Tourism and Natural Resource Management: A General Overview of Research and Issues

In recent years, growing awareness among tourism researchers of the relations between tourism and natural resource management has resulted in a substantial body of academic literature examining tourism issues under a relatively new set of tourism concepts. Seemingly new forms of tourism, such as nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism, now are advocated as an environmentally safe basis for economic development in many rural locations worldwide. The USDA Forest Service has become interested in these new forms of tourism because of decreasing timber harvests and increasing recreation on national forest lands, and the resulting impacts of these changes on local economies. New forms of tourism are closely related to outdoor recreation, which has been a management objective of National Forests since their inception. This paper discusses the concepts of nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism; provides a general overview of research and issues; and suggests potential areas for future research. The intent is to provide a general overview of existing literature to serve as a primer for researchers and policymakers initiating more thorough investigations of tourism and natural resource management. Abstract This page has been left blank intentionally. Document continues on next page. 1 Tourism development commonly has been advocated as an alternative to traditional natural resource-based economic development, such as timber production, agriculture, and mining. Recently, many advocates of tourism have promoted seemingly new tourism concepts, such as nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism, among others. These new forms of tourism are promoted as an environmentally safe way for rural communities to generate income from natural resources. They are advocated particularly in developing countries because many developing countries possess a comparative advantage over developed countries in their ability to provide relatively pristine natural settings (Cater 1993). Affluence, education, and environmentalism all contribute to increasing visitation to wild lands and generate income for local communities through the expenditures of tourists such as lodging, transportation, food, guides, and souvenirs (Laarman and Sedjo 1992). Demand for these new forms of tourism, it is argued, arises from increased concern or interest in unique and fragile ecosystems and a growing desire to travel to new and exotic places, and an increasing number of people who have the financial means to do so (Seidl 1994). Research interest in these new forms of tourism has surfaced in the United States partly because of decreasing timber harvests and increasing recreation on national forest lands and the resulting …