Nature Tourism

Joseph S. Chen, Nina K. Prebensen, Joseph S. Chen, Nina K. Prebensen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317334668
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

In recent decades, the fast rise of emerging economies, like the BRICS nations, has propelled the growth of tourism worldwide. Meanwhile, a plethora of nature destinations has been developed to meet the diverse needs of the new wave of demand from emerging economies and to entice existing tourists from advanced and rich economies.

Nature Tourism augments the current literature on the benefits and pitfalls in recent developments of nature tourism, tracing the history in development, highlighting the ecological impacts and showcasing the current practices in nature tourism, along with discussions on specific tourist markets from holistic viewpoints embracing lessons learned from various destination nations and continents across the globe. A host of topics with global significance will be explored such as the effect of climate change on nature tourism, technological innovation in managing nature tourism, visitor management in nature tourism and market positioning in a highly competitive environment. These are reviewed in a wide range of countries from USA/Canada, South America, Scandinavian countries, the Swiss Alps, Middle-East countries, Africa, China and Australia/New Zealand.

This book will offer significant insight into nature-based tourism and its future development. It will be of interest to upper-level students, researchers and academics in tourism, environmental studies, development and sustainability.

1Research Progress in Nature Tourism

Joseph S. Chen and Nina K. Prebensen

Progress and Woes of Nature Tourism Development

In developing and developed economies, nature environment has been constantly exploited for economic ends and social development that inevitably deprives certain groups of people, such as city dwellers, from nature on a daily base. This situation motivates people to come in contact with nature as a rewarding leisure pursuit thought various types of activities such as hiking and wildlife viewing. Meanwhile, the tourism business regards nature as a viable resource to stage optimal tourist experiences for the sake of business growth.

The development of modern technologies enables the travelling public to amply indulge in nature environment on a gigantic piece of land that has not been easily accessible to the masses up to now. In China, for instance, due to the completion of the high-mountain rail passage through the Tibetan Plateau, masses of tourists have now been able to visit a vast majority of the 4,000-meter-high mountainous area in Tibet. In the Arctic, ocean cruises have brought tourists to experience singular natural phenomena (e.g. midnight sun, iceberg, and arura) and view wildlife on the brink of extinct (e.g. polar bear and Arctic fox). Indeed, tourism has for long been regarded as a powerful apparatus for economic growth and social development in developed and under-developed nations. Place (1991) has highlighted the relationship between nature tourism and rural development and that ecotourism is a valuable tourist venue for community development and an economic contributor to the economy of Costa Rica.

However, in some cases, the inflow of masses of tourists has been viewed as an activity that hampers the maintenance of tranquility of the environment in the area. It is unarguably evident that development of large-scale tourism is in conflict with the goal of preservation of nature. In the last decades, as fast-rising emerging economies, represented by the BRICS nations, have propelled the growth of tourism worldwide, a plethora of nature destinations in these locations have been renovated or constructed to provide for the growing needs of the tourists and entice tourists from far-flung locations and other developing economies. In sum, as the robust growth of emerging economies persists, it shall continue to significantly increase the number of visitors.

Could the foreseeable expansion of the market of nature tourism benefit human beings economically, socially and environmentally? It is high time that tourism stakeholders contemplated to what extent nature environment should be exposed to tourists and what sorts of sustainable developmental strategies that enhance the tourist experiences in specific and human welfare as a whole should be considered. In a bid to facilitate tourism researchers, professionals, and policy makers to reflect on those pressing issues, this book is in an attempt to furnish a scholarly forum gathering updated cases from different parts of the world in connection with nature tourism.

Specifically, the book encompasses three parts of synopses concerning the phenomenon of nature tourism. In the first part (i.e. Chapters 2 and 3), the book centers on wellbeing—an optimal benefit of nature tourism—illustrated by two different kinds of analyses drawing from both non-empirical and empirical data. In the second part (i.e. Chapters 4–9), contemporary issues from both supply and demand sides of tourism are further examined. The last section (i.e. Chapters 10–17) of the book reports case studies from five developed economies (i.e. Japan, Norway, Finland, Germany and France), two most populous emerging economies (i.e. China and India), two newly industrialized countries (i.e. South Korea and Taiwan) and African nations. Furthermore, the concluding part (i.e. Chapter 18) of this book summarizes the updated knowledge presented throughout the book while giving recommendations for future research. The following section traces the empirical works on nature tourism that have transpired in the last three decades and delivers analytical remarks on four investigative realms of significance: (1) environmental rows and conservation, (2) tourist experiences, (3) impacts on community and nature, and (4) management and development.

