Search Results (103)

Predicting forest trail visitation is essential for sustainable management and policy development, including infrastructure planning, safety operations, and conservation. However, due to numerous informal access points and complex external influences, accurately monitoring visitor numbers remains challenging. This study applied random forest, gradient boosting, and LightGBM models with Bayesian optimization to predict daily visitor counts across six sections of the National Daegwallyeong Forest Trail, incorporating variables such as weather conditions, social media activity, COVID-19 case counts, tollgate traffic volume, and local festivals. SHAP analysis revealed that tollgate traffic volume and weekends consistently increased visitation across all sections. The impact of temperature varied by section: higher temperatures increased visitation in Kukmin Forest, whereas lower temperatures were associated with higher visitation at Seonjaryeong Peak. COVID-19 cases demonstrated negative effects across all sections. By integrating diverse variables and conducting section-level analysis, this study identified detailed visitation patterns and provided a practical basis for adaptive, section- and season-specific management strategies. These findings support flexible measures such as seasonal staffing, congestion mitigation, and real-time response systems and contribute to the advancement of data-driven regional tourism management frameworks in the context of evolving nature-based tourism demand. Full article

Outdoor recreation in national parks has significantly driven the growth of tourism globally. Research on tourism management in national parks has grown due to increasing scholarly interest in the field. This paper presents a bibliometric review of the development, aspects, and applications of national park tourism management. Data were collected from the Web of Science core collection database, and a total of 3438 research articles from 1980 to 2022 were selected and analyzed using VOSViewer (Version 1.6.19). We here analyze and visualize the co-occurrence of research keywords with temporal overlay and cluster analysis. We also present a content analysis and conceptual and management frameworks by examining multiple aspects of tourism management to offer detail aspect-based management implications. These can assist various park stakeholders, scholars, and associated collaborative efforts with the issue of how to best manage national park tourism in the context of an uncertain future and increasing conflicts of interests. Full article

The present paper aims to analyze consumers’ attitudes to domestic leisure tourism, considering essential factors that affect consumer travel choices and experiences. The focus is on the attitudes to the main advantages and disadvantages of domestic leisure tourism in Bulgaria. The research is based on the outcomes of a nationally representative survey among 1003 respondents aged over 18. The results are interpreted using the Fishbein multi-attribute model. The results reveal that the customers’ attitudes toward the advantages of the Bulgarian winter (ski) and summer (sea) domestic leisure tourism are relatively higher compared to the midpoint of the interval and to their highest point. Although the score for summer domestic leisure tourism is slightly lower than that of winter tourism, Bulgarian consumers appear to be more dissatisfied with the advantages of summer (sea) domestic leisure tourism. The dissatisfaction is not only greater compared to the midpoint of the scale but also in comparison to the disadvantages associated with winter domestic leisure tourism. Overall, Bulgarian consumers are more attracted to the positive aspects of domestic winter leisure tourism and more concerned about the negative aspects of summer tourism. Full article

Urban tourism resilience has become an important issue in light of the recent COVID-19 crisis, and heritage tourism represents an opportunity to recover from recent losses and develop resilient, sustainable planning for this sector. Important cities in CEE countries, such as Bucharest, are particularly affected, as in their case, the recent recovery in tourism overlaps with efforts to promote a positive image to replace identity labels associated with their communist past. In this context, online digital exposure to cultural heritage is of significant interest for resilient, sustainable tourism planning. Analyzing the most frequently online-promoted objectives through a mixed-methods approach, this study is an innovative empirical attempt to statistically uncover the online projected image of Bucharest. The main results show that despite the intended image projection, the Romanian capital’s communist heritage remains one of its most important landmarks, especially for international tourists. Other essential features that influence the frequent promotion of heritage objectives that represent the Romanian national culture include the representativeness of the monuments or institutions (e.g., museums) and their accessibility (i.e., their location in the center of Bucharest or close to local attractions). These results are important for the strategic planning of urban tourism in the region. Full article

