Tourist and second home user awareness and perception of invasive alien species : cases of Ruka and Saariselkä
Puhakka, Elina (2023-12-18)
Puhakka, Elina
E. Puhakka
18.12.2023
© 2023 Elina Puhakka. Ellei toisin mainita, uudelleenkäyttö on sallittu Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) -lisenssillä (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Uudelleenkäyttö on sallittua edellyttäen, että lähde mainitaan asianmukaisesti ja mahdolliset muutokset merkitään. Sellaisten osien käyttö tai jäljentäminen, jotka eivät ole tekijän tai tekijöiden omaisuutta, saattaa edellyttää lupaa suoraan asianomaisilta oikeudenhaltijoilta.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202312183918
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202312183918
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this master’s thesis is to study the awareness and perception of invasive alien species within the target groups of tourists and second home owners. In addition, the target groups’ awareness of biosecurity measures and willingness to implement them in their own travel behaviour is studied. The study area consists of two tourism destinations in northern and northeastern Finland, Ruka and Saariselkä.
The theoretic framework of the study is based on the concepts of invasive alien species, biodiversity and biosecurity, and the relationship between invasive alien species and tourism. The study is carried out through a mixed methods approach, where the analysed data consists of both quantitative and qualitative data sets including a questionnaire and an interview. Of these data sets, the qualitative interview data is the basis for the thematic analysis used to address the research questions, whereas the quantitative questionnaire data is utilised mostly as a characterisation of the target groups and the general distribution of their views on invasive alien species. Finally, the data sets are discussed in relation to each other as well as previous literature on the subject to arrive at the conclusion.
The results of the study indicate that the awareness of invasive alien species, their pathways of spread and impacts is low within both target groups. The majority of the respondents were familiar with the basic concept of invasive alien species but lacked deeper understanding of the issues involved. Similarly, the awareness of the relationship between invasive alien species and tourism was low within the target groups. This lack of knowledge was mentioned as one of the reasons for not taking up biosecurity measures in travel behaviour.
The respondents were generally interested in taking up biosecurity practices, given that they were provided sufficient information on what to do and why. Easily accessible and understandable information was seen to be crucial in order to engage tourists and second home owners in biosecurity practices.
The theoretic framework of the study is based on the concepts of invasive alien species, biodiversity and biosecurity, and the relationship between invasive alien species and tourism. The study is carried out through a mixed methods approach, where the analysed data consists of both quantitative and qualitative data sets including a questionnaire and an interview. Of these data sets, the qualitative interview data is the basis for the thematic analysis used to address the research questions, whereas the quantitative questionnaire data is utilised mostly as a characterisation of the target groups and the general distribution of their views on invasive alien species. Finally, the data sets are discussed in relation to each other as well as previous literature on the subject to arrive at the conclusion.
The results of the study indicate that the awareness of invasive alien species, their pathways of spread and impacts is low within both target groups. The majority of the respondents were familiar with the basic concept of invasive alien species but lacked deeper understanding of the issues involved. Similarly, the awareness of the relationship between invasive alien species and tourism was low within the target groups. This lack of knowledge was mentioned as one of the reasons for not taking up biosecurity measures in travel behaviour.
The respondents were generally interested in taking up biosecurity practices, given that they were provided sufficient information on what to do and why. Easily accessible and understandable information was seen to be crucial in order to engage tourists and second home owners in biosecurity practices.
Kokoelmat
- Avoin saatavuus [38358]