Environmental Rows and Conservation

In recent decades, the literature with regards to nature tourism has touched on diverse streams of context. Nevertheless, scholarly debates on environmental issues in relation to the development of nature tourism have frequently appeared. It has been recognized that environmental goods and resources are latent primary factors of production in tourism (Marcouiller, 1998). Akama (1996) further enunciated that Western environmental values influence the creations of nature destinations in the case of wildlife conservation in Kenya. As illustrated by Wilson and Tisdell (2003) through their investigation of wildlife-based attractions, conservation of species leads to economic benefits and political support for the wildlife affected.

In order to gain a competitive edge for nature destinations, Huybers and Bennett (2003) called attention to an environmental management scheme, involving voluntary environmental protection actions by the private sector and the reinforcement of regulations by public entities, as an influential concept of operation. In respect of nature tourism, Blanco (2011) further exhibited the determinants of voluntary environmental initiatives by using a social–ecological system approach that consists of presence of leadership, norms of behaviors among the people involved in voluntary environmental initiatives, shared mental mode, salience of resource for users, and substantial productivity of source system.

Not surprisingly, as presented in the work of Bury (2008), tourism stakeholders have been concerned about the expansion of nature tourism that inadvertently engenders the negative impacts of economy, culture, and environment on the host community given that the contributions to community wellbeing and the magnitude of impact on the environment are not often measured and monitored along different developmental stages. In this regard, researchers (e.g. Bury, 2008; Edwards & Thompson, 2010; Rudendyke & Son, 2005) have advocated concerted actions toward developing efficacious strategies on conservation as a defining agenda to help nature tourism thrive.

A recent study (Sliva & Motzer, 2014) showed that people suffering from economic and social hardship are apt to embrace neoliberal conservation projects in the hope of combining economic opportunities generated by nature tourism with traditional livelihood practices.

In their evaluation of the outcome of a conservation action, Rudendyke & Son (2005) divulged that the resettled people affected by the development of a national park in Vietnam do not benefit much from nature tourism which is in principle regarded as an alternative means of survival for those settlers. Nevertheless, from a story of a different type of tourism stakeholder, Edwards and Thompson (2010) found that private conservation centers for research and education in environmentally affected locations contribute economic welfare to the local communities. They stressed that active conservation centers, which are most likely located in remote locations, could yield significant impacts on rural communities in Africa.

Drawing from a Delphi survey of factors affecting the development of sustainable nature tourism in southern Africa, Spenceley (2008) identified 159 essential and incompatible factors relevant to four emphases: (1) policy and planning, (2) tourism and business management, (3) environment and conversation management, and (4) social and culture issues. Recently, a renewed methodological effort on identifying critical success factors has been developed as Perez, Guerrero, Gonzalez, Perez, and Caballero (2014) constructed a composite indicator in assessment of sustainability of nature destinations. These studies supplied refreshing methodological and practical notes from which the practitioners can learn to advance their efforts on conversation and development.

Tourist Experiences

A growing amount of literature has weighed upon tourist experiences resulting from tourists’ contact with nature as well as their participation in physical activity in nature, given the fact that the leisure engagement in nature creates positive effects on human health (Brymer, Cuddihy, & Sharma-Brymer, 2010). Empirical data drawing from a recent study (Chang, 2014) of the health benefits of traveling to nature destinations shows that the frequency of participation in domestic nature tourism has a direct contribution to the function of the nervous system and stress release. Moreover, nature attractions could lead to the fulfillment of a higher hierarchical need in spirituality as indicated in a study by Heintzman (2009). Through a qualitative study, he further described the scopes of spiritual attainment as spiritual experience, spiritual wellbeing and spiritual coping.

