Nature-based tourism is one of the most preferred types of tourism by tourists in recent years. This type of tourism also has a special effect on people's decisions. This paper analyzes the role of nature-based tourism in people's decisions and tourist preferences, as well as how companies meet these requirements. Taking into account the growing tourism potential in the Caucasus region, Azerbaijan has been selected as the main study area. In this paper, the qualitative method was applied as the main research design, and the data collection was obtained based on interviews. This study reveals the expectations of tourists from companies and the factors that influence their decisions. It also analyzes how companies meet the needs of tourists and the relationship between them.

This studys main goal is to find an answer to the question of what the potential is for mitigating overtourism to nature based sports tourism. The studys objective is to explore the phenomenon of overtourism and how this has affected the tourism industry. This will be followed by a case study of Prague being the example of the destination suffering from overtourism and an in-depth exploration of the potential of mitigating the overtourism in Prague to nature-based sports tourism.

Les services de tourisme de nature fournis par le patrimoine naturel sont des produits composites et le plus souvent non marchands. Financer la préservation de ce patrimoine par ses usagers est donc tributaire d’une connaissance fine des préférences des touristes et de la valeur qu’ils accordent à la nature. Cette thèse vise de contribuer au débat sur le financement de la préservation des espaces naturels et leurs aménités par les touristes en considérant comme point d’entrée l’hétérogénéité des comportements individuels selon une double perspective. D’abord, nous examinons les déterminants de cette hétérogénéité en termes de la demande de séjours de tourisme en pleine nature, ensuite nous nous penchons sur l’analyse de l’hétérogénéité en termes du mécanisme de contribution choisi par les agents, à savoir, un mécanisme de contribution volontaire ou un mécanisme de contribution contre une service rendu. Les motivations non-économiques de contribution et plus globalement les facteurs cognitifs, en lien avec d’autres caractéristiques individuelles des touristes structurent notre réflexion tout au long de cette thèse. Enfin, les résultats obtenus via cette analyse sont mis en contraste avec ceux issus de la mis en exergue d’un instrument de participation des touristes déjà mis en oeuvre: la taxation. Nous proposons une application aux séjours d’été effectués dans la région de l’estuaire de la Gironde en France. / Tourism services provided by natural environment are composites goods and often non-market. Funding the preservation of this heritage by its own users depends on a profound knowledge of the preferences of tourists and the value they place on nature. This thesis aims to contribute to the debate on the funding of natural areas and amenities preservation programs by tourists. To do so we consider as an entry point the individual’s behavior heterogeneity from two perspectives. First, we examine the determinants of heterogeneity in terms of the demand of nature tourism stay, and then we focus on the analysis of heterogeneity in terms of the contribution mechanism chosen by the agents, e.g., voluntary contribution mechanism or contribution mechanism against a service. The non-economic motivations for contributing and overall cognitive factors, considered in conjunction with other tourists’ individual characteristics, is the main thread structuring our reflection throughout this thesis. Finally, the results obtained through this analysis are contrasted with those from an instrument of tourists contributions already implemented: taxation. We propose an application for summer stays in the region of the Gironde estuary in France.

The natural environment is a key attraction for Australia???s tourism industry. In order to prevent the deterioration of the environment, environmental management measures have been adopted by the tourism industry. Some of these measures are related to environmental regulations imposed on tourism operators by governments. However, given the dependence of the nature-based tourism industry on the environment, voluntary environmental management measures have also been instituted. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of environmental management on the competitiveness of a nature-based tourism destination. For that purpose, Tropical North Queensland, a major Australian nature-based destination, is selected as a case study. Competitiveness is measured by the aggregate profitability of the tourism industry in the destination region. The investigation incorporates an assessment of the simultaneous effects of environmental management on the destination???s tourism demand and on business costs to tourism operators at the destination. The conceptual background to the investigations is discussed in the first part of the thesis. It includes the rationale for choosing a nature-based destination region as the unit of analysis. The conceptual framework is a departure from the conventional analysis of the relationship between the environment and international competitiveness in which the effect of regulatory compliance costs is emphasised. In this thesis, the potential demand benefits and the associated voluntary environmental management are added to the conventional analytical framework. The primary data for the analysis are derived from two separate investigations. The first comprises an analysis of the tourism industry in Tropical North Queensland. The second investigation involves a discrete choice modelling analysis of destination choices by prospective visitors to Tropical North Queensland. The empirical results show that it is justified to treat the nature-based tourism destination region, Tropical North Queensland, as an aggregate entity in the analysis. The destination competes as a collective unit with other destinations. This is done, predominantly, on the basis of the region???s high-quality natural attractions. The empirical analyses show that tourism businesses??? costs due to environmental management are small in comparison with the positive demand effects. The cost and demand effects are assessed in a quantitative fashion in an economic model. That analysis shows that environmental management makes a positive contribution to Tropical North Queensland???s competitiveness as a nature-based tourism destination.

