Visitors’ place-based evaluations of unacceptable tourism impacts in Oulanka National Park, Finland

ABSTRACT

Visitors’ assessments of the negative impact of tourism, on physical and social environment, vary based on the location where the evaluation occurs. Research that focuses on identifying visitors’ norms within outdoor recreation settings has not been able to link the geographical location with the corresponding evaluation of unacceptable levels of impact. This study combines a traditional on-site visitor survey with a Public Participation Geographic Information Systems survey to produce spatially explicit information on visitors’ acceptance of tourism impacts. Using a web-based participatory survey, visitors were asked to indicate specific locations where they felt the effects of tourism disturbed the quality of their experience in Oulanka National Park. These evaluations were analyzed at multiple scales – destination, specific zones, and sites – to promote more efficient park management. Based on visitor evaluations, we found a collection of hotspots in the park where tourism has already caused unacceptable impacts. Visitors noted that crowding and erosion disturbed their experiences, especially along highly visited trail sections, while littering was considered problematic near wilderness huts. However, participant satisfaction at these sites was not lower than elsewhere in the park. This indicates that the association between negative impacts of tourism and visitor satisfaction is not straightforward, but complex. This study encourages the collection of spatially accurate data on visitors’ assessments of the effects of tourism because it has the potential to more efficiently direct park management policies. In addition, spatial techniques provide a new means to monitor the impacts of tourism, acknowledging that visitors’ perceptions of acceptability of tourism impacts also vary within tourism destinations, such as parks.

摘要

游客对旅游消极影响的评价, 无论是自然环境还是社会环境评价, 随评价所在的位置而有所不同。目前的研究仅识别游客户外游憩环境中的行为模式, 还没有把地理位置与相应的不合意旅游影响的评价联系起来。本研究结合传统的现场游客调查与公众参与地理信息系统调查, 获取游客旅游影响接受度的准确空间信息。本研究运用网络参与调查询问游客在奥克兰国家公园内旅游影响干扰旅游体验质量的具体位置。这些评价在目的地、特定区域和景点多个尺度下分析, 以促进更为有效的公园管理。基于游客评价, 我们发现, 公园内几个热点地区的旅游活动已经产生不合意的旅游影响。游客注意到拥挤和土壤侵蚀干扰了他们的旅游体验, 特别在热点旅游线路沿线, 而乱扔垃圾是荒野棚屋附近的主要问题。但是, 游客对这些景点的满意度并不比公园其它地方低, 这说明旅游消极影响和游客满意度之间并不是简单的关系, 它们之间的关系很复杂。本研究提倡采集游客旅游影响评价的精确空间信息, 是因为这样做有可能更为有效地指导公园管理政策的制定。另外, 空间技术提供了监测旅游影响的新手段, 证实了游客对旅游影响接受度的感知在诸如国家公园等旅游目的地内会有所变化。

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism impact
• visitor
• PPGIS
• normative theory
• satisfaction
• Oulanka National Park
• Finland

关键词:

• 旅游影响
• 游客
• 公众参与式地理信息系统
• 规范理论
• 满意度
• 奥兰卡国家公园
• 芬兰

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miisa Pietilä

Miisa Pietilä, MSc, is a doctoral student at the University of Oulu with the Department of Geography. Her research focuses on developing place-based visitor monitoring methods for developing tourism in national parks and related areas.

Nora Fagerholm

Nora Fagerholm has a Ph.D. in Geography. Her research focuses on the development of participatory mapping tools to engage stakeholders in landscape planning, and the development of novel ways of integrating local and scientific knowledge into environmental policy at a range of geographic scales.