Dorwart, Moore, and Leung (2009), in their grounded theory research explicating recreational experiences in nature, evaluated the influences of visitor experiences from five aspects including nature details, scenic values, management influences, presence of other people, and depreciative behavior. Their study evokes a conceptual framework encompassing the attributes affecting tourist experiences in nature. Hearne and Salinas (2002) added that improved infrastructure is one of the critical attractors for eco-tourists. Meanwhile, from a different perspective evaluating the moderators of tourist experiences, Lee, Huang, and Yeh (2010) illustrated 23 attributes influencing individuals’ desires to indulge in the forest environment. Among them, unique forest landscape and special climate phenomena are two salient determinants. Apropos of aesthetic experiences in nature, Breiby (2014) pointed out that harmony, variation/contrast, scenery/viewing, genuineness, and art/architecture are influential factors impacting the effect of viewing experience.

Place attachment is also regarded as a moderator of tourist experiences in nature (Kil, Holland, Stein, & Ko, 2012). Berry and Wolf-Watz (2014), criticizing a current theory of environmental psychology involving concepts of nature and environmental connectedness, called for attentive actions toward the interpretation of nature as a place to avoid simplistic and reductionist views on the concept of nature. They implied that nature should not be portrayed as a geographically undefined agent, as current literature suggests, when examining an individual’s environmental connectedness. It is important to consider the influence of the place-related bond between human and the environment. Thus, in nature tourism settings, environmental connectedness is akin to place attachment in concept.

Packer, Ballantyne, and Hughes (2014), in their investigation of the differences in tourist experiences between Chinese and Australian tourists in respect of a nature-centered island resort, argued that nationality could be seen as a moderator of tourist experiences. Their finding shows that Chinese people tend to have more anthropologic views of nature and a fear or less experience of contact with wildlife. Certainly, it cannot be argued that the level of competence and the traits of tour operators/providers could also moderate the tourist experience. In nature settings, tour operators could be seen as resource managers who are able to provide educative information to the tourists and therefore could influence the tourists’ attitude toward the environment. Weiler and Davis (1993) listed knowledge, skills, and attitudes as the qualifiers of tour leaders that affect the success in delivering educative messages to the tourists. Powell, Kellert, and Ham (2009) shared their notion that characteristics of service providers (e.g. rafting guide) could affect tourist experiences so as to enhance the tourists’ awareness toward pressing issues occurring in protected areas. In addition, the presence of the other tourists could affect the tourist experience. For example, the perceived crowdedness concerning the number of tourists in a given space has been identified as a key mod...

Table of contents

• Cover-Page
• Halftitle
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Lists of Figures
• List of Tables
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 Research Progress in Nature Tourism
• 2 Nature and Well-being: Explorer Travel Narratives of Transformation
• 3 Well-being in Wildlife Experiences: Feeling Good for the Animals?
• 4 The Impact of Korea’s Nature-Based Recreation Settings on Tourists’ Emotion, Satisfaction and Subjective Happiness
• 5 Generation Y, Nature and Tourism
• 6 Connectedness and Relatedness to Nature: A Case of Neo-Confucianism among Chinese, South Korean and Japanese Tourists
• 7 How Local Traditions and Way of Living Influence Tourism: Basecamp Explorer in Maasai Mara, Kenya and Svalbard, Norway
• 8 Impact of Climate Change on Tourism in World Heritage Sites: A Case Study from the Wet Tropics Region of Australia
• 9 Quality Perspectives in Managing Visitor Experiences
• 10 A National Park in Turmoil: The Case Study on Vanoise National Park in the Alps
• 11 Listening to the Sounds of Silence: Forest-based Wellbeing Tourism in Finland
• 12 Nature Tourism in Germany’s Protected Areas
• 13 Governing Nature Tourism in Eastern and Southern Africa
• 14 Emerging Trends in Wildlife and Tiger Tourism in India
• 15 Chinese Approach to Sustainability: Challenges and Suggestions
• 16 Tourism in Preserved Nature Areas in Taiwan
• 17 Forest as a Venue for Recreational Therapy in Japan
• 18 Final Remarks: Challenges and Research Directions
• Index