scholarly journals “Because We Don’t Want to Run in Smog”: Problems with the Sustainable Management of Sport Event Tourism in Protected Areas (A Case Study of National Parks in Poland and Slovakia)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko ◽  
Zuzana Botiková ◽  
Joanna Poczta

The practice of active and qualified tourism in national parks in Poland and Slovakia has longstanding traditions. Primarily, these parks have been a place of individual recreational activity, as well as a place to educate and convene with nature. Recently, sport tourism, which is characterized by the participation of tourists in mass organized sporting events mainly of a competitive nature, has been gaining more popularity. Even though this activity takes place in protected areas, sports are the main priority, rather than educational goals. Natural values have the primary function of enriching emotional experiences, and exploring wildlife is not an end in itself. Running events are now at the head of the list as the most popular sporting events in Poland and in Slovakia. The authors of the article focused on protected areas in Poland and Slovakia, largely because these countries were considering organizing one of the world’s biggest sports events together: The Winter Olympic Games (2022). The purpose of the study was to recognize the attitude of Polish and Slovak national park authorities toward the organization of mass sports events in protected areas. A diagnostic survey was conducted using the method of interviews with the directors of Polish and Slovak national parks. The research results shed light on the current state of development of sports event tourism in protected areas in the two countries. The article examines the response of Polish and Slovak park authorities to the changes of the current era of shifting societal needs regarding physical development, in particular with regard to the sustainability of protected areas. Currently, there is a lack of a strategic approach toward the development of sports tourism in national parks in Poland and Slovakia. The answers given in the interviews create an image that indicates a differentiated approach to the issue of permitting the organization of sports events in the areas of national parks. It turns out that the practice in these areas is different in individual parks. The diagnosis presented in the article indicates that it is necessary to undertake interdisciplinary and international research among environmentalists, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, and physical culture specialists in order to develop methods for measuring the impact of sporting events organized in natural areas in this part of Europe.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-458
Author(s):  
Martina Dell'Eva ◽  
Consuelo Rubina Nava ◽  
Linda Osti

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the role of animals in creating a satisfactory experience at a natural park by investigating the impact on visitors of the exposure to, or absence of, fauna, towards the visitors’ overall experience. Design/methodology/approach The work is based on a quantitative data collection of tourists visiting a nature park. Altogether, 532 valid questionnaires were collected and used for the analysis. A series of factor analyses was conducted on pull and push factors for animal encounters. The resulting factor domains (FDs) were used as independent variables in ordinal logistic regression models to describe customer satisfaction. Findings The results of this study show that important FDs characterize the main visitor characteristics. Although human–animal encounters are an important factor for some visitors, the encounters should be encouraged in the most natural manner possible and not in captivity. This brings us to the concept of “Interpretation”, where guides and guided tours can help with the encounters. Information given prior to and during the visit can ensure visitors are aware that animal encounters are subject to nature and cannot be guaranteed. Originality/value The presence of areas where a number of animals are in captivity and can be viewed by visitors is an important decision for national parks and protected areas, as animals represent a potential attraction for visitors. Nevertheless, this decision creates an ethical dilemma in relation to the exploitation of animals, exacerbated by recent and increasing pressure on sustainable management. This study provides valuable results for guiding park managers in making reasoned decisions.


Author(s):  
M. Toker ◽  
E. Çolak ◽  
F. Sunar

Abstract. Protected areas are important with land or water body ecosystems that have biodiversity, flora and fauna species. In Turkey, National Parks are one of the protected areas managed according to the National Parks Law No. 2873. Among them, the İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park, located in İğneada town in the province of Kırklareli, Turkey has been declared as a national park in 2007, and has an importance being a rare ecosystem, which consists of wetland, swamp, lakes and coastal sand dunes. Planning of Protected Areas can be done in a variety of ways, taking into account the balance of protection/use and should follow policies and guidelines. Today, for the sustainability and effective management of forest ecosystems, remote sensing technology provides an effective tool for assessing and monitoring ecosystem health at different temporal and spatial scales. In this study, potential temporal changes in the National Park were analyzed with Landsat satellite time series images using two different methods. First method, the Landtrendr algorithm (Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery) developed for multitemporal satellite data, uses pixel values as input data and analysis them by using regression models to capture, label and map the changes. In this context, Landsat satellite time series images were taken quinquennial between 1987 and 2007 and biennially until 2017 for Landtrendr analysis (i.e. before and after its declaration as a National Park, respectively). As a second approach, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform, which facilitates access to high-performance computing resources to process large long-term data sets, was used to analyze the impact of land cover changes. The results showed that the area was subjected to various pressures (i.e. due to illegal felling, pollution, etc.) until it was declared as a National park. Although there was general improvement and recovery after the region declared as a Park, it was seen that the sensitive dynamics of the region require continuous monitoring and protection using geo-information technologies.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251383
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Maksanova ◽  
Taisiya Bardakhanova ◽  
Natalia Lubsanova ◽  
Darima Budaeva ◽  
Arnold Tulokhonov

