Page 36 - 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. 36
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
tant factor in studying transport accessibility of the protected area. Public
transport frequency impacts a range of activities of its users. For this pur-
pose, public transport frequency of the busiest day in the season was taken
as an accessibility indicator. For example, public transport frequency im-
pacts passenger waiting time (especially in case of stopovers), as well as how
people organise their plan for activities corresponding to departures/arriv-
als of public transport. A higher frequency of public transport makes it eas-
ier for visitors to plan their visit, as well as organise their time.
In addition to public transport, visitors to protected areas also use per-
sonal vehicles. For them, road infrastructure is of high importance, espe-
cially in terms of road category (motorway, state road, county road, local
road), together with the width and quality of the road. Road category (with
all its parameters) affects the speed, safety, and quality of the journey, but
also the connectivity of the protected area with the rest of the country. The
assumption is that a higher road category means better quality, which en-
ables greater safety and speed of travel—meaning better transport accessi-
bility. Therefore, the road transport connectivity indicator was taken as one
of the parameters of transport accessibility. It was determined in terms of
road category leading to the entrance to the protected area.
Cities play a significant role in tourist travel as departure/arrival and/
or transit points. From a transport point of view, cities include transport
terminals and ports for short or long journeys, and lines of public trans-
port at the local, regional, national, and international levels. This is why
they often play an important role as departure points to protected areas.
The assumption was that the vicinity of cities/towns would lead to an in-
crease in the number of visitors to the nearby protected area. Therefore, the
time distance by car/ship between the protected area and the closest settle-
ment with the administrative status of city/town was taken as one of the ac-
cessibility indicators. In this case, time distance was measured considering
that a smaller spatial distance does not necessarily signify a shorter tempo-
ral distance and vice versa. This approach is in line with new tendencies in
transport accessibility studies (e.g. Kaza, 2015). Temporal distance values
in this research were determined using Google Maps (Google Maps, 2019).
In accordance with the previous indicator, it can be assumed that the
vicinity of a leading tourist centre will lead to an increased number of vis-
itors to a protected area. A leading tourist centre means a greater possibili-
ty of using transport services and, like in the case of the previous indicator,
its temporal distance from a protected area was taken as one of the indica-
34
tant factor in studying transport accessibility of the protected area. Public
transport frequency impacts a range of activities of its users. For this pur-
pose, public transport frequency of the busiest day in the season was taken
as an accessibility indicator. For example, public transport frequency im-
pacts passenger waiting time (especially in case of stopovers), as well as how
people organise their plan for activities corresponding to departures/arriv-
als of public transport. A higher frequency of public transport makes it eas-
ier for visitors to plan their visit, as well as organise their time.
In addition to public transport, visitors to protected areas also use per-
sonal vehicles. For them, road infrastructure is of high importance, espe-
cially in terms of road category (motorway, state road, county road, local
road), together with the width and quality of the road. Road category (with
all its parameters) affects the speed, safety, and quality of the journey, but
also the connectivity of the protected area with the rest of the country. The
assumption is that a higher road category means better quality, which en-
ables greater safety and speed of travel—meaning better transport accessi-
bility. Therefore, the road transport connectivity indicator was taken as one
of the parameters of transport accessibility. It was determined in terms of
road category leading to the entrance to the protected area.
Cities play a significant role in tourist travel as departure/arrival and/
or transit points. From a transport point of view, cities include transport
terminals and ports for short or long journeys, and lines of public trans-
port at the local, regional, national, and international levels. This is why
they often play an important role as departure points to protected areas.
The assumption was that the vicinity of cities/towns would lead to an in-
crease in the number of visitors to the nearby protected area. Therefore, the
time distance by car/ship between the protected area and the closest settle-
ment with the administrative status of city/town was taken as one of the ac-
cessibility indicators. In this case, time distance was measured considering
that a smaller spatial distance does not necessarily signify a shorter tempo-
ral distance and vice versa. This approach is in line with new tendencies in
transport accessibility studies (e.g. Kaza, 2015). Temporal distance values
in this research were determined using Google Maps (Google Maps, 2019).
In accordance with the previous indicator, it can be assumed that the
vicinity of a leading tourist centre will lead to an increased number of vis-
itors to a protected area. A leading tourist centre means a greater possibili-
ty of using transport services and, like in the case of the previous indicator,
its temporal distance from a protected area was taken as one of the indica-
34
