The Contribution of Geological Features to Visitor Experiences: Comparison Between Two Geotourism Attractions in South Africa

Abstract

Ge eo oJ Jo ou ur rn na al l o of f T To ou ur ri is sm m a an nd d G Ge eo os si it te es s Year X XI II I, vol. 26, no. 3

Evaluation of the Visitor Understanding of Coastal Geotourism and Geoheritage Potential Based on Sustainable Regional Development in Western Black Sea Region, Turkey

“…In this article, important findings were obtained regarding the determination of visitor understanding, expectations and preferences in the evaluation of geoheritage and coastal geotourism potential of GBCs. In parallel with this content of the study, Štrba [10], Crawford and Black [7] and Du Preez [20] emphasize the importance of determining the expectations of visitors and state that the data obtained from visitors are decisive in the sustainability of the original attractiveness and potential of an area in the short and long term.…”

“…Geotourism is a form of tourism that allows the geological features of the visited regions to be explored together with other natural and cultural resource values [9]. A successful geotourism application makes the visit meaningful and memorable, depending on the quality of the visitor experience [19,20]. There has been an increasing focus on geotourism as a means of realizing sustainable development through enhancing financial power [2,18], on the one hand, and environment conservation, on the other [21,22].…”

“…However, in such places, the development of geotourism will not be possible without the interest of the visitors [10]. It is important to focus on visitor preferences and motivations in order to obtain data on visitor understanding, expectations and visitor satisfaction [20]. Relevant visitor data information (geo), included in the assessment, is important for tourism development and future geosite development and management activities [10].…”

“…According to the results of Ólafsdóttir and Tverijonaite [1], it is stated that the participation of geotourism stakeholder groups (such as tourists and local communities) is not adequately included in the studies. At the same time, few scientific studies on geotourism on the basis of sustainable development [2,5,7,18,20,22,[27][28][29] appear in the literature. Focusing on visitor preferences and/or motivations in the evaluation of geosites has significantly impacted the success and sustainability of various forms of naturally based tourism recently represented primarily by geotourism and ecotourism [10].…”

Geosite Assessment in the Beigua UNESCO Global Geopark (Liguria, Italy): A Case Study in Linking Geoheritage with Education, Tourism, and Community Involvement

“…The analysis of the different proposed methods shows that the inventory and preliminary qualitative assessment of geosites and sites of geoheritage significance should take into consideration: (i) the key geology of the area; (ii) the scale of reference of geoheritage features (i.e., from megascale to very fine scale), their level of significance (i.e., international, national, regional, local), and the linkages to inter-related ensembles of geological features [26], (iii) all the geographic and geological information of the site to evaluate the scientific value, the educational and touristic potential, as well as the additional values (such as aesthetic, ecological, and cultural values) which can allow highlighting the relationship between geology and natural and human environment, e.g., [7,14,30]; specifically for geotourism, several methods of site selection have been developed, since not all sites with geoheritage values are suitable for tourism, e.g., [12,24,30]. In fact, several specific values are required for these sites, including aesthetics, emotional value, authenticity, uniqueness, visual value, accessibility, safety, and support services, e.g., [7,33,34]; (iv) the vulnerability of the site and any actions to be taken to protect significant sites by natural or anthropogenic degradation, e.g., [35].…”