Webinar: Visitor Management in Transboundary Parks 2017

Visitor Management in Transboundary Parks

26th April 2017

In this EUROPARC webinar, we have seen 2 examples of how Transboundary Parks are cooperating to achieve a high-quality, ecologically compatible and environmentally friendly visitor management. Nature knows no boundaries and therefore Transboundary Parks not only share the same natural resources, landscapes, and species, they also share (or have the potential to share) visitors.

The growing number of nature-based tourists brings about special attention to our natural spaces. Having a cross-border management approach to visitor management can bring several benefits for the Protected Areas across borders it has becoming an important topic within our TransParcNet – the EUROPARC network of Transboundary Parks.

What are the benefits of a Transboundary approach to visitor management?

Cross-border improvements are needed if we are to ensure low impact on protected area resources and enhance the benefits to the local communities and visitors’ experiences:

  • Finding a more balanced tourism flow: reduce the impact of tourists by promoting visits to the Park on the other side of the border;
  • sharing resources and provide touristic information;
  • developing cross-border methodologies to accurately count visitors, understand behavior patterns and expectations;
  • Promoting higher benefits to tourism-related businesses at the local/regional level

After an overview of the numbers of nature-based tourism and the Transboundary Parks Programme, by Luís Monteiro, PhD at the Czech Univeristy of Life Sciences, we’ve heard to examples from the TransParcNet. In the first case study, participants were given an example on how to implement a cross-border visitor monitoring methodology. On the second case study, we’ve seen how a Transboundary region has implemented the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, becoming the first Transboundary Sustainable Destination in Europe.

Presentations

Visitor Management in Transboundary Parks – an overview, by Luís Monteiro

Case Study 1 – Establishment of a cross-border socioeconomic monitoring Šumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks, by Florian Porst

Case Study 2  – Towards a more sustainable tourism in the Julian Alps: Application of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in a transboundary area, by Mocja Smolej

 

Watch the full webinar below and read the article.

 

 

 

 

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