The natural environment is a key attraction for Australia???s tourism industry. In order to prevent the deterioration of the environment, environmental management measures have been adopted by the tourism industry. Some of these measures are related to environmental regulations imposed on tourism operators by governments. However, given the dependence of the nature-based tourism industry on the environment, voluntary environmental management measures have also been instituted. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of environmental management on the competitiveness of a nature-based tourism destination. For that purpose, Tropical North Queensland, a major Australian nature-based destination, is selected as a case study. Competitiveness is measured by the aggregate profitability of the tourism industry in the destination region. The investigation incorporates an assessment of the simultaneous effects of environmental management on the destination???s tourism demand and on business costs to tourism operators at the destination. The conceptual background to the investigations is discussed in the first part of the thesis. It includes the rationale for choosing a nature-based destination region as the unit of analysis. The conceptual framework is a departure from the conventional analysis of the relationship between the environment and international competitiveness in which the effect of regulatory compliance costs is emphasised. In this thesis, the potential demand benefits and the associated voluntary environmental management are added to the conventional analytical framework. The primary data for the analysis are derived from two separate investigations. The first comprises an analysis of the tourism industry in Tropical North Queensland. The second investigation involves a discrete choice modelling analysis of destination choices by prospective visitors to Tropical North Queensland. The empirical results show that it is justified to treat the nature-based tourism destination region, Tropical North Queensland, as an aggregate entity in the analysis. The destination competes as a collective unit with other destinations. This is done, predominantly, on the basis of the region???s high-quality natural attractions. The empirical analyses show that tourism businesses??? costs due to environmental management are small in comparison with the positive demand effects. The cost and demand effects are assessed in a quantitative fashion in an economic model. That analysis shows that environmental management makes a positive contribution to Tropical North Queensland???s competitiveness as a nature-based tourism destination.

Nature-based tourism (NBT) can be explained as a form of tourism that takes place in some kind of natural area outside one's home. NBT has been one of the fastest-growing forms of tourism worldwide and is believed to continue to grow in the future as well. With the rising interest in visiting natural areas, many national parks and other protected areas have seen an increase in visitors, making them popular NBT destinations. Protected areas are covered by various conservation policies, and in a time of biodiversity loss, they are increasingly being recognised as a foundation of sustainable biodiversity resources and as a cornerstone for sustainable development. However, protected areas are often impacted by touristic presence, so with both the growing importance of nature conservation and increasing visitation numbers, questions about how to manage tourism impacts in protected areas are ever more central. To investigate this, the national parks in Sweden were chosen as the empirical field of this thesis. By adapting a mixed-method approach using a survey and interviews as data-collecting methods, this thesis set out to explore how the managers of the national parks in Sweden work with NBT and nature conservation in times with changing circumstances. Amongst other things, the thesis shows that a majority of the national parks in Sweden had experienced an increase in visitors in the last five years, and that the national parks can be seen as arenas for where NBT can take place. The interest in visiting a national park in Sweden was believed to continue being strong, and lack of funding was identified as the biggest challenge that the national parks are facing right now. Building on this, the thesis discussed that the national parks need more funding to better handle both nature conservation and touristic activities, which was also a main conclusion of the thesis. Another conclusion drawn from this study is that the parks would benefit from better visitor statistics and surveys, and protected areas in Sweden would benefit from a system where the economic effects of nature tourism in protected nature are shown. The thesis contributes with theoretical knowledge of how managers of protected areas work and prioritise in times of changing circumstances.

