Page 128 - 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. 128
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
elaborated. They affirm that the degree of naturalness increases on the basis
of distance from areas of human settlement (remote settlement vs. densely
populated) and natural areas closer to urban areas are understood to be less
natural compared to those further away. We do not find this to be an accu-
rate representation of natural areas in Europe.
In Europe, inclusive of Slovenia, landscapes have been shaped by hu-
mans in one way or another. The idea of naturalness, as an absence of hu-
man intervention, has been adjusted to reflect most closely what we under-
stand to be the prevailing reality of anthropogenised landscapes. Therefore,
we would suggest a change in the model, namely, changing “naturalness”
to “perception of naturalness” in order to allow the exploration of how vis-
itors perceive nature, or “pristine” nature. Consequently, instead of defin-
ing remoteness as distance from settlements and wilderness as absence of
human intervention, the reinterpreted version we used for our study focus-
es on the expectations visitors have of nature and its natural attributes. This
shifts the focus on individual experiences with nature. Lund (2013) offers a
useful critique of the artificial divide between nature and culture that is of-
ten used in the tourism industry to promote tourism products and expe-
riences, and to appropriate certain areas for selected activities, leaving out
the actual dynamic that occurs physically when a tourist actually interacts
with his or her surroundings.
Methods
For this chapter we focus on Kraški Rob, which is an area of great natural
interest that has not received much attention in current literature, despite
the amount of visitors it attracts. The area is also of an analytical interest
because it is understood to be fragile and, as such, land and resources need
to be managed in specific ways. In the following sections more information
is provided about the research area, and the methods of data collection that
we used are introduced.
Data collection occurred in the period from April 1st to 4th, 2019 and
was undertaken by a group of seven students enrolled in the 2nd and 3rd years
of the undergraduate study programme of Geography at the University of
Primorska (Slovenia). The team was coordinated by the second author,
who oversaw preparations and coordinated data collection in the field.
Preparatory work, conducted in March 2019, included a discussion of the
larger geographical area of research interest with a geo-location of selected
126
elaborated. They affirm that the degree of naturalness increases on the basis
of distance from areas of human settlement (remote settlement vs. densely
populated) and natural areas closer to urban areas are understood to be less
natural compared to those further away. We do not find this to be an accu-
rate representation of natural areas in Europe.
In Europe, inclusive of Slovenia, landscapes have been shaped by hu-
mans in one way or another. The idea of naturalness, as an absence of hu-
man intervention, has been adjusted to reflect most closely what we under-
stand to be the prevailing reality of anthropogenised landscapes. Therefore,
we would suggest a change in the model, namely, changing “naturalness”
to “perception of naturalness” in order to allow the exploration of how vis-
itors perceive nature, or “pristine” nature. Consequently, instead of defin-
ing remoteness as distance from settlements and wilderness as absence of
human intervention, the reinterpreted version we used for our study focus-
es on the expectations visitors have of nature and its natural attributes. This
shifts the focus on individual experiences with nature. Lund (2013) offers a
useful critique of the artificial divide between nature and culture that is of-
ten used in the tourism industry to promote tourism products and expe-
riences, and to appropriate certain areas for selected activities, leaving out
the actual dynamic that occurs physically when a tourist actually interacts
with his or her surroundings.
Methods
For this chapter we focus on Kraški Rob, which is an area of great natural
interest that has not received much attention in current literature, despite
the amount of visitors it attracts. The area is also of an analytical interest
because it is understood to be fragile and, as such, land and resources need
to be managed in specific ways. In the following sections more information
is provided about the research area, and the methods of data collection that
we used are introduced.
Data collection occurred in the period from April 1st to 4th, 2019 and
was undertaken by a group of seven students enrolled in the 2nd and 3rd years
of the undergraduate study programme of Geography at the University of
Primorska (Slovenia). The team was coordinated by the second author,
who oversaw preparations and coordinated data collection in the field.
Preparatory work, conducted in March 2019, included a discussion of the
larger geographical area of research interest with a geo-location of selected
126