The impact of protected areas on local communities is the subject of intense discussions as part of the implementation of the global ecosystem protection agenda. Conflicts between the interests of environmental protection and the needs of socio-economic development become particularly acute when large areas of land are taken out of economic circulation as a result of organizing protected areas. In this case, there is an urgent need for detailed and reliable information about the social impacts of such land withdrawal on the well-being of the local population. An analysis of the methodological approaches widely presented in the literature, used to assess the social impact of protected areas, testifies to the insufficiency of completed and practically applicable methodological guidelines for the areas with significant restrictions for people who form part of the protected landscape. In this study, we understand the cost estimate of the social impact of national parks on the local population as a quantitative calculation of the losses due to restrictions on their ownership rights to land and property assets. The methodological approach consists in considering the category of losses as a sum total of the actual damage and lost profits. The assessment algorithm includes three stages: systematization of social impacts on citizens, development of indicators and data collection, and calculation of actual damage to the population and lost profits. The assessment is performed using the example of the Tunkinsky National Park located in the Tunkinsky municipal district of the Republic of Buryatia, a region of the Russian Federation, where there are 14 rural settlements with a population of more than 20,000 people. The results of the calculations show that the losses of the rural population due to legal restrictions on the registration of land dealings amount to 170.4 million USD. Taking into account the potential amount of administrative fines and the value of property subject to demolition, the losses amount to 239.2 million USD. It is more than an order of magnitude greater than the amount of own revenues of the Tunkinsky municipal district in 2011–2019. The results obtained demonstrate the real picture of the impact of restrictions on the rights of local people to land within the boundaries of national parks and are useful for developing measures to account for their interests and include protected areas in the socio-economic development of regions. The methodological approach developed by the authors can be used in other national parks, where it is necessary to optimize the policy of improving land use for local residents.


Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Núñez-Pomar ◽  
Ferran Calabuig-Moreno ◽  
Vicente Añó-Sanz ◽  
David Parra-Camacho

Sporting events have become first-order promotional tools of large cities, allowing them to reach levels of dissemination economically unaffordable as conventional advertising. The social impact of the event on residents is very important, given their role as main actors. Perceptions of the residents of the cities that host sporting events have been extensively studied, although in this case a singular point of comparison to study the perception of the costs of organizing and holding the sporting event is provided. The purpose of this chapter is to assess the perception of the citizens of Valencia (Spain) on specific aspects of three sports events held in the city in 2012: European Grand Prix Formula 1, the Tennis Open 500, and Valencia Marathon. The results show significant differences in the perception of the costs of organizing the events related, and demonstrate the impact of the type of activity in the perception of residents.


Author(s):  
Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko ◽  
Joanna Poczta ◽  
Katarzyna Adamczewska

The impact of sports events on the promotion of physical activity, healthy lifestyles and sports participation is debatable, and most of the literature is on mega-events. This begs the question if more evidence of this type of impact can be found for non-mega events. Research on sports legacy often refers to the tangible effects such as infrastructure that is left after the competition. However, the construction of new facilities does not automatically result in attracting participants. Despite the high expectations of events organizers in terms of their impacts on pro-health behavior of people, few studies provide empirical evidence that events encourage sport fans to become more physically active. The aim of this research was to examine whether a mass run promotes physical activity among spectators, and whether a mass run influences the willingness of spectators to start in half marathon in the future. A written paper–pencil survey was collected from 510 spectators during the 6th Poznan Half Marathon. The results show that observing a mass run event has a positive impact on the willingness to engage in regular physical activity as well as the willingness to take part in this type of sport in the future. Our work provides knowledge about the level of effectiveness in promoting active lifestyles among supporters depending on age, sex and place of residents. This work focuses on mass runs, which have been under-researched when it comes to impact on sport participation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-410
Author(s):  
Faisal S Sandrima ◽  
Yudik Prasetyo ◽  
Ali Algifari

The quality of service and the performance of the management team in a sporting event is thought to be able to influence audience satisfaction, so that these two things become important factors in the success of organizing sports matches. The purpose of this study was to determine and describe the impact of organizing sporting events on audience satisfaction and loyalty based on the quality of service and performance of the organizing committee in managing sports events. The study used a descriptive approach with qualitative and quantitative methods. 64 spectators were randomly selected from all the spectators who attended the volleyball proliga sport event held at GOR Amongrogo, Yogyakarta City. Data collection techniques uses a questionnaire. The data analysis technique used PLS - SEM. The results of the study found that there was an influence of service quality and performance of the match management team on audience satisfaction and loyalty. These results indicate that the indicators of the implementation of sports activities are measured by the satisfaction and loyalty level of the audience following the match with the service quality and management of the organizers as influencing factors.


