Page 124 - Koderman, Miha, and Vuk Tvrtko Opačić. Eds. 2020. Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia. Koper, Zagreb: University of Primorska Press, Croatian Geographical Society
P. 124
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
Introduction
With the growth of interest for more sustainable approaches to regional de-
velopment, and the subsequent placement of nature, and natural amenities,
at the centre of local development, nature-based tourism has begun to gain
traction in policy and practice. Since the early 1990s, academic literature
has discussed the potential of nature-based tourism and its heavy depend-
ency on natural amenities. Many definitions of nature-based tourism exist.
In this chapter, we define nature-based tourism as including activities that
take place within, and depend on, nature and natural sites and are general-
ly undertaken far from a person’s home.
The international academic debate on nature-based tourism has been
developing steadily. There are many case studies from Northern European
countries, where specific ideas of nature and wilderness are explored (See:
Björk, 2000; Lundmark and Müller, 2010; Wall-Reinius and Bäck, 2011;
Fredman et al., 2012; Margaryan and Fredman 2017; Øian et al., 2018).
There is also a growing amount of empirical work from other regions with-
in and beyond Europe (Agapito et al., 2012; Kim et. al., 2019). However, not
very much has been written about nature-based tourism in Slovenia, de-
spite tourism in Slovenia being historically linked, in one way or anoth-
er, to nature and its features. It is worth noting how, over the past decades,
Slovenia has been branded as a green destination at the centre of the “beau-
tiful and pristine” Alps. It is thus interesting to note how little has been
pursued in terms of theoretical and empirical systematic academic inquiry
into this subject.
To that end, the tools and approaches found in literature regarding
nature-based tourism are of great help for a more comprehensive study of
tourism, and for an elaboration of ideas about experiences in nature, how
nature matters to people, and potential uses of natural amenities in a local
context for more sustainable futures. Frameworks from within this body
of literature allow for in-depth analyses and also offer useful insight for
regional policy-makers to strengthen the role of Slovenia as a green tour-
ist destination. In this chapter, we seek to further elaborate on this. To do
this, we looked to the most recent literature on nature-based tourism in or-
der to develop an empirical analysis focused on Kraški Rob, an area of sub-
stantial natural value located in the southwest of Slovenia. Kraški Rob is
well-known not only for its rugged relief, where limestone prevails and cre-
ates suggestive landscapes, but also as an area with high biodiversity values
that is fragile from a hydrological viewpoint due to its many geomorpho-
122
Introduction
With the growth of interest for more sustainable approaches to regional de-
velopment, and the subsequent placement of nature, and natural amenities,
at the centre of local development, nature-based tourism has begun to gain
traction in policy and practice. Since the early 1990s, academic literature
has discussed the potential of nature-based tourism and its heavy depend-
ency on natural amenities. Many definitions of nature-based tourism exist.
In this chapter, we define nature-based tourism as including activities that
take place within, and depend on, nature and natural sites and are general-
ly undertaken far from a person’s home.
The international academic debate on nature-based tourism has been
developing steadily. There are many case studies from Northern European
countries, where specific ideas of nature and wilderness are explored (See:
Björk, 2000; Lundmark and Müller, 2010; Wall-Reinius and Bäck, 2011;
Fredman et al., 2012; Margaryan and Fredman 2017; Øian et al., 2018).
There is also a growing amount of empirical work from other regions with-
in and beyond Europe (Agapito et al., 2012; Kim et. al., 2019). However, not
very much has been written about nature-based tourism in Slovenia, de-
spite tourism in Slovenia being historically linked, in one way or anoth-
er, to nature and its features. It is worth noting how, over the past decades,
Slovenia has been branded as a green destination at the centre of the “beau-
tiful and pristine” Alps. It is thus interesting to note how little has been
pursued in terms of theoretical and empirical systematic academic inquiry
into this subject.
To that end, the tools and approaches found in literature regarding
nature-based tourism are of great help for a more comprehensive study of
tourism, and for an elaboration of ideas about experiences in nature, how
nature matters to people, and potential uses of natural amenities in a local
context for more sustainable futures. Frameworks from within this body
of literature allow for in-depth analyses and also offer useful insight for
regional policy-makers to strengthen the role of Slovenia as a green tour-
ist destination. In this chapter, we seek to further elaborate on this. To do
this, we looked to the most recent literature on nature-based tourism in or-
der to develop an empirical analysis focused on Kraški Rob, an area of sub-
stantial natural value located in the southwest of Slovenia. Kraški Rob is
well-known not only for its rugged relief, where limestone prevails and cre-
ates suggestive landscapes, but also as an area with high biodiversity values
that is fragile from a hydrological viewpoint due to its many geomorpho-
122
