Title: Differences between Tourism and Recreation in Parks - ScienceDirect
Headings: Differences between Tourism and Recreation in Parks
Annals of Tourism Research
Article
Differences between Tourism and Recreation in Parks
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Content: The same is likely true with opinion leaders involved in the "tourism in parks debate". This paper explores the concept and definition of tourism and, in particular, the perceptual boundaries between tourism and non-tourism activities in a national park setting. The paper examines the attitudes of opinion leaders from organizations involved in the political debate over tourism, but who are not in the tourism industry in the ANP. The author argues that tourism is not an absolute concept and, as such, the delineation point between tourism and non-tourism, or recreational activities, cannot be precisely determined. Instead, it is likely that the perceived differences between these activities occur at a series of points along a continuum. Opinion leaders' level of support for or opposition to tourism can be predicted by where they believe the transition occurs along this continuum. THE ALPINE NATIONAL PARK A contiguous Alpine National Park was declared by the Victoria state government in 1989, linking four smaller national parks that were proclaimed in the early 1980s. The ANP incorporates most of Victoria's alpine and subalpine area and contains important scenic, historic, recreational, and ecological values. The Victorian Alps themselves have a 150-year history of human use. Beginning with the summer grazing of cattle on the High Plains in the 1850s, the area has been used for agricultural, mining, forestry and hydroelec- tric development purposes, military uses, and intensive recreational use.