Objectives: This study investigates the prevalence, determinants, and educational implications of sensory disorders in Saudi Arabia. We hypothesize that sociodemographic factors (e.g., gender, marital status), genetic consanguinity, and regional disparities significantly influence sensory health outcomes, including vision, hearing, balance, and social participation, with consequences for learning environments and educational access. Participants: The primary data were analyzed data from 33,575 households across all administrative regions of Saudi Arabia. The sample includes Saudi nationals residing within the Kingdom and those temporarily abroad (e.g., for treatment, study, or tourism) who are considered household members. Households were selected via a stratified random sampling framework, drawing 25 households from each of 1300 statistical areas (out of 3600 total), ensuring nationwide representation aligned with the 2010 Population and Housing Census. Study Method: An observational analysis of secondary data from the nationally representative survey was conducted. Variables included vision, hearing, mobility, personal care, and communication disorders. Statistical methods encompassed chi-square tests for associations and Cramer’s V effect sizes, with regional, gender, and consanguinity-based sub-analyses. Findings: Males exhibited higher mild vision impairments (1.6% vs. 1.0% females; p < 0.001), while females had greater severe hearing disorders (2.3% vs. 1.8%; p < 0.001). Consanguineous groups showed autosomal recessive patterns (e.g., 91,512 mobility issues in first-degree relatives; Cramer’s V = 0.12). Regional disparities emerged, with rural Najran reporting elevated balance/motion deficits (3.1% vs. national 1.9%; p < 0.01). Never-married individuals faced extreme communication barriers (18.4% vs. 8.7% married; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Sensory disorders in Saudi Arabia are shaped by genetic, environmental, and sociocultural factors, with implications for educational access and inclusive learning environments. Gender-sensitive interventions, genetic counseling, and expanded sensory disability metrics are critical for equitable educational policies. Regional programs targeting trauma prevention, chronic disease management, and sensory-friendly accommodations in schools are recommended to address multisensory disorder burdens and enhance educational outcomes. Full article

Industrial heritage tourism has been subject to increasing visitor interest, making Europe’s old factories, mines, and steelworks into attractive tourist installations. However, these facilities, like all other market players, impact the environment, and, therefore, their management should take into account achieving sustainable development goals. The purpose of this article is to identify key sustainability measures taken by public industrial heritage tourism facilities in Europe to protect the environment. This article discusses the results of a survey of administrators of public industrial heritage facilities in Europe. This research was carried out using the Computer Assisted Web Interview technique, sending a research questionnaire to facilities associated with the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The results indicate that these entities are taking numerous measures to implement environmental sustainability patterns, particularly in the areas of waste segregation, pollution and waste generation reduction, and low energy consumption in equipment purchases. Unfortunately, the survey shows that many of the stated actions are not being implemented, as only one in four managers has implemented a formal program related to the implementation of at least some sustainability principles or training conducted in this regard. Managers of industrial heritage sites also advocate for increased national and international cooperation between sites. The author also draws attention to the need to acquire green technologies and communicate the effects of these activities to stakeholders. Full article

Tourism and recreation managers rely on spatial-temporal data to measure visitors’ behavior for gauging carrying capacity and sustainable management. Location-based service (LBS) data, which passively record location data based on mobile devices, may enable managers to measure behaviors while overcoming constraints in labor, logistics, and cost associated with in-person data collection. However, further validation of LBS data at more refined spatial and temporal scales within tourism attractions is needed. We compared observations of salient spatial–temporal measures from a stratified sample of onsite visitors’ GPS traces in a popular U.S. National Park during peak season over two years with a sample of visitors’ traces collected during the same period by a third-party LBS data provider. We described trip characteristics and behaviors within 34 points of interest (POIs) and then pre-processed both datasets into weighted, directed networks that treated POIs as nodes and flow between POIs as edges. Both datasets reported similar proportions of day-use visitors (~79%) and had moderate-to-strong correlations across networks depicting visitor flow (r = 0.72–0.85, p < 0.001). However, relative to the onsite data, LBS data underestimated the number of POIs the visitors stopped by and differed in its rank of popular POIs, underestimating the length of time visitors spent in POIs (z = 1, p ≤ 0.001) and overestimating visitation to the most popular POIs (z = 180, p = 0.044). Our findings suggest that LBS data may be helpful for identifying trends or tracking tourist movement in aggregate and at crude spatial and temporal scales, but they are too sparse and noisy to reliably measure exact movement patterns, visitation rates, and stay time within attractions. Full article

Set in a wide open plain, the monolith of Uluṟu (‘Ayers Rock’) has become an internationally recognizable symbol for the Australian outback, currently attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Promoted since the 1950s as an exotic tourist destination, one of the major activities has been the ‘conquest’ of Uluṟu by completing the steep climb to the top. Always disapproved by the Aṉangu, the Indigenous Australian community of the area, and actively discouraged since 1990, the climb became an extremely contentious issue in the final two years before it was permanently closed to tourists on 26 October 2019. Given that climbing Uluṟu as a tourist activity has become an event of the past, this paper will examine the nature, materiality, and potential heritage value of the portable material culture associated with the climb. The background to the history of climbing Uluṟu in the context of European invasion (‘exploration’), the nature of tourism at Uluṟu and the role climbing played in this, as well as the management decisions that led to the closure of the climb can be grouped into four thematic periods: the beginnings of settler colonialist ascents (1873–1950), the ‘heroic’ age of Uluṟu tourism (1950–1958), lodges in a National Park (1958–1985), and joint management and the eventual closure of the climb (1985–2019). Based on a description of the material culture associated with the climb, particularly badges, patches and certificates, and drawing on the methodologies of historic and material culture studies, this paper will discuss the various interpretations of climbing Uluṟu and how the portable material culture reflects or exemplifies climbing as a conquest and heroic deed, as a spiritual ritual, and as a violation of cultural rights. After examining the materiality of the wearable material culture, we conclude by exploring which of these portable items are culturally significant and which, if any, should be curated in public collections. Full article

