Tourism and Tourists in Nature: Governance of National Parks and Wilderness in an Era of Global Change

Abstract

Summary

Modern tourism uses natural environments increasingly for the growth basis of the industry. This has created a variety of positive and negative effects for the environment. To reduce the negative and optimise the positive impacts, new modes and forms of tourism utilising nature have been developed. These new nature-based forms of tourism include terms such as ecotourism, aiming at sustainable development in tourism. However, at the same time other forms of nature-based tourism have emerged, including adventure tourism and safari tourism, which may not always have explicit practices aiming towards sustainability. Moreover, climate change and rapidly changing ecological processes are creating increasing critical issues in protected areas use. This chapter takes an overview of the role of natural environments for tourism and tourists, and their changing circumstances. The special focus is on tourism in national parks and wilderness contexts. In addition, the chapter discusses the changing modes and forms of tourism in nature and existing and emerging issues of conflicts and governance in nature-based tourism.