Visitor management in nature and landscape protection
Visitor management in nature and landscape protection is an instrument for regulating the flow of visitors in protected and recreational areas.
Basics
The attractiveness of a protected or recreational area for visitors depends on the quality of its natural and cultural conditions. Areas close to nature should be preserved and at the same time those seeking relaxation and tourists should be given access to nature. In protected and recreational areas with no or insufficient visitor management, there may be conflicts between protection and use or between different user groups.
The basis for visitor management is the formulation of the desired status of a protected or recreational area and the identification of quality features and indicators that reflect the status of the resources. Building on this, an analysis of the area and the impairments caused by the visitors must be carried out in order to identify the difference between the actual and target state. Then threshold values for the changes are set. Framework programs such as the concept of Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) help to identify whether and where visitor management measures need to be applied.
The planning of visitor management is based on two pillars. On the one hand, the participation of the public with a consensus-building process among visitors, participants from the private as well as local and regional public sector. The technical planning process is based on a suitable concept (e.g. LAC) and the participation of the park management as well as scientists and other expert groups.
Classification of visitors in nature and landscape protection
Knowledge of the visitors is important for effective visitor management. A segmentation helps to address the visitors and the management tasks.
Visitors can be segmented according to
- socio-demographic characteristics: e.g. B. Age, gender, occupation, origin, income level, ethnicity, religion, educational level or class
- geographical features: origin, distance from the park, means of transport
- "Psychographic" patterns: e.g. B. "Refugees from civilization" who are looking for adventure or "Greens" who want to use environmentally sensitive products and services
- Activities and expectations from the area: e.g. B. End of tent, wildlife watcher, nature athlete
- Frequency of visits: frequent visitors, repeat visitors, first-time visitors
- Visitor behavior: benefit from the fascinating environment, enjoy education about nature and natural beauties, socialize with friends or family
It must be taken into account that there are often cross-criteria segments.
In tourism marketing, the definition of visitor groups forms the basis for developing and marketing target group-specific tourist offers. The main target groups of nature-based tourism in protected and recreational areas are families, bestagers, LOHAS and DINK's / singles.
A combination of sample surveys and observations for the acceptance of the services and facilities is recommended as an instrument for ascertaining the current situation. These surveys can be part of visitor monitoring.
Visitor activities
In protected and recreational areas, a distinction is made between mobile (e.g. hiking, cycling, skiing) and stationary (resting, gathering information and orientation) activities. Visitors to a protected area typically follow a combination of different activities.
Furthermore, a subdivision into “soft” and “hard” near-natural tourism can be made. In this context, “gentle” nature-based tourism is the informal, unspecified approach to an activity or natural attraction in conjunction with a minimum of comfort. The term “hard” near-natural tourism describes technical / special interest or specific activities and the willingness to contest the outdoor or wilderness experience with little comfort.
financing
A functioning visitor management is based on solid financing. In addition to funding programs from the federal government and the federal states / cantons, financial resources can be acquired in the protected or recreational area. For this purpose, entry and parking fees are charged, and contributions are made for special events such as guided tours and excursions, services and recreational services, meals and merchandising products are sold. Other options include obtaining donations, selling or lending copyrights to photos, and licensing intellectual property. In addition, public and private investors are attracted.
Management plan
The management plan comprises the elements of setting goals, strategies / methods / instruments, implementation and review.
aims
The goals of visitor management are result-oriented, time-bound, target-oriented, measurable and achievable. They either contain the maintenance or the restoration of the desired state.
Strategies
Visitor management distinguishes between three strategies:
- Influence visitor behavior and decision-making processes without restricting the visitors' leisure experience too much. A change in visitor behavior can be achieved primarily through visitor information and communication measures (information about the park, its resources and values, recreational opportunities and appropriate behavior so that they can make their own decisions).
- Control, delimit or regulate visitor behavior. The control of the number of visitors requires thresholds for the number and the length of stay per area (carrying capacity). To determine regulation and control measures, the real visitor numbers, the spatial and temporal distribution of visitors in the area and the motives and incentives of the visitors are determined in advance .
- Adapt resources to the visitor through the use of rangers , zoning measures, protective measures, the paving of paths or restoration of damaged areas, or even the construction of copies.
Methods and tools
The most important methods / instruments of visitor management are offering design, visitor monitoring , visitor guidance and visitor information.
The chosen methods are influenced by various aspects such as the goals of the park, the scale of the management issues (e.g. number of visitors), the landscape values affected, the development costs and the effects achieved. Usually an integrated management approach is followed, which is based on the selection of several methods.
Implementation and review
The regular review of the measures is guaranteed by visitor monitoring.
International approaches to visitor management
For visitor management in European protected areas, empirical values are available from individual parks. An overarching overall concept is missing so far. In the USA and Australia, various framework programs for visitor management in national parks have been developed and put into practice in the last few decades. Due to other requirements, these framework programs can not be used unchanged in European protected areas .
The most important supporting programs are:
- Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC)
- Tourism Optimization Management Model (TOMM)
- Visitor Impact Management (VIM)
- Visitor Activity Management Planning (VAMP)
Individual proof
- ↑ Stankey, GH, Cole, DN, Lucas, RC, Petersen, ME & Frissell, SS (1985): The Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) System for Wilderness Planning. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.
literature
- Dearden, P and Rollins, R (2009) Parks and Protected Areas in Canada: Planning and Management. Third edition. Oxford University Press, Toronto
- Eagles, Paul FJ; McCool, Stephen F.; Haynes, Christopher D. (2002) Sustainable tourism in protected areas: guidelines for planning and management. IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK
- Eagles, PF, McCool, SF (2002) Tourism in national parks and protected areas: planning and management, CABI Publishing, Wallingford
- Graefe, A., Kuss, F. & Vaske., J. (1990): Visitor Impact Management: The Planning Framework. Washington, DC: National Parks and Conservation Association.
- Haider, W. (2004) Visitor management frameworks in North America. Paper presented at the 2nd FORREC Management Committee meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Manning, R. (2007): Parks and Carrying Capacity - Commons Without Tragedy. Island Press , Washington, Covelo, London.
- Newsome, D., Moore, SA & Dowling, RK (2002): Natural Area Tourism - Ecology, Impacts and Management. Channel View Publications, Bristol.