Paying its way: can tourism generate funds for protected areas?

Tourism is continuing to grow rapidly. Regions in developing countries with high levels of biodiversity are seeing the greatest growth. Protected areas are increasingly attractive to tourists and some conservation areas, traditionally supported by government funding, are raising significant income through tourism.

The importance of protected areas has been recognised with the development and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Raising funds for conservation work through tourism follows the principles of the convention. Research from the Leeds Tourism Group from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK examines which mechanisms protected areas can use to raise funds from tourism and to what extent conservation is compatible with tourism.

Protected areas have the best potential to raise revenues from mass tourism, adventure tourism and nature-based tourism. Many protected sites, however, tend to overestimate the benefits of tourism but underestimate its costs: this is partly because they often fail to establish proper management plans and to understand business realities. As a result, not all sites should look to tourism for raising funds.

The researchers consider six elements as essential for tourism in protected areas: social support, natural features, goals and strategies, political support, financial resources and human resources. Using these features as a basis of their research, the authors find that:

• The most important factor to promote tourism is the accessibility and attractiveness of any particular site.
• Most protected sites are administered by the public sector and have limitations on their ability to raise and retain funds for site management.
• The mechanisms by which protected areas currently raise funds from tourism are divided into: entrance or user fees, concessions and leases, direct operation of commercial activities, royalties, taxes, volunteers and donations.
• Many protected areas lack the resources and people with the skills needed for effective tourism management.
• Protected area managers in developing countries are particularly weak in their ability to establish arrangements and partnerships with the commercial tourism sector.

It is vital to bring together the entrepreneurial skills of tourism businesses with the conservation skills of protected area managers if sites are to make the most of the tourism potential. The report emphasises that conservation should be the priority for protected area sites and outlines some considerations:

• Protected areas must develop and implement effective tourism management plans.
• Management skills of people working in protected areas must be built to ensure tourism activities are compatible with and supportive of conservation.
• Benefits have to be set against the costs of providing facilities and staff to manage tourism and any adverse impacts of tourism on conservation goals.
• Protected areas should work with local and national governments to change administrative frameworks to allow sites to retain funds raised through tourism.
• Protected areas should seek funds from diverse sources to avoid dependency on one source.

Source(s):
‘Pay per nature view: Understanding tourism revenues for effective management plans’, World Wildlife Fund Report, prepared by Leeds Tourism Group and Environment Business and Development Group, by Xavier Font, Janet Cochrane and Richard Tapper, September 2004

Funded by: World Wildlife Fund, Netherlands

id21 Research Highlight: 19 September 2005

Further Information:
Xavier Font
Leeds Tourism Group
Leeds Metropolitan University
Calverley Street
Leeds LS1 3HE, UK

Tel: +44 (0)113 283 2600
Fax: +44 (0)113 283 3111
Contact the contributor: X.Font@leedsmet.ac.uk

Leeds Metropolitan University

Other related links:
'People and protected areas:New agendas for conservation '

'Does community-based ecotourism really benefit rural people in Tanzania?'

'Securing the future of forests – lessons from Namibia'

Integrating sustainability into business: A management guide for responsible tour operations, UNEP publication (pdf)

Marketing sustainable tourism products, UNEP publication (pdf)