Matkailijoiden asenteet kansallispuistojen matkailukehittämiseen
Nyckelord:
matkailijat, asenteet, kansallispuistot, matkailun kehittäminen, Kolin kansallispuistoAbstract
Since the 1990s, nature-based tourism has been one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism. In Finland the numberof visitors to national parks has grown, and tourism has become a more important part of the use of parks. The aim of this study was to analyze the discourses of tourists: their ideas of the role of tourism in national parks and their attitudes towards developing tourism in these areas. The research material consisted of 33 interviews which were carried out in Koli National Park and analyzed with qualitative methods. The analysis showed that the tourists stress the goals of conservation and recreation in very different ways and thus, they understand the limits of tourism in national parks in various ways. Four different types were formed according to the tourists' attitudes towards developing tourism in parks. The most critical tourists notice the threat of tourism to conservation values where as the most positive ones pay more attention to protecting their recreational experience and the idea of untouched wilderness. These partly conflicting ideas of tourists have to be balanced in the management of national parks.
