IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/inn/wpaper/2017-08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The acceptance of a protected area and the benefits of sustainable tourism: In search of the weak link in their relationship

Author

Listed:
  • Sibylle Puntscher
  • Duc Tran Huy
  • Janette Walde
  • Ulrike Tappeiner
  • Gottfried Tappeiner

Abstract

Sustainable tourism is seen as a major development opportunity for regions with pristine nature and biodiversity hotspots, particularly in developing countries. The economic advantages of sustainable tourism are supposed to convince local persons that use restrictions and regulations set within a protected area (PA) are necessary and beneficial. Nevertheless, local persons are hardly found to positively assess PAs and their environmental protection efforts. This study combines earlier findings on the existence of PAs, their potential for tourism, their restrictions for economic development and the local population's acceptance of environmental protection into a comprehensive model. Based on a representative survey of 686 people in the Hoang Lien National Park in Vietnam, we analyse the links in the suggested transmission mechanism. The results identify one major bottleneck for the acceptance of a PA: The people indeed acknowledge the economic advantages of a sustainable tourism sector, but do not see themselves as actual beneficiaries. Even if they are already involved in tourism, they feel the main benefits are generated for outside agents, while local persons have to deal with the restrictions imposed. This result has far-reaching implications for successful tourism policy and implementation of protected areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Sibylle Puntscher & Duc Tran Huy & Janette Walde & Ulrike Tappeiner & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2017. "The acceptance of a protected area and the benefits of sustainable tourism: In search of the weak link in their relationship," Working Papers 2017-08, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    • Handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2017-08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www2.uibk.ac.at/downloads/c4041030/wpaper/2017-08.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Getzner, 2010. "Impacts of protected areas on regional sustainable development: the case of the Hohe Tauern national park (Austria)," International Journal of Sustainable Economy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(4), pages 419-441.
    2. Bennett, Nathan James & Dearden, Philip, 2014. "Why local people do not support conservation: Community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 107-116.
    3. Vedeld, Paul & Jumane, Abdallah & Wapalila, Gloria & Songorwa, Alexander, 2012. "Protected areas, poverty and conflicts," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 20-31.
    4. Kari, Susanna & Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa, 2013. "Framing local outcomes of biodiversity conservation through ecosystem services: A case study from Ranomafana, Madagascar," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 3(C), pages 32-39.
    5. Sharpley, Richard, 2014. "Host perceptions of tourism: A review of the research," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 37-49.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lishan Xu & Changlin Ao & Baoqi Liu & Zhenyu Cai, 2023. "Ecotourism and sustainable development: a scientometric review of global research trends," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 2977-3003, April.
    2. Brain, M.J & Nahuelhual, L. & Gelcich, S. & Bozzeda, F., 2020. "Marine conservation may not deliver ecosystem services and benefits to all: Insights from Chilean Patagonia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    3. Weiye Wang & Jinlong Liu & Robert Kozak & Mengmeng Jin & John L. Innes, 2018. "How Do Conservation and the Tourism Industry Affect Local Livelihoods? A Comparative Study of Two Nature Reserves in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Yaw Boakye Agyeman & Augustine Oti Yeboah & Enoch Ashie, 2019. "Protected areas and poverty reduction: The role of ecotourism livelihood in local communities in Ghana," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 73-91, January.
    5. Minh-Hoang Nguyen & Minh-Phuong Thi Duong & Manh-Cuong Nguyen & Noah Mutai & Ruining Jin & Phuong-Tri Nguyen & Tam-Tri Le & Quan-Hoang Vuong, 2023. "Promoting Stakeholders’ Support for Marine Protection Policies: Insights from a 42-Country Dataset," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Wilawan Jansri, 2019. "Perception of Residents, Community Participation and Support for Tourism Development in the Old Town Muang Songkhla, Thailand," Proceedings of the 13th International RAIS Conference, June 10-11, 2019 07WJ, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    7. Jose María Martín‐Martín & María S. Ostos‐Rey & Jose A. Salinas‐Fernández, 2019. "Why Regulation Is Needed in Emerging Markets in the Tourism Sector," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 78(1), pages 225-254, January.
    8. Salvatore Bimonte & Antonella D’Agostino, 2021. "Tourism development and residents’ well-being: Comparing two seaside destinations in Italy," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1508-1525, November.
    9. Timothy K Marcella & Scott M Gende & Daniel D Roby & Arthur Allignol, 2017. "Disturbance of a rare seabird by ship-based tourism in a marine protected area," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-23, May.
    10. Suess, Courtney & Mody, Makarand, 2016. "Gaming can be sustainable too! Using Social Representation Theory to examine the moderating effects of tourism diversification on residents' tax paying behavior," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-39.
    11. Jelena DURKIN BADURINA & Daniela SOLDIC FRLETA & Larry DWYER, 2022. "Meet Sceptics, Neutrals And Believers: An Alternative Approach To Analysing Residents’ Attitudes Towards Tourism In Urban Destinations," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(1), pages 24-44, February.
    12. Mohammad Javad Maghsoodi Tilaki & Gelareh Abooali & Massoomeh Hedayati Marzbali & Narimah Samat, 2021. "Vendors’ Attitudes and Perceptions towards International Tourists in the Malaysia Night Market: Does the COVID-19 Outbreak Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Radisti A. Praptiwi & Carya Maharja & Matt Fortnam & Tomas Chaigneau & Louisa Evans & Leuserina Garniati & Jito Sugardjito, 2021. "Tourism-Based Alternative Livelihoods for Small Island Communities Transitioning towards a Blue Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-11, June.
    14. Tie Wang & Wei Wang & Zhongjun Wu & Ching-Hui Su & Ming-Hsiang Chen, 2019. "Understanding Farm Households’ Participation in Nong Jia Le in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Chen, Xiaoqing & Zhang, Carol Xiaoyue & Stone, Timothy & Lamb, John, 2020. "Existentially understanding tourism in locale: A dwelling perspective," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    16. Fernando Almeida-García & Rafael Cortes-Macías & Antonia Balbuena-Vázquez & M. Carmen-Hidalgo, 2020. "New Perspectives of Residents’ Perceptions in a Mature Seaside Destination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-25, May.
    17. Sukuryadi & Nuddin Harahab & Mimit Primyastanto & Bambang Semedi, 2021. "Collaborative-based mangrove ecosystem management model for the development of marine ecotourism in Lembar Bay, Lombok, Indonesia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 6838-6868, May.
    18. Oksana Tokarchuk & Roberto Gabriele & Oswin Maurer, 2016. "Tourism intensity impact on satisfaction with life of German residents," Tourism Economics, , vol. 22(6), pages 1315-1331, December.
    19. Hatim Albasri & Jesmond Sammut, 2021. "A Comparison of Vulnerability Risks and Conservation Perceptions between Mariculture, Fishery and Ecotourism Livelihood Groups in a Multi-Use MPA in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    20. Ryan S. Naylor & Carter A. Hunt & Karl S. Zimmerer & B. Derrick Taff, 2021. "Emic Views of Community Resilience and Coastal Tourism Development," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Attitudes towards protected area; Sustainable tourism; Economic development; Environmental protection; Hoang Lien National Park; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q26 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Recreational Aspects of Natural Resources
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2017-08. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Janette Walde (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fuibkat.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.