Landscapes Of World

Landscapes of the world Importance for tourism

Contents • • • • • • •

The concept of landscapes Preferences of tourists Images of landscapes Film tourism and landscapes Wildlife tourism Landscapes under threat Future of changing landscapes

Landscapes • The word landscape is from the Dutch “landschap” meaning a sheaf, a patch of cultivated ground • Landscape = cultivated = not wilderness? • From landscape art to tourist gaze • Other scapes: seascapes, riverscapes, cityscapes, etc.

What forms a landscape? Landform and geology

Presence of man

Natural vegetation and animals

From cultural to natural landscapes

Cultural Urban/cityscapes high

Natural Rural Human intervention

Wilderness low

Wilderness • Wilderness is generally defined as a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. • Wilderness is deeply valued for cultural, spiritual, moral, and aesthetic reasons. • How much of Earth’s surface is still “wilderness”? • 46%

From wilderness to National Parks • First protection of wilderness: English Kings, to protect hunting grounds • Urbanisation & industrialisation: more value for nature protection • First National Park: Yellowstone, 1872 USA • Conservation versus protection: “Proper use of nature” versus “protection of nature from use”

What is an attractive landscape? • Enlightment: back to nature, what was seen as beautiful (art) • Global dominance of Northern Europe: exported aesthetic inscriptions • UNESCO: universal ideas about what is beautiful

Art, landscapes and tourism

What landscapes do tourists prefer? • Nature, forest, varied landscape • Wild landscapes with mountains and water • High relief differences • Landscapes with a special value (by art, film, TV) • Heritage landscapes • Landscapes with animals

World’s most popular landscapes • • • • • • • •

Great Barrier Reef Mount Everest Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe Angel Falls, Venezuela Niagara Falls, USA/Canada Northern Lights Amazon river and rainforest …

Status of landscapes • Important aspect in tourism: being seen in (famous) landscape • Doing, being active, being part of it • Visitors seek to “own” landscape

Tourist gaze • • • •

Tourists don’t gaze but glimpse Landscape = photo opportunity Deep meaning or exercise of ego? Backpacking or just watching?

Experiencing famous landscapes

Landscapes are cultural constructions • Images of landscapes attract tourists • A landscape is a cultural construction • Artistic representations, films, TV programmes, media exposure of landscapes generate tourism • A landscape destination is created for tourism consumption

Film & TV tourism • Places, and images of places, are fundamental in tourism • Experiencing a film is going into a fantasy world • Going on holiday, tourists also enter a world between imagined and real culture and places being visited • Successfull film can lead to increased visitor numbers • Marketing can change visitor profile

Experience of film tourists • Film tourists consume familiar signs and symbols in film • Real landscape is covered with several new layers of meaning for the consumption of film tourists • Re-enacting parts of the film

Film locations boost UK tourism “British tourism has enjoyed a huge boost from a rise in visits to film and TV show locations, says a report.” “Film and tourism bodies identified increased visits to the settings of productions including The Da Vinci Code and Gosford Park and TV's Balamory.”

Film locations: Tobermory • Isle of Mull, Tobermory: location for preschool children’s TV programme Balamory • The village of Tobermory experienced a 40 per cent rise in visitors - an increase of 160,000. The series is thought to be contributing £5 million a year to the local economy.

Balamory or Tobermory?

From film to tourism product • Harry Potter films: Alnwick Castle, Ben Nevis, Scotland, Oxford University, etc. • The Harry Potter films led to a 120% rise in visitors to Northumberland's Alnwick Castle, and had brought about £9m worth of tourism to the region. • British films and TV are “brochures” for tourism

Landscapes and wildlife • • • • •

Value of wildlife Relationship human beings and wildlife Viewing platforms How important is it to know there is wildlife? How important is it to encounter wildlife?

Wildlife tourism • Worldwide, the wildlife tourism industry is increasing by up to 12% year on year (November 2007) • For instance in Scotland alone there are between 250 and 300 wildlife tourism operators. • Offering everything from whale and dolphin spotting to bushcraft and farm projects, they generate around £200m a year for the Scottish economy.

Popular wildlife destinations • National Parks Africa • Nature reserves India • Great Barrier Reef & Outback, Australia • Sahara, Africa • Canadian Rockies, Canada

• Alaska, USA • Amazon, South America • Galapolos Islands, Ecuador • Grand Canyon, USA • Hawaii, USA

Climate change • Global Warming is accelerating • Expected global average temperature expected to increase between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees this century • Increase in rainfall 3-10% by 2050 • Increase in droughts • 4-10 cm increase in sealevel per decade

Effect on tourism in Alpes • Shorter skiing season • Greater demand for higher altitude skiing resorts • Extended season for non-skiing activities • Less demand for skiing?

Effect on tropical islands Tropical islands • Sea level rises are critical • Storm frequency increasing • Coral bleaching • Reef damaging • New tropical diseases

Landscapes under threat • Cancun, Mexico: threatened by sealevel rise

Melting glacier Kilimanjaro

Estimated to be gone by 2012

Mount Kilimanjaro • The tallest mountain of Africa lost 82% of its ice cover in the last 80 years • Africa’s two highest mountains — Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya — will lose their ice cover within 25 to 50 years if deforestation and carbon emissions are not stopped, says the United Nations Environment Program. • Less water => droughts

European Union policy on climate change • “Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. The European Union is committed to working constructively for a global agreement to control climate change, and is leading the way by taking ambitious action of its own.” • Expected water battles, for instance between agriculture and tourism

Protection of landscapes • No attractive environment = no tourism • The environment is the foundation of tourism industry • Tourism requires the protection of the scenic and historical heritage of destination areas.

Protection of wildlife Example: Polar Bears: Protected, but Not Safe! • In May 2008, the Bush Administration listed the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). • Is it too late? Arctic sea ice is receding, and scientific studies by the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) estimated some 30% decline in sea ice by mid-century. • A study by the USGS projected a two-thirds decline in the world's polar bear population — currently standing at up to 25,000 — by 2050.

How could landscapes be protected? • United Nations and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) • World Heritage Sites (1972) • National Parks • Protected landscapes • International National Parks

What can we do? • • • • •

Carbon emmissions: renewable energy Creative and new ideas for tourism Small steps make great contribution Turn credit crisis into positive movement Examples: improve cycling possibilities (= cheaper means of transport), invest in solar powered transportation…

Future of world landscapes • Environment is prime resource for tourism • Threats by tourism development, climate change and increased scarcity of resources • Protection and conservation is mission for tourism industry • Challenges for the future