1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Robert Aiken

As in other former British colonies, the earliest protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia were game reserves. There were twenty protected areas at the end of the colonial period (1957), and twenty-five in 1992. The outstanding achievement of the colonial period was the creation of King George V National Park (now Taman Negara), but unfortunately too much reliance was subsequently placed upon it. Protected areas were established in economically undesirable or (formerly) remote areas, largely on an ad hoc basis and mainly as a kind of ‘residual’ land-use. The protected areas have long suffered from rescissions, excisions, and encroachments, primarily for three reasons: because commercial interests have always prevailed; because of insecurity of land tenure; and because ordinary people have been denied a stake in such areas.I estimate that the ‘effective’ protected-area coverage in 1992 was probably no greater than that of about AD 1940 (when, unlike the situation today, most of the Peninsula still remained forested). The Malaysian states have been reluctant to create new protected areas, and the federal government has been unwilling to invoke certain of its constitutional powers in order to acquire state lands for national parks. Consequently, proposals for additional protected areas have produced few results. Yet owing to the rapid pace of anthropogenic forest change, the Peninsula is running out of potential sites for new protected ares.Reserved forests comprise virtually all of the Peninsula's remaining forest cover (see Fig. 1). Set aside mainly for productive and protective purposes, it is these forests, not the protected areas, that harbour most of the region's wildlife. This being the case, and keeping in mind that almost all of the wild species are forest-dwelling, it follows that wildlife conservation must come to rely more and more heavily on the reserved forests. Studies conducted by Johns (e.g. 1983, 1986, 1987) at Sungai Tekam, Pahang, on the impact of logging on wildlife, reveal that most species can adapt to the altered conditions of logged forests; or, more precisely, that this appears to be the case following a single logging operation. But this topic, interesting and important as it is, takes us beyond the scope of this paper.The matter of species adaptability, however, brings to mind a more general theme, which is the need to implement the principles of conservation everywhere, not just in specially protected areas. There is, in short, no effective alternative to rational land-use planning and to making conservation an integral part of all production processes.


Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Núñez-Pomar ◽  
Ferran Calabuig-Moreno ◽  
Vicente Añó-Sanz ◽  
David Parra-Camacho

Sporting events have become first-order promotional tools of large cities, allowing them to reach levels of dissemination economically unaffordable as conventional advertising. The social impact of the event on residents is very important, given their role as main actors. Perceptions of the residents of the cities that host sporting events have been extensively studied, although in this case a singular point of comparison to study the perception of the costs of organizing and holding the sporting event is provided. The purpose of this chapter is to assess the perception of the citizens of Valencia (Spain) on specific aspects of three sports events held in the city in 2012: European Grand Prix Formula 1, the Tennis Open 500, and Valencia Marathon. The results show significant differences in the perception of the costs of organizing the events related, and demonstrate the impact of the type of activity in the perception of residents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Jakub Ryśnik ◽  
Danuta Żylak ◽  
Rajmund Tomik

Purpose. Determining what factors make individuals decide to take part in sports events as a travelling fan. A particularly interesting research issue is the question of what motivates fans to undertake travel in order to cheer on athletes. Method. In the empirical research, the modified MSSC scale (Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption) was used, and a questionnaire was carried out among fans during the matches of the U21 European Football Championship in Tychy in June 2017 (N=278, random selection). The following statistical methods and techniques were used: descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Findings. This article presents the results of statistical analysis of the obtained research material. Travelling does not constitute an additional, separate factor in relation to the motives of participation in sport already mentioned in the literature (especially those used in the construction of MSSC). Travelling, on the other hand, becomes a kind of moderator of the intensity of individual motivation factors for participation in sport. In a positive way, the journey reinforces motivation to participate in supporting activities. Research and conclusions limitations. The study mainly concerns football fans, residents of Poland and the Czech Republic. Practical implications. Practical implication for designers of sporting events to embrace an opportunity to enrich the fan experience and strengthen their motivation to participate. Drawing attention to the important role of travel should not be underestimated during sport event planning. Originality. A new tool for measuring the motivation of fans has been obtained that is better suited to the situation of sport tourism. An innovative modification of the MSSC scale. Type of paper. An article presenting the creation of a research tool and the first results of empirical research from its first use (pilot test).


1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold K. Eidsvik

The World Conservation Strategy stresses the maintenance of essential ecological processes and life-support systems, preservation of genetic diversity, and sustainable use of species and ecosystems—in brief, the integration of conservation with development. The present paper traces shifts in conservation policy, which originnally saw national parks as islands isolated from their surrounding communities, through to the evolving concept of protected areas integrated with development programmes. It stresses the need for protected areas, and notes that only about 2% of the world's continental land-mass can be so classified. It is thereofre imperative for the survival of Nature and Man that a closer linkage be established between protection and development functions in such a way that both are seen as essential from a social and economic viewpoint.The continuing exploitive pressures on living natural resources are noted, and suggestions are made towards mitigating the impact of armed conflict and increasing financing for protected areas in order to achieve conservation and development objectives.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document