Nature-based tourism and guided wildlife tours: designing wildlife tour experiences that optimise sustainable learning opportunities

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to investigate the interplay of tourists, nature, learning and memorable yet sustainable wildlife experiences in order to understand how, why, and where learning occurs during a tour, and what may hinder the learning process experienced. Participant observation and interviews of 67 tours and 122 interviews over a three-year period using Critical Incident Technique and narrative methods to identify the 10 case studies used in this paper. Interviews covered visitors and guides and thematic analysis was used to identify three main themes and ten sub-themes. These led to the development of a model of learning opportunities through wildlife tours. The model situates visitor experience in terms of the temporal nature of the wildlife tour and four key zones that impact on the ability of visitors to learn during their tour – zones of infrastructure and services; Guide-Visitor-Interaction; perceived constraints and interaction with wildlife. Learning, experiencing, reinforcement or stasis are the four states connected to the experiential outcomes of interpretation. The findings demonstrate the complexity involved in how visitors cognitively interpret, evaluate, and appraise their tour experiences and confirm the need to use an approach that captures the dynamic nature of tourist experiences.