Wipf, Sonja; Michel, Annina H.; Walder, Diego; Poelsma, Felix; Anderwald, Pia; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Jaroszynska, Francesca; Rossi, Christian; Backhaus, Norman (2023). Boost in Visitor Numbers Post COVID-19 Shutdown: Consequences for an Alpine National Park. Mountain Research and Development, 43(2) International Mountain Society 10.1659/mrd.2022.00025
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Text (Boost in Visitor Numbers Post COVID-19 Shutdown: Consequences for an Alpine National Park)
Wipf_et-al_2023_Boost_in_Visitor_Numbers_Post_COVID-19_Shutdown__Consequences_for_an_Alpine_National_Park.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (1MB) | Preview |
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed recreation patterns worldwide. Increases in protected areas' visitor numbers were reported along with associated challenges. Changes in visitor numbers, composition, and motivation remain mostly unrecorded due to a lack of baseline records for comparison. We aimed to fill this gap with a study in the Swiss National Park (SNP), an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) strict nature reserve in the European Alps, where visitor numbers strongly increased in 2020 and 2021 compared to previous years. In summer 2020, we repeated a visitor survey previously conducted in 2006 and 2012, complemented by assessments of COVID-19-related motivations. To deepen our understanding of the COVID-19 context, we conducted semistructured interviews with SNP visitors. In general, COVID-19-related factors were a strong driver of increased visitor numbers. A fifth of survey respondents indicated that they would not have visited the SNP but for the pandemic, with most of them being first-time or infrequent visitors. Furthermore, our data showed that more young, domestic, and less experienced visitors came to the park. We discuss impacts and implications for practitioners and researchers (ie the need to better sensitize newcomers to environmental issues) and argue that our study holds insights for park managers worldwide.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) |
Graduate School: |
International Graduate School North-South (IGS North-South) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Poelsma, Felix Merlijn |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
0276-4741 |
Publisher: |
International Mountain Society |
Projects: |
[804] Socio-Economic Transition |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Melchior Peter Nussbaumer |
Date Deposited: |
11 Sep 2023 15:08 |
Last Modified: |
11 Sep 2023 15:08 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1659/mrd.2022.00025 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/186221 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/186221 |
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