Sustainability can be analyzed for companies and the environment in which they operate; additionally, there are reciprocal impacts of companies on the sustainability of their environment and the environment on the sustainability of companies. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to identify the mutual impact of companies and the environment by investigating the case of rural tourism enterprises in an area with unique geographical, historical, and cultural characteristics, namely, the area near the Cotacachi-Cayapas National Park in Ecuador. In addition, it is essential to consider the characteristics of tourism enterprises and the role of personal factors of entrepreneurs. To accomplish this, qualitative research was carried out through in-depth interviews, and the data were subjected to content analysis, demonstrating validity and reliability. This study also complied with the criteria of rigor and transparency since the intention was to understand the mutual impact of tourism enterprises and the environment on sustainability and the associated factors. The results allow us to identify a complementary relationship between enterprises and the tourist space. However, there is also an apparent contradiction in the role of this space, as it was found that this space facilitates the performance of tourism enterprises but can also limit more proactive management in terms of marketing or relations with customers and other actors of the environment due to the attitude of the entrepreneurs; this is the main novel finding and contribution of this study. On the other hand, the family nature of these enterprises exerts positive effects on the motivation to undertake and remain in the business, as well as on ways of approaching teamwork. Full article

The comfort level of air temperature in a region is one of the influencing factors that affect tourists’ choice of tourism purpose. As a national red cultural mecca, the study of air temperature in Jiangxi Province can provide an important scientific reference for the development of tourism and the dissemination of red culture. Temperature is one of the most important indicators for climate comfort studies. Thus, in this paper, the average air temperature in Jiangxi Province in 2018 was studied. Three interpolation methods of Kriging interpolation, the inverse distance weight method, and the spline function method were used to spatially interpolate the data from 26 weather stations to obtain the spatial distribution map of air temperature for comparative study. At the same time, the method of cross-validation was adopted, and the average error and the root-mean-square error were quoted as the evaluation indexes for accuracy assessment. The conclusions of this paper are as follows: (1) the ME of IDW and spline method can reach 0.02–1.82 °C and the RMSE can reach 1.22–2.72 °C; (2) Kriging interpolation improves the RMSE by 27% and 55% compared to IDW and spline function methods, respectively; (3) considering the relatively sparse distribution of meteorological stations in Jiangxi Province, Kriging interpolation can avoid the extreme value phenomenon due to the influence of distance by reasonably choosing the shape and size associated with the surface space in the process of solving. Moreover, the results of this experimental study show that the accuracy of the kriging interpolation method is higher, so this method is more suitable for the spatial interpolation of the temperature in Jiangxi Province. In conclusion, this study provides a reference for the study of temperature comfort in Jiangxi Province. Full article

Despite extensive research on the network structure of tourism destinations, literature on the spatial network structure of cross-border tourism–economic connections is relatively limited, specifically the complex geopolitical relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thus, in this study we explored the relevant characteristics and influencing factors of the spatial structure of tourism economic networks. The results first indicate that the China–ASEAN tourism economic network exhibits distinct stage characteristics, with an ‘N’-shaped fluctuating growth trend, evolving from a point-like network to a multipolar development in spatial structure. In addition, China demonstrates a distinctive personality in the network and occupies a central leadership position. Secondly, an analysis of influencing factors shows that institutional distance and geographic distance have a significant impact on the network. Geopolitical risk plays a notable indirect moderating role in the network through its association with tourism policies and regulations, tourism promotion, and cooperation. This further reveals the diverse pathways through which geopolitical risk affects the network, providing a novel perspective for research on the tourism economic network. Full article

