Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands
National parks serve a dual purpose: they aim to protect pristine nature and they are intended to facilitate visitation and provide necessary services. However, as visitation increases, it becomes challenging to establish a balance between visitation and the preservation of nature. This paper aims t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/11/2066 |
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| author | Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir Margrét Wendt Rannveig Ólafsdóttir |
| author_facet | Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir Margrét Wendt Rannveig Ólafsdóttir |
| author_sort | Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | National parks serve a dual purpose: they aim to protect pristine nature and they are intended to facilitate visitation and provide necessary services. However, as visitation increases, it becomes challenging to establish a balance between visitation and the preservation of nature. This paper aims to examine the attitudes of tourism service providers in Iceland towards a proposed national park in the Central Highlands of Iceland, where pristine nature and wilderness are the main attraction, as well as the grounds for conservation. A mixed methodological approach was applied with an online questionnaire survey among all day-tour operators and travel agencies in Iceland, along with 48 semi-structured interviews as follow-up for a deeper understanding. In total, 382 companies answered the online survey, representing a 40% response rate. The results demonstrate that there are mixed opinions on whether the establishment of a national park is the best way to maintain the qualities of the area, with various arguments for and against the national park. Nevertheless, most tourism service providers want to have a say in its governance. It is however important to remember that the tourism industry exploits nature as a market-driven commodity, as its voice must always be evaluated in light of this. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:13:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-28a0ed63dc6b4207a59003706b693227 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:13:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-28a0ed63dc6b4207a59003706b6932272023-11-24T08:56:16ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2022-11-011111206610.3390/land11112066Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central HighlandsAnna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir0Margrét Wendt1Rannveig Ólafsdóttir2Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, IcelandDepartment of Geography and Tourism Studies, Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, IcelandDepartment of Geography and Tourism Studies, Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, IcelandNational parks serve a dual purpose: they aim to protect pristine nature and they are intended to facilitate visitation and provide necessary services. However, as visitation increases, it becomes challenging to establish a balance between visitation and the preservation of nature. This paper aims to examine the attitudes of tourism service providers in Iceland towards a proposed national park in the Central Highlands of Iceland, where pristine nature and wilderness are the main attraction, as well as the grounds for conservation. A mixed methodological approach was applied with an online questionnaire survey among all day-tour operators and travel agencies in Iceland, along with 48 semi-structured interviews as follow-up for a deeper understanding. In total, 382 companies answered the online survey, representing a 40% response rate. The results demonstrate that there are mixed opinions on whether the establishment of a national park is the best way to maintain the qualities of the area, with various arguments for and against the national park. Nevertheless, most tourism service providers want to have a say in its governance. It is however important to remember that the tourism industry exploits nature as a market-driven commodity, as its voice must always be evaluated in light of this.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/11/2066national parkprotected areatourism industrynature-based tourismnature conservationgovernance |
| spellingShingle | Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir Margrét Wendt Rannveig Ólafsdóttir Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands Land national park protected area tourism industry nature-based tourism nature conservation governance |
| title | Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands |
| title_full | Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands |
| title_fullStr | Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands |
| title_short | Tourism Industry Attitudes towards National Parks and Wilderness: A Case Study from the Icelandic Central Highlands |
| title_sort | tourism industry attitudes towards national parks and wilderness a case study from the icelandic central highlands |
| topic | national park protected area tourism industry nature-based tourism nature conservation governance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/11/2066 |
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