Aims

The aims of this chapter are to:

• identify the importance of the notion of sustainability to visitor attractions

• highlight the relevance of visitor impacts to the issue of sustainability

• outline the major impacts of visitors on visitor attractions

• examine a range of tools for managing visitor impacts

• discuss the findings of a study of visitor impacts at Scottish visitor attractions.

Introduction

It is widely acknowledged that visitor attractions play an important, perhaps even pivotal, role in the world tourism industry. Large, often purpose-built visitor attractions are increasingly being employed as instruments of economic regeneration, particularly in run-down urban areas and in locations where traditional seaside tourism has been in decline. Even larger, destination-style, so-called mega-attractions are also now appearing all over the world. These are often linked to the aspirations of governments to establish growth poles in relatively underdeveloped areas (Disneyland Paris being a good example). Then there is the growing number of World Heritage sites, representing the crown jewels of the world s natural and cultural heritage, and forming the mainstay of the tourism industry of many countries. At the other end of the scale, meanwhile, is a multitude of smaller visitor attractions, many of which are independently owned and operate almost on a casual basis. Such attractions often represent a major factor in drawing tourists to a particular destination. Visitors to the UK, for example, typically cite the desire to experience the nation s unique heritage and culture as the most important reason for their trip, and...