Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
27531
Abstract
Geotourism is becoming a well established form of tourism based on the geological environment. It offers a new form of sustainable tourism which is more holistic than previous niche forms of tourism. However, with more people than ever visiting natural areas worldwide, the cumulative impacts of visitors on geological sites is increasing. This paper surveys visitor impacts and site management at geological sites which are geotourism destinations. We describe geotourism which is the engine driving the core activities of conservation, education and sustainable development in geoparks. We then outline some lessons learned from management in dealing with visitor impacts at a heavily visited geopark in Taiwan, a volcano in Indonesia and a coastal World Heritage site in England. The importance of education is emphasized for geo-climbing in Spain and all-terrain vehicles in Poland. A number of site management approaches are noted, including the importance of guiding as a management strategy as well as the value of a positive involvement by the local community. Finally, some examples are given of the risks associated with tourism activities in volcanic areas as well as related appropriate management activities.
DOI
10.1515/cjot-2017-0006
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Dowling, R. K., & Newsome, D. (2017). Geotourism destinations - Visitor impacts and site management considerations. Czech Journal of Tourism, 6(2), 111-129.
https://doi.org/10.1515/cjot-2017-0006