Various motivations are at the basis of tourists’ choice for rural destinations, and among them natural environment and outdoor activities hold a significant weight. This makes tourism vulnerable to climate change through the direct effect of changes in the attractivity of climate conditions, in addition to the indirect effects due to the expected impacts on other associated socio-economic sectors. In this context, increasing rural tourism resilience to climate change is a complex issue which needs to consider adaptation measures focusing on tourism specifics in synergy with adaptation measures in related sectors (e.g., energy, land and water management, urbanization aspects). Expected impacts, vulnerability and resilience of tourism to climate change are research issues more and more addressed in the recent years and their assessment at national or even local scales becomes increasingly important for designing effective adaptation measures. The study aims to present a summary of current knowledge related to the impact of climate change on Romanian tourism and, in particular, on rural tourism. Also, a synthesis of the available climate information tailored for the Romanian tourism sector is presented, focusing on actionable information that may be employed to reduce the negative effects of climate change on Romanian rural tourism. Full article

This paper is the result of a preliminary research phase aimed at identifying the phenomenon of gentrification in Rome’s San Lorenzo neighborhood, examining the perception of the phenomenon and the urban planning tools that have been adopted until today to contain it. The experimental framework proposed, based on qualitative research methods, aims to discuss if some urban transformations can be related only to market phenomenon inherent to gentrification or to the lack of planning tools able to manage—through the construction of a shared view on neighborhoods development—the negative externalities resulting from the real estate investments induced by the tourism sector and linked to the presence of universities in the reference territory. The research combines an international theoretical framework; the analysis of the policies and of the urban transformation during the contemporary history of the neighborhood; and interviews to key informants such as representatives of local institutions and associations, researchers, inhabitants, and others. The research approach intends to deepen the general perception and the comprehension of the phenomenon of gentrification from the local community, in relation to his own involvement in decision-making processes about the strategic regulatory–prescriptive development of the neighborhood. The primary objective of the paper is to advocate for an analytical framework that facilitates a better understanding of gentrification within the national context and explores potential institutional responses. It seeks to clarify the concept of gentrification, which is often misunderstood when interpreted solely through its Anglo-Saxon definition. By doing so, the paper aims to contribute to informed discussions and effective policy-making regarding urban development in San Lorenzo and beyond. Full article

Urban forest parks serve as significant venues for tourists’ leisure and recreation. The experiences and perceptions of tourists in these parks considerably influence their attitudes and behaviors. While numerous studies have investigated the functions and values of urban forest parks at a macro level, the mechanisms influencing tourists’ perceived values and their environmentally responsible behavior at a micro level remain under explored. This research used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the association between tourists’ perceived values and their environmentally responsible behavior, including the mediating functions of tourists’ satisfaction and their subjective well-being. 502 valid questionnaires in total were obtained from Changpoling National Forest Park in Guiyang City, Guizhou, China, for this case study. The results show that there are some variances in the impact of the dimensions of tourists’ perceived value on environmentally responsible behavior, in which service quality, resource quality, and emotional value impose a pronounced positive effect on environmentally responsible behavior, tourism costs impose a pronounced negative effect on environmentally responsible behavior, and the activity experience does not exert a pronounced effect on environmentally responsible behavior. Satisfaction and subjective well-being have a mediating function during the process of positive influence of tourists’ perceived value on their environmentally responsible behavior and serve as partial mediators, and the significant positive influence of satisfaction on subjective well-being as well as subjective well-being on environmentally responsible behavior are verified. This research can help better explain the mechanism of the effect of tourists’ perceived value exerted on environmental responsibility behavior in nature-based tourism destinations, and also has a guiding and reference significance for the sustainable development of urban forest parks. Full article

The Galapagos Islands are one of the most emblematic protected areas on the planet and also one of the most studied. Their main economic activity is tourism, which has grown rapidly in recent years. The increase in tourists is associated with the increase in population and the introduction of invasive species, which puts conservation at risk. This makes adequate management even more necessary and relevant on an international scale since the economy of Galapagos depends on the good state of conservation of its ecosystems and species. Numerous studies have shown that social factors, rather than physical–natural ones, determine the success or failure of a marine protected area (MPA), so they must be urgently incorporated into all phases of MPA management. In this study, we analyzed the management of the protected areas of Galapagos, including the National Park and the Marine Reserve, with the purpose of highlighting their weaknesses and strengths. The methodology used presents five prescribed scenarios in which priority is given to one or other factors, each of which has an impact on the biophysical and socio-economic systems that are influenced by the MPA. These scenarios were called proactive, interactive, centralized, learning, and formal management. Data were obtained through a comprehensive literature review and primary data collection methods, including in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and DPNG managers, as well as direct observations. Interviewees covered the main relevant sectors in the archipelago (fishing, tourism, and conservation). The results show that the archipelago’s protected areas follow a proactive management model with a continuous feedback loop. This feedback is a key element in any adaptive management process, which also allows practitioners to anticipate future problems. Both public participation and strategic planning are essential. Full article