Despite global growth in the disability tourism market, tourism organisations have not realised the full potential of this market due to a lack of understanding of this market segment as well as the perception that PwDs do not travel. Most facilities remain inaccessible to people with both permanent and temporary impairments. Disability movements (like the American Association of People with Disabilities, Aspies for Freedom and Handicap International) have raised their voices but not loud enough to stir action. Workshops, seminars and conferences have been held but most were talk shows with no practical implications. To date, no research-based universal accessibility framework exists for national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe and no practical standards have been formulated to ensure accessibility to all in these parks. This study aimed to design a universal accessibility framework for national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe. To achieve this goal one of the study‟s objectives was a literature review on universal accessibility and tourism. This objective is achieved in Chapter 2. The second objective was to establish the extent to which national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe are universally accessible. Interviews were conducted with park management in both countries to meet this objective. The study also sought to establish the accessibility expectations of people with disabilities; this was attained by administering a 10-page online questionnaire to people with disabilities from across the globe. Finally, the study aimed to formulate a set of recommendations and develop a framework for universal accessibility. Using SPSS, Exploratory Factor Analysis and ANOVAs were performed in order to analyse and interpret data. Descriptive statistics were also used. The Alpha values and mean inter-item correlations confirmed the reliability and internal consistency of the data. Eleven factors were identified from the factor analysis: transport; parking and entrance; the reception area; restrooms; bird watching and game drives; trails; information accessibility; interpretation; water-based activities; accommodation and dining as well as campsites. The results revealed that while people with disabilities want all areas to be accessible, specific facilities were singled out in line with particular disabilities. People with mobility impairments were more worried about transport and parking than people with other impairments. They were also concerned about the accessibility of bird watching and game viewing as well as accommodation and dining than were people with hearing and visual impairments. People with hearing impairments placed much high value on the accessibility of the reception area than those with mobility and visual impairments. Interesting to note was the fact that people with visual impairments did not regard accessible restrooms as very important. Most importantly, all people with disabilities were strongly against steps and staircases in all facilities since they are a serious barrier to accessibility regardless of type of disability. They also attach more value to how they are treated when they visit national parks. This was identified as more important than physical access. A universal accessibility framework was developed based on the literature and research findings. This framework will go a long way in assisting policy makers to address accessibility issues in national parks and the tourism sector in general. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The tourism industry is an extremely competitive industry which is mainly caused by the ever changing needs of tourists. However, despite the constant change in tourist behaviour, violent terrorist attacks on countries across the globe and the weakening of the world economies, the tourism industry showed significant growth over the last few decades. The fast growth rate of tourism has also lead to the tourist being more aware of ecotourism destinations and the key role these destinations play in conserving the natural and cultural environments in the midst of globalisation and urbanisation. The pressure on ecotourism destinations such as national parks is increasing as more and more natural land are being taken up for urban development. In the case of South African National Parks (SANParks), the decrease in government funding pressurizes the resources and national parks have to identify ways to generate their own income through tourism activities. SANParks manages 22 national parks across South Africa with the aim to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity, provide recreational activities for tourists and build long-term relationships with the local communities to enhance the communities’ quality of life. Hence, in order to remain competitive it is important to determine the parks' competitive advantages. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop a competitiveness model for SANParks by using the Kruger National Park as case study. The Kruger National Park is not only one of the largest and most recognised national parks in the world, but also boasts with a large variety of fauna and flora, variety of accommodation facilities such as bush lodges, chalets and camping facilities as well as various tourist activities. The literature review indicated that destinations differ from each other and therefore ecotourism destinations such as national parks would have a distinct set of competitive advantage factors. However, these factors can only be determined if the needs of tourists are anticipated and park specific products and services are developed to satisfy the needs of visitors to the park and ultimately lead to tourist loyalty. Once a competitive position has been established, a national park can obtain benefits such as an increase in tourist numbers and revenue delivery of high quality products and services at the park as well as trigger a higher quality of life for the local community. If managed accordingly, the park might experience sustainable growth as well as increased profit margins. The data for the study was collected by means of a questionnaire survey at four of the Kruger National