Sustainable tourism management in protected areas using a systemic approach: A case study from Þingvellir National Park, Iceland

• Main Author: Van Houtte, Mieke, 1990-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Landupplýsinga- og umhverfisfræði; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/21992

Rapid expansion of nature-based tourism in protected areas is likely to have adverse impacts to the natural environment. In order to safeguard the possibility of equivalent use of nature for future generations, adequate management for environmental sustainability in nature-based tourism in protected areas is critical. The challenge is to find a compromise between the use and protection of natural resources for tourism, to sustain current as well as future use. To be able to implement an effective environmental management that can reduce undesirable tourism impacts on the natural environment, it is crucial to understand the underlying mechanisms leading to these environmental impacts. This study attempts to provide a holistic understanding of the causal relationships between the influencing variables in a tourism environmental subsystem, based on a system analysis approach. The general aim of this research is to investigate the potential of system analysis for sustainable tourism management in naturally fragile environments by firstly evaluating environmental impacts of tourism activities and tourism infrastructure, and how these impacts influence visitor experience. Secondly, by analysing the causes and effects of different management tools in reducing negative environmental impacts of tourism and maximizing positive impacts. A case study was carried out for Thingvellir National Park, Iceland, were key variables in the tourism environmental subsystem were identified and their causal relations analysed. The results emphasize the importance of proper environmental management in order to prevent negative environmental impacts of nature-based tourism. It is concluded that system analysis a critical tool in sustainable tourism management providing the transparency needed to increase the understanding of causal relations of influencing variables within the system. Ör vöxtur náttúruferðamennsku á friðlýstum svæðum getur haft skaðleg áhrif á viðkvæm vistkerfi. Til að tryggja að komandi kynslóðir eigi sömu möguleika á ...