relevance of crowding effects in a coastal national park ... · conceptual background (1/4)...
TRANSCRIPT
Relevance of crowding effects in a coastal National Park in Germany – Results from a case study on
Hamburger Hallig
Dennis Kalisch
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
Structure of presentation
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
� Conceptual background
� Research objectives
� Study area
� Study methods
� Preliminary results
Conceptual background (1/4)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Coastal areas as popular sites for tourism activities
• At the same time important protected areas
• Rapid growth of ecotourism worldwide
• Increasing numbers of visitors to coastal recreation areas
• “How much can we use the environment without spoiling it?”
Conceptual background (2/4)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Increasing recreational pressure can lead to an over-utilisation of certain recreation areas with:
1. Degradation of natural resources and
2. Reduction in the quality of the recreation experience
• Two dimensions of carrying capacity of protected areas:
Environmental and social component
� Social carrying capacity of outdoor recreation activities
Conceptual background (3/4)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Definition of social carrying capacity:
“Maximum level of recreational use above
which there is a decline in the quality of the
recreational experience (Pigram and Jenkins 1999)”
• “Crowding is a function of the discrepancy between the numbers ofothers one expects to see while participating in the activity and the numbers one actually encounters (Schreyer and Roggenbuck 1978)“.
� Visitors may have a negative perception of density
Conceptual background (4/4)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Measurement of crowding effects in recreation research surveys:
Visitors rate their recreation experience on a crowding-scale (Heberleinand Vaske 1977) from…
Extremelycrowded
Moderatelycrowded
Slightlycrowded
Not at all crowed
987654321
Research objectives
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Applicability of social carrying capacity
in a German coastal National Park
• Measurement of crowding effects at a popular daytrip destination
• Relationship between visitors’ perception of 1.) encounters with other visitors and 2.) crowding effects
• Support local authorities in developing appropriate management measures based on study data
Study area (1/2)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
National Park„Schleswig-
HolsteinischesWattenmeer“
Visitor numbers:2 Mio. overnight stays
and14 Mio. day visitors
per year
Study area (2/2)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Important bird area and
protected salt marsh
• 100.000 visitors between April
and October
• Area is visited for hiking, cycling, bathing and bird-watching
• Hallig is connected with the main land by a road used by cars and a combined bicycle and pedestrian path
Methodology
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Estimating visitor use on the trail by visitor
counting
• Design and implementation of an on-site survey:
1. General respondent profile
2. Visitor motives and experience
3. Perception of crowding effects
• Data analysis
Preliminary results (1/3)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
Visitor counting during survey days (10:00 to 18:00)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
29.0
5.30
.05.
31.0
5.01
.06.
02.0
6.08
.08.
09.0
8.10
.08.
11.0
8.13
.08.
Survey date
Nu
mb
er o
f vi
sito
rs
TotalHikerCyclistCar
Preliminary results (2/3)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Onsite interviews on 10 randomly selected sampling days in spring and summer 2009 (5 workdays and 5 Sundays/holidays)
� N=509
• Heterogeneous visitor composition of local residents and domestic tourists
• Three main motives for visiting the area:
1. Experience of nature
2. Common getaway with family or friends
3. Get away from daily routine
Preliminary results (3/3)
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin
• Respondents report a high level of encounter (Mean=5.92) with other visitors during their stay, but a very low level of perceived crowding (Mean=1.87)
� 22% of respondents showed crowding perception (3-9 on crowding scale) caused by high visitor numbers
• Visitors of Hamburger Hallig seem to tolerate high visitor numbers
• Research results provide useful data about crowding perception by applying 9-point-crowding-scale
Thank you very much!
contact:[email protected]
Department of Landscape Economics Technical University Berlin