Geomorphosites of El Hierro UNESCO Global Geopark (Canary Islands, Spain): Promotion of Georoutes for Volcanic Tourism

Abstract

Geotourism is a relatively recent concept and a novel kind of tourism, which has acquired a significant boom in the last decades, associated with the creation and consolidation of the UNESCO global geoparks network. There are two approaches to geotourism, one geological and the other geographical, much more global and inclusive of the elements of the natural and cultural heritage. In this chapter, we have chosen to use the geographical approach of geotourism, to apply it to the El Hierro global geopark and diversify the island's tourism, traditionally focused on diving and hiking, through geoforms (volcanic and non-volcanic), and its link with cultural heritage. For this, the most representative, preserved and accessible geomorphosites in the geopark have been identified, inventoried and selected, which can be visited through volcano tourism georoutes. To do this, a route is proposed in the El Faro-Orchilla geozone (GZH-07) of the geopark, since it is one of the best examples of recent monogenetic basaltic volcanism in the Canary Islands. This geozone has a high geodiversity and richness in its natural and cultural heritage, it is easily accessible and different geoforms and views of the island landscape can be seen along a 9.5 km route and 8 stops.

Characterization and Geotourist Resources of the Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Region (Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) to Develop a UNESCO Global Geopark Project

“…Once this has been done, it is necessary to promote the area as a resource, either as a natural, scientific, cultural and/or didactic one. Additionally, a management scheme must be put into place for the conservation and protection of the area as well as the development of sustainable activities, such as volcano tourism (geotourism) [29,36,37,[86][87][88].…”

“…and geocultural factors (historical, archaeological, religion, etc.). Thus, one of the main economic resources they offer worldwide is tourism [86,87,96,97].…”

“…An example of this type of exploitation in a volcanic area of the Iberian Peninsula is in the La Garrotxa volcanic field (Girona, Catalonia) [109,110]. Additional examples can be seen in other volcanic geoparks around the world, such as El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), Colca-Andagua (Perú) or Azores (Portugal) [86,102,111]. The very important heritage linked to the volcanoes, and the actions that involve the accumulation of knowledge, the dissemination of that knowledge and the promotion of geotourism, have been the seed for the development of the UNESCO Global Geopark Project "Volcanes de Calatrava.…”

Geomorphosites as Geotouristic Resources: Assessment of Geomorphological Heritage for Local Development in the Río Lobos Natural Park

“…The concept of geotourism is more recent, although in the last decade, it has experienced growth and has been addressed by numerous authors worldwide [6][7][8][9][10]. Geotourism was defined in the Arouca Declaration as "tourism that sustains and enhances the identity of a territory, taking into account its geology, environment, culture, aesthetic values, heritage and well-being of its residents" (Arouca Declaration, 2011).…”

The Great Sumatran Fault Depression at West Lampung District, Sumatra, Indonesia as Geomorphosite for Geohazard Tourism

“…In determining the specific geomorphosite of an area, data synthesis is carried out (Reynard and Panizza, 2005;Panizza and Piacente, 2008;González Amuchastegui et al, 2013;Santos et al, 2019;Jafar et al, 2022;Ilie and Grecu, 2023;Sánchez-Almodóvar et al, 2023). As an example of a case in the study area, the specific geomorphosite is fault geoforms (Evelpidou et al, 2021;Puswanto et al, 2022;Dóniz-Páez and Becerra-Ramírez, 2023).…”