Park's rest camps during the period 26 December 2013 and 4 January 2014 which is the festive season in South Africa. The rest camps that were included in this survey were Olifants (74 questionnaires); Skukuza (213 questionnaires); Lower Sabie (98 questionnaires) and Berg-&-Dal (51 questionnaires). A total of 436 completed questionnaires were administered and further analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents while two factor analyses were done on the competitive advantage factors and tourist motives for travelling to the Park. The factor analyses identified five competitive advantage factors of which Wildlife Experiences and Marketing and Branding were regarded as the most important factors. The other three competitive advantage factors were Accommodation and Retail, Visitor Management and Suprastructure and Amenities. Four motivational factors were identified namely Experience and Relaxation, Lifestyle, All-Inclusive Destination and Value. The identified factors were further used in an ANOVA analysis and the results showed that socio-demographic characteristics such as home language, province of residence, level of education and marital status have all significant differences based on the five competitive advantage factors as well as the four motivational factors The t-test analysis presented a few statistical significant differences between the independent variables or group of individuals. These differences were based on the respondents’ demographic and behaviour characteristics with regards to the competitive advantage and motivational factors. However, the strongest statistically significant differences were based on the behavioural characteristics of tourists travelling with children to the Park, Wild card holders, tourist reading magazines, previous visits to the Park and differences between tourists making use of chalets and camping facilities. A Structural Equation Model was applied to confirm the results that were obtained from the analyses. The SEM indicated that tourists’ motivations have a significant influence on the factors that tourists identified as competitive advantage factors for the Kruger National Park. This research made three distinct new contributions. Firstly, competitive advantage factors were specifically identified for ecotourism based destinations such as national parks from a demand side. Also, the tourists motivation for travelling proved to hugely influence these competitive advantage factors. Secondly, a competitiveness model was developed specifically for national parks within South Africa. The proposed model could assist national parks across South Africa to obtain a competitive advantage among its competitors based on park specific factors. Lastly, the concept of competitiveness has not yet been applied within the ecotourism and nature-based tourism destinations context. This study described the concept of competitiveness with the focus on national parks as ecotourism destinations and the aspects that need to be taken into consideration when analysing the concept in such a context. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Despite global growth in the disability tourism market, tourism organisations have not realised the full potential of this market due to a lack of understanding of this market segment as well as the perception that PwDs do not travel. Most facilities remain inaccessible to people with both permanent and temporary impairments. Disability movements (like the American Association of People with Disabilities, Aspies for Freedom and Handicap International) have raised their voices but not loud enough to stir action. Workshops, seminars and conferences have been held but most were talk shows with no practical implications. To date, no research-based universal accessibility framework exists for national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe and no practical standards have been formulated to ensure accessibility to all in these parks. This study aimed to design a universal accessibility framework for national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe. To achieve this goal one of the study‟s objectives was a literature review on universal accessibility and tourism. This objective is achieved in Chapter 2. The second objective was to establish the extent to which national parks in South Africa and Zimbabwe are universally accessible. Interviews were conducted with park management in both countries to meet this objective. The study also sought to establish the accessibility expectations of people with disabilities; this was attained by administering a 10-page online questionnaire to people with disabilities from across the globe. Finally, the study aimed to formulate a set of recommendations and develop a framework for universal accessibility. Using SPSS, Exploratory Factor Analysis and ANOVAs were performed in order to analyse and interpret data. Descriptive statistics were also used. The Alpha values and mean inter-item correlations confirmed the reliability and internal consistency of the data. Eleven factors were identified from the factor analysis: transport; parking and entrance; the reception area; restrooms; bird watching and game drives; trails; information accessibility; interpretation; water-based activities; accommodation and dining as well as campsites. The results revealed that while people with disabilities want all areas to be accessible, specific facilities were singled out in line with particular disabilities. People with mobility impairments were more worried about transport and parking than people with other impairments. They were also concerned about the accessibility of bird watching and game viewing as well as accommodation and dining than were people with hearing and visual impairments. People with hearing impairments placed much high value on the accessibility of the reception area than those with mobility and visual impairments. Interesting to note was the fact that people with visual impairments did not regard accessible restrooms as very important. Most importantly, all people with disabilities were strongly against steps and staircases in all facilities since they are a serious barrier to accessibility regardless of type of disability. They also attach more value to how they are treated when they visit national parks. This was identified as more important than physical access. A universal accessibility framework was developed based on the literature and research findings. This framework will go a long way in assisting policy makers to address accessibility issues in national parks and the tourism sector in general. