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Abstract |
In the Dutch nature conservation tradition and the management of National Parks, the focus has mainly been on nature protection, education and research. In other countries the NP’s have much more economic value for consumers and entrepreneurs (Van der Windt, 2012). Especially well established parks attract overnight visitors which spend money on accommodation and food in the surroundings of the national Park (Mayer et al, 2010). So tourists who are on holiday and visit a National Park in a particular country, are of economic value for the management of the protected area and local residents and gateway communities (Thomas, Huber & Koontz, 2015, King et al, 2012). In many regions National Parks and other protected areas have become an important attraction and play an important role in destination development (Reinius and Fredman, 2007). Such attractions are very important for the development of a tourism destination and the major motivator for tourists to travel to a certain destination. Effective marketing of the heritage values of the attractions will enhance revenue streams from tourism (King et al, 2012). A technique to build visitor awareness about the heritage values, is to present the tangible and intangible elements of the National Park prominently, consistently and repeatedly throughout the customer journey. This is not only important for the visitor experience but also for building positive beliefs and behaviours among decision makers, local inhabitants and tourism businesses (King et al, 2012). |
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