Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland)
Whale watching is a dynamic industry and, in particular in a country like Iceland, where tourism is currently playing a leading role in the national economy and where nature – understood in a broad sense – represents the main attraction for visitors, whale watching, rapidly grown during the last yea...
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University of Bologna
2016
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:716cb3fb37fa47f1a2560ff2f7f4c145 2023-05-15T16:36:20+02:00 Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) Enrico Nicosia Perini Francesco 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 https://doaj.org/article/716cb3fb37fa47f1a2560ff2f7f4c145 EN IT eng ita University of Bologna https://almatourism.unibo.it/article/view/6323 https://doaj.org/toc/2036-5195 2036-5195 doi:10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 https://doaj.org/article/716cb3fb37fa47f1a2560ff2f7f4c145 Almatourism, Vol 7, Iss 14, Pp 60-105 (2016) Ecotourism Sustainability Whale Watching Húsavík Iceland Recreation. Leisure GV1-1860 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 2022-12-31T11:12:13Z Whale watching is a dynamic industry and, in particular in a country like Iceland, where tourism is currently playing a leading role in the national economy and where nature – understood in a broad sense – represents the main attraction for visitors, whale watching, rapidly grown during the last years, shows an evident potential under an ecotouristic point of view. In recent times, an increasing need for the understanding of interactions between humans (tourists) and wildlife (whales) emerged, highlighting the interest towards environmental conservation, protection and preservation matters and towards the search for activities, and modalities, that could essentially contribute to the sustainability of tourism experiences, such as wildlife tourism ones. It is difficult to argue with the fact that whale watching uses the whale “asset” in a non-destructive way, unlike whaling, activity still commercially conducted in Iceland, but at the same time it can’t be considered ecotouristic and sustainable a priori. In fact, several studies point out how tourism has a disturbing effect on wildlife and negatively affects their ecology and short- to long-term behaviours. This article, after a general introduction on the main ecotourism principles, examines the whale watching industry of the “Whale Capital of Iceland”, Húsavík, and it mainly focuses on the results and data of two researches conducted in the field – respectively among whale watchers and among the local whale watching companies. The purpose of this work is to investigate if and how Húsavík whale watching is following an environmentally sustainable and ecotouristic path, and to bring into light its strengths and weaknesses as a whale watching destination. Article in Journal/Newspaper Húsavík Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Watchers ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Italian |
topic |
Ecotourism Sustainability Whale Watching Húsavík Iceland Recreation. Leisure GV1-1860 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 |
spellingShingle |
Ecotourism Sustainability Whale Watching Húsavík Iceland Recreation. Leisure GV1-1860 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 Enrico Nicosia Perini Francesco Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
topic_facet |
Ecotourism Sustainability Whale Watching Húsavík Iceland Recreation. Leisure GV1-1860 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 |
description |
Whale watching is a dynamic industry and, in particular in a country like Iceland, where tourism is currently playing a leading role in the national economy and where nature – understood in a broad sense – represents the main attraction for visitors, whale watching, rapidly grown during the last years, shows an evident potential under an ecotouristic point of view. In recent times, an increasing need for the understanding of interactions between humans (tourists) and wildlife (whales) emerged, highlighting the interest towards environmental conservation, protection and preservation matters and towards the search for activities, and modalities, that could essentially contribute to the sustainability of tourism experiences, such as wildlife tourism ones. It is difficult to argue with the fact that whale watching uses the whale “asset” in a non-destructive way, unlike whaling, activity still commercially conducted in Iceland, but at the same time it can’t be considered ecotouristic and sustainable a priori. In fact, several studies point out how tourism has a disturbing effect on wildlife and negatively affects their ecology and short- to long-term behaviours. This article, after a general introduction on the main ecotourism principles, examines the whale watching industry of the “Whale Capital of Iceland”, Húsavík, and it mainly focuses on the results and data of two researches conducted in the field – respectively among whale watchers and among the local whale watching companies. The purpose of this work is to investigate if and how Húsavík whale watching is following an environmentally sustainable and ecotouristic path, and to bring into light its strengths and weaknesses as a whale watching destination. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Enrico Nicosia Perini Francesco |
author_facet |
Enrico Nicosia Perini Francesco |
author_sort |
Enrico Nicosia |
title |
Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
title_short |
Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
title_full |
Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
title_fullStr |
Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecotourism between Theory and Practice: Empirical Analysis of the Tourism Industry of Whale Watching in Húsavík (Iceland) |
title_sort |
ecotourism between theory and practice: empirical analysis of the tourism industry of whale watching in húsavík (iceland) |
publisher |
University of Bologna |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 https://doaj.org/article/716cb3fb37fa47f1a2560ff2f7f4c145 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) |
geographic |
Watchers |
geographic_facet |
Watchers |
genre |
Húsavík Iceland |
genre_facet |
Húsavík Iceland |
op_source |
Almatourism, Vol 7, Iss 14, Pp 60-105 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://almatourism.unibo.it/article/view/6323 https://doaj.org/toc/2036-5195 2036-5195 doi:10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 https://doaj.org/article/716cb3fb37fa47f1a2560ff2f7f4c145 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/6323 |
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1766026665265201152 |