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The tourism industry is an extremely competitive industry which is mainly caused by the ever changing needs of tourists. However, despite the constant change in tourist behaviour, violent terrorist attacks on countries across the globe and the weakening of the world economies, the tourism industry showed significant growth over the last few decades. The fast growth rate of tourism has also lead to the tourist being more aware of ecotourism destinations and the key role these destinations play in conserving the natural and cultural environments in the midst of globalisation and urbanisation. The pressure on ecotourism destinations such as national parks is increasing as more and more natural land are being taken up for urban development. In the case of South African National Parks (SANParks), the decrease in government funding pressurizes the resources and national parks have to identify ways to generate their own income through tourism activities. SANParks manages 22 national parks across South Africa with the aim to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity, provide recreational activities for tourists and build long-term relationships with the local communities to enhance the communities’ quality of life. Hence, in order to remain competitive it is important to determine the parks' competitive advantages. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop a competitiveness model for SANParks by using the Kruger National Park as case study. The Kruger National Park is not only one of the largest and most recognised national parks in the world, but also boasts with a large variety of fauna and flora, variety of accommodation facilities such as bush lodges, chalets and camping facilities as well as various tourist activities. The literature review indicated that destinations differ from each other and therefore ecotourism destinations such as national parks would have a distinct set of competitive advantage factors. However, these factors can only be determined if the needs of tourists are anticipated and park specific products and services are developed to satisfy the needs of visitors to the park and ultimately lead to tourist loyalty. Once a competitive position has been established, a national park can obtain benefits such as an increase in tourist numbers and revenue delivery of high quality products and services at the park as well as trigger a higher quality of life for the local community. If managed accordingly, the park might experience sustainable growth as well as increased profit margins. The data for the study was collected by means of a questionnaire survey at four of the Kruger National Park's rest camps during the period 26 December 2013 and 4 January 2014 which is the festive season in South Africa. The rest camps that were included in this survey were Olifants (74 questionnaires); Skukuza (213 questionnaires); Lower Sabie (98 questionnaires) and Berg-&-Dal (51 questionnaires). A total of 436 completed questionnaires were administered and further analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents while two factor analyses were done on the competitive advantage factors and tourist motives for travelling to the Park. The factor analyses identified five competitive advantage factors of which Wildlife Experiences and Marketing and Branding were regarded as the most important factors. The other three competitive advantage factors were Accommodation and Retail, Visitor Management and Suprastructure and Amenities. Four motivational factors were identified namely Experience and Relaxation, Lifestyle, All-Inclusive Destination and Value. The identified factors were further used in an ANOVA analysis and the results showed that socio-demographic characteristics such as home language, province of residence, level of education and marital status have all significant differences based on the five competitive advantage factors as well as the four motivational factors The t-test analysis presented a few statistical significant differences between the independent variables or group of individuals. These differences were based on the respondents’ demographic and behaviour characteristics with regards to the competitive advantage and motivational factors. However, the strongest statistically significant differences were based on the behavioural characteristics of tourists travelling with children to the Park, Wild card holders, tourist reading magazines, previous visits to the Park and differences between tourists making use of chalets and camping facilities. A Structural Equation Model was applied to confirm the results that were obtained from the analyses. The SEM indicated that tourists’ motivations have a significant influence on the factors that tourists identified as competitive advantage factors for the Kruger National Park. This research made three distinct new contributions. Firstly, competitive advantage factors were specifically identified for ecotourism based destinations such as national parks from a demand side. Also, the tourists motivation for travelling proved to hugely influence these competitive advantage factors. Secondly, a competitiveness model was developed specifically for national parks within South Africa. The proposed model could assist national parks across South Africa to obtain a competitive advantage among its competitors based on park specific factors. Lastly, the concept of competitiveness has not yet been applied within the ecotourism and nature-based tourism destinations context. This study described the concept of competitiveness with the focus on national parks as ecotourism destinations and the aspects that need to be taken into consideration when analysing the concept in such a context. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015