Page 204 - 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. 204
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
Fig. 4 Number of visitors per year and month in the 1999–2019 period
Source: Škocjan Caves Public Service Agency, 2019
The number of cave guides increased accordingly with the increased
number of visitors (Fig. 5), which was established in a 2010 visit analysis
(Jurinčič and Balažič, 2011).
It needs to be emphasised that the carrying capacity of Škocjan Caves
is directly related to the number of available guides. They can offer a qual-
ity interpretation and, at the same time, ensure the appropriate behaviour
of visitors in a highly sensitive natural environment, but only when there is
a manageable number of visitors in a given group. Therefore, the park man-
agement has put a lot of effort in recent years into find suitable staff and also
train them to be licenced cave guides. The number of visitors is restricted
by park management according to the number of guides available. A max-
imum of 50 visitors is the limit per guide for guided tours of the cave, and
25 visitors per guide for tours around the park.
The park management has also been investing a lot of effort into ex-
tending the tourist season, including through pricing of tickets. This is evi-
dent from figures 4 and 5. They have structured three different price brack-
ets for the best-selling “Through the underground canyon” tour of Škocjan
202
Fig. 4 Number of visitors per year and month in the 1999–2019 period
Source: Škocjan Caves Public Service Agency, 2019
The number of cave guides increased accordingly with the increased
number of visitors (Fig. 5), which was established in a 2010 visit analysis
(Jurinčič and Balažič, 2011).
It needs to be emphasised that the carrying capacity of Škocjan Caves
is directly related to the number of available guides. They can offer a qual-
ity interpretation and, at the same time, ensure the appropriate behaviour
of visitors in a highly sensitive natural environment, but only when there is
a manageable number of visitors in a given group. Therefore, the park man-
agement has put a lot of effort in recent years into find suitable staff and also
train them to be licenced cave guides. The number of visitors is restricted
by park management according to the number of guides available. A max-
imum of 50 visitors is the limit per guide for guided tours of the cave, and
25 visitors per guide for tours around the park.
The park management has also been investing a lot of effort into ex-
tending the tourist season, including through pricing of tickets. This is evi-
dent from figures 4 and 5. They have structured three different price brack-
ets for the best-selling “Through the underground canyon” tour of Škocjan
202
