planning’, active management, ‘monitoring’ and rapid response to unsustainable actions are the four basic elements of effective visitor management. A number of tourism and recreation planning models address these elements (see ‘Recreation and Tourism as a Key Value of Parks’).
Visitor Management
Visitor management plays an essential role in protecting the ecological sustainability of protected areas, providing funding and business opportunities, and enabling visitors to obtain worthwhile experiences from their visit. Visitor management can be achieved in two main ways:
by a park agency managing destinations (i.e. parks and their sites) and by directly managing visitors (e.g. through user fees). Or it can be indirectly achieved by
a park agency working with the tourism industry to both protect the park and offer quality experiences for visitors, as well as generating revenue for the park. This chapter covers both.
For the first point, a range of visitor management strategies can be used including zoning, user pays, managing access and development, campsite planning and management, risk management, and spatial separation and removal of certain activities. Very often the difficulty is knowing, and then choosing which to employ (see Natural Area Tourism).
Visitor Monitoring and Research
Visitor monitoring and associated performance reporting have emerged as a response to a strong trend in public accountability, whereby objectives for management are developed and the progress of agencies in achieving these objectives is documented and reported. Monitoring, and the accompanying use of indicators, assesses the extent to which these objectives have been achieved. Reporting is increasingly being directed towards achieving sustainability and its triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic outcomes.
Monitoring is the systematic gathering and analysis of data over time. For protected area tourism and recreation this involves developing monitoring programs that can collect data on both the natural environment and its visitors. Monitoring should occur at three levels; site, park and corporate. Monitoring is important for the following reasons (see Natural Area Tourism):
Managing the natural environment – it provides information needed to mitigate impacts and assess management effectiveness;
Planning – it provides information needed for management planning, recreation and tourism planning frameworks and site design activities;
Resource allocation – it provides managers with a systematic basis for allocating funds and resources;
Public accountability – it provides information to the corporate levels of park agencies to assist with accountability and transparency;
Marketing and interpretation – it provides information needed to successfully market and interpret natural areas; and
Legislative and legal requirements – it may be a legal requirement in some jurisdictions.
Monitoring of local communities and beyond is also critical to gauge the level of engagement with and support for protected areas.
Visitor Planning
Visitor planning involves a range of tasks and activities that are best developed through a management or visitor planning process. Visitor planning encompasses two key areas of management:
controlling and limiting the impacts of visitor use; and
maximising visitor experiences through appropriate activities, education and interpretation.
