Segmentation by motivation for rural tourism activities in The Gambia

h i g h l i g h t s We conduct a survey of 430 tourists in The Gambia to find out about market potential for rural tourism. We employ a combined factor-clustering method to extract distinct market segments for tourism activities in The Gambia. We find four distinct market segments. There is high (latent) market potential for rural tourism businesses in The Gambia. We sketch out a 'development path' on how an event-based rural tourism can actually be implemented

Visitor monitoring as a prerequisite of assessments in Natura 2000 sites

Section: Sustainability and carrying capacity studies in recreational setting

Klimawandel und Anpassungsstrategien im Alpentourismus

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit Anpassungsstrategien an die Folgen des Klimawandels im Alpentourismus. Am Beispiel einer reduzierten Schneemenge mit Wirkungen auf den Wintertourismus werden verschiedene Anpassungsstrategien diskutiert. Daran wird deutlich, dass auch die Gefahr einer Fehladaption besteht, das heißt einer Anpassung, die - zum Beispiel wegen des Energiebedarfs - geeignet ist zum Klimawandel sogar noch beizutragen. Weiterhin wird der Einfluss von sozialen Diskursen und den sozio-ökonomischen Bedingungen auf die Bereitschaft des Gastes zur Anpassung betrachtet. Abschließend beschäftigt sich der Beitrag mit der Akzeptanz von Anpassungsstrategien und zeigt Handlungsfelder für effektive Anpassungsstrategien auf. Bei allen Anstrengungen auf betrieblicher oder Destinationsebene ist jedoch zu beachten, dass eine klimaschonende An- und Abreise durch den Gast mit rund 80% den größten Beitrag zur Einsparung von Treibhausgasemissionen und damit zur Klimawandelanpassung leisten kann. Aus der Sicht des Gasts sind die Risikobewertung und die Bedeutung einer spezifischen Aktivität bzw. einer spezifischen Urlaubsform für das zukünftige Verhalten entscheidend. Climate change and adaptation strategies for alpine tourism: This contribution presents climate change adaptation strategies for alpine tourism destinations. Different common adaptation strategies are presented and discussed addressing changes in winter tourism due to a lack of snow. This example shows, that these strategies may also cause maladaptation contributing to climate change due to their energy consumption. Furthermore, the paper discusses the effect of the overall social discourse on climate change adaptation and the framing socio-economic conditions which both influence the guests’ willingness to adapt. Finally, further factors influencing the acceptance of adaptation strategies and a concept for effective adaptation strategies are presented and discussed. However, all efforts to define suitable adaptation strategies on the operational as well as the destination level should consider, that a climate friendly travel from and to the destination can make the biggest contribution (about 80%) to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in tourism. From a guest’s perspective the risk appraisal und the respective relevance of the specific activity or type of holiday play a major role for future behaviour

Desired but Neglected: Investigating the Consideration of Alternatives in Austrian EIA and SEA Practice

Although the consideration of alternatives is seen as a core element of impact assessments (IA) such as environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), there are few scientific papers that have addressed this topic in depth based on a large empirical study. These studies, as well as the last evaluation of the application of the SEA Directive by the EC, have concluded that there is need for improvement regarding the consideration of alternatives. This paper presents a large quantitative appraisal of the consideration of alternatives in current EIA and SEA practice in Austria. Through a criteria-based evaluation of 100 environmental impact statements (EIAs) and 71 environmental reports (SEA), a quantitative and partly qualitative review was undertaken. The criteria embrace the aspects of “types of alternatives”, “combination of alternatives”, “environmental relevance”, “presentation/structure”, as well as the “consideration of the zero-alternative”. The deficiencies that were identified empirically point out the need for improvement. In particular, a strong need for improvement was identified for both instruments regarding the low environmental relevance of the alternative assessment that was presented, as well as the lack of linking the zero variant to the future development of the environmental issues