"Sustainability" has endured as an important concept for tourism scholars, and volumes have been written about how to achieve this holy grail of the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism destinations ...are often promoted as the ethical choice for discerning travellers, with some marketers taking full advantage of the widely acknowledged ambiguities implicit in the term. More recently "resilience" has generated appeal in the academic tourism literature as a term that might capture core aspects of sustainability, while acknowledging the considerable influences that multiple contexts have on the capacity of communities to adapt and ultimately sustain their tourism enterprises. The resilience concept encompasses an inclusive and integrative "social ecological systems" approach which gives it a firm interdisciplinary underpinning in its application in tourism. While in a tourism context sustainability and resilience are kindred terms, relatively little scholarly effort has been committed to a critical treatment of these concepts. Addressing this deficiency, we present a conceptual model to discuss the relationship between sustainability and resilience in tourism. Drawing on examples from New Zealand's nature-based tourism sector, this conceptual paper explores the insights that a critical treatment of the sustainability-resilience nexus might offer both academics and practitioners in the field of tourism studies.
Ecotourism is a market-based conservation strategy which strengthens household economies and improves attitude of people towards conservation efforts. India has tremendous potential for ecotourism. ...This paper is set in the context of ecotourism activities flourishing around Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site, situated in north east India. The main objectives of the study are to evaluate the perception of respondents towards ecotourism and to examine how participation in this activity affects economic welfare. A field survey is conducted in the periphery villages of the park. We use random sampling to interview households and analyse the data by applying descriptive statistics as well as regression method. The results demonstrate that respondents associated with ecotourism enjoy better living condition, nourish positive attitudes towards this business and feel politically empowered. Ecotourism generates economic welfare by positively and significantly affecting different components of expenditure in the budget of a household. We recommend economic activities based on local resource and skills to generate income in the off-season. Extension of activities related to local culture, festival and other outdoor activities may diversify livelihood. Finally, government has to create an enabling environment along with expansion of eco-development projects, bank loan and training facilities.
Understanding pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) of tourists visiting protected areas is imperative to mitigate the negative effects of tourism on environment. This study provides empirical support ...for value-belief-norm (VBN) theory in context of nature based tourists visiting national park in India. The findings indicate that biospheric value has the highest impact on new environmental paradigm, whereas egoistic value negatively influenced new environmental paradigm. Awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility significantly predict pro-environmental personal norms which statistically predict pro-environmental behaviour of nature based tourists. Specific recommendations for policy makers are suggested to encourage pro-environmental behaviour among tourists.
This study explores the relationships between destination image, existential authenticity, and different dimensions of place attachment in the nature-based tourism context. A visitor-centric model is ...proposed in which existential authenticity is the principal mechanism that links destination image to different dimensions of place attachment. Data was collected in a survey of international visitors to two popular nature-based tourism destinations in Australia. The results indicate (a) a positive and significant effect of destination image on existential authenticity; (b) a positive and significant effect of existential authenticity on place dependence, place identity, place affect, and place social bonding; and (c) a significant mediating effect of existential authenticity in the relationship between destination image and each of the four dimensions of place attachment. The implications of this study for academics, tourism authorities, and destination marketing managers are discussed.
This article extends insights into the discourse on Swedishforests as arenas for experiences by unravelling, making visi-ble, and problematizing how ways of seeing such forests havebeen constructed ...over time. This is investigated concerningthe Swedish national parks, which have offered tourists experi-ences of forest milieus since the early 1900s. Representationsin the Swedish Tourist Association’s yearbooks publishedbetween 1886 and 2013 are analyzed to get hold of ways ofseeing. Through the analysis, two ways of seeing are identi-fied: 1) primeval national park forests as arenas for experi-ences, and 2) scenic national park forests as arenas forexperiences. Primeval forests are represented with old, wild,pristine, and inaccessible qualities, offering tourists experi-ences of forests far away from humanity, where time hasremained still. Scenic forests are constructed to have aesthetic,grand, and calming qualities that create feelings among tour-ists of being in a beautiful, outstanding, and safe place. Bothways of seeing contain traces of romanticism, which indicatesthat they represent and communicate meanings of theRomantic movement of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
This research examines how nature-based tourism operators within coastal ecosystems employ Knowledge Management (KM) in the pursuit of nature-based solutions (NbS) to sustainability challenges. NbS ...are achieved at the intersection of the physical environment, climate, ecosystems, biodiversity, and socio-economic and socio-cultural systems. NbS integrate diverse types and systems of knowledge to be acceptable to a range of stakeholders. To explore these knowledge types and systems, a qualitative, multiple-case-study approach is used, with interview data collected across different organizational levels of nine discreet nature-based tourism operation cases from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Our findings highlight how these tourism operators have developed practices to manage diverse knowledge systems in the pursuit of sustainability outcomes and provide critical insights into how more sophisticated approaches to such sustainability knowledge management (SKM) may lead to more optimal NbS and sustainable tourism outcomes for vulnerable marine ecosystems.
Geolocated social media data counts are increasingly used as proxy for number of visits in natural areas, including their spatial and temporal distribution. This paper synthesizes the empirical ...evidence concerning the correlation of social media data counts and visits through multi-level meta-analytical models. Analysis of 355 correlations from 41 studies reveals a strong correlation for annual number of visits over multiple sites (pooled Pearson's r = 0.73) and for monthly visits in a single site (pooled Pearson's r = 0.84). Using data from multiple social media sources improves the correlation. Mixed results are obtained with regard to the effect of social media penetration rate and designation as national park on the correlation. Future studies should focus on broadening the scope of investigation to middle and low-income countries, developing a systematic approach toward the use of covariates, and comparing the results from social media data to those from other emerging monitoring techniques.
•355 correlations between social media data counts and visits are analyzed.•Strong correlation for multi-site annual visits and monthly visits is found.•Using data from multiple social media sources improves correlation.•Covariates may increase correlation but a systematic approach is missing.•A broader empirical basis is needed to fully appreciate the technique's potential.
Nature-based tourism has become one of the most popular leisure activities in the world. Activities in nature-based sites bring tourists closer to nature and enable them to find out more about the ...area through which they are walking by discovering diverse heritage and ethnographic features, situated on or near the hiking trails. It brings a wide range of individual benefits such as boosting mood, improving mental health, reducing stress, calming anxiety, and can lead to a lower risk of depression. Hiking accounts for a significant share of nature-based tourism especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to explore the main motives that drive people to hike. Motivation is a key concept in determining and understanding the reasons for leisure and outdoor activities. Using the data collected in March 2021, the findings underline the importance of Relaxation, Discovery and Enjoyment as the factor that shows the greatest hiker's motivation. In addition, Creativity, Learning and Control and Socializing have also proven to be important motivating factors. On the other hand, Recognition has been shown to be the least motive for hiking activities and people do not go on hiking to be recognized or show others that they can do it, except in some cases with younger and less experienced hikers. The paper concludes with research limitations and implications for destination management organizations and tourism service providers.
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