Aims

The aims of this case study are to:

• Discuss visitor management issues at Stonehenge

• Present research findings on attitudes of visitors to Stonehenge vis- -vis motivations for visiting; management issues, including interpretation and regulation; visitor experience; and, the future of the site.

Introduction

Managing visitors is one of the important ways of attempting to control the impacts of tourism at a World Heritage Site (WHS) and particularly to reduce negative impacts (Pearce, 1989; Hall and McArthur, 1996; Mason, 2003). Three approaches are commonly used: diverting tourists from the so-called honey pots , which are locations with large volumes of visitors; hardening (e.g. resurfacing paths and footpaths); modifying visitor behaviour (Hall and McArthur, 1996; Mason, 2003). This third approach usually involves attempts to regulate visitors, although such tourism regulations are unlikely to have legal standing and are more likely to be voluntary and of a self-regulatory nature (Mason and Mowfoth, 1996). However, as well as regulation, managing visitors can involve education, often via the process of interpretation (Mason, 2003). In certain situations, a combination of education and regulation has been used in an attempt to manage visitors (Kuo, 2002).

This chapter discusses visitor management at a major WHS in the UK, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It focuses on the particular management issues of Stonehenge and reports on research conducted via a questionnaire survey of visitor attitudes conducted at the monument. The chapter initially discusses the specific management issues of Stonehenge, then presents results from a survey...