ABSTRACT

In 1872 Yellowstone was established as a National Park. The name caught the public’s imagination and by the close of the century, other National Parks had been declared, not only in the USA, but also in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Yet as it has spread, the concept has evolved and diversified. In the absence of any international controlling body, individual countries have been free to adapt the concept for their own physical, social and economic environments. Some have established national parks to protect scenery, others to protect ecosystems or wildlife. Tourism has also been a fundamental component of the national parks concept from the beginning and predates ecological justifications for national park establishment though it has been closely related to landscape conservation rationales at the outset.

Approaches to tourism and visitor management have varied. Some have stripped their parks of signs of human settlement, while increasingly others are blending natural and cultural heritage, and reflecting national identities. This edited volume explores in detail, the origins and multiple meanings of National Parks and their relationship to tourism in a variety of national contexts. It consists of a series of introductory overview chapters followed by case study chapters from around the world including insights from the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Spain, France, Sweden, Indonesia, China and Southern Africa.

Taking a global comparative approach, this book examines how and why national parks have spread and evolved, how they have been fashioned and used, and the integral role of tourism within national parks. The volume’s focus on the long standing connection between tourism and national parks; and the changing concept of national parks over time and space give the book a distinct niche in the national parks and tourism literature. The volume is expected to contribute not only to tourism and national park studies at the upper level undergraduate and graduate levels but also to courses in international and comparative environmental history, conservation studies, and outdoor recreation management.

part 1|77 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|13 pages

1 Introduction

The Making of the National Parks Concept

chapter 2|14 pages

2 Reinterpreting the Creation Myth

Yellowstone National Park

chapter 3|15 pages

3 American Invention to International Concept

The Spread and Evolution of National Parks

part 2|62 pages

New World Perspectives

chapter 6|7 pages

6 Framing the View

How American National Parks Came to Be

chapter 7|14 pages

7 John Muir and William Gladstone Steel

Activists and the Establishment of Yosemite and Crater Lake National Parks

chapter 8|12 pages

8 Tourism and the Canadian National Park System

Protection, Use and Balance

chapter 9|14 pages

9 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Natural Wonder and World Heritage Area

chapter 10|13 pages

10 ‘welcome to Aboriginal Land'

The Uluu-Kata TjutA National Park

part 3|67 pages

Old World Perspectives

chapter 11|12 pages

11 the National Park Concept in Spain

Patriotism, Education, Romanticism and Tourism

chapter 13|17 pages

13 the Peak District National Park Uk

Contemporary Complexities and Challenges

chapter 14|13 pages

14 a Ticket to National Parks?

Tourism, Railways and the Establishment of National Parks in Sweden

chapter 15|11 pages

15 ‘protect, Preserve, Present'

The Role of Tourism in Swedish National Parks

part 4|48 pages

Developing World

chapter 16|14 pages

National Parks in Indonesia

An Alien Construct

chapter 17|13 pages

National Parks in Transition

Wuyishan Scenic Park in China

chapter 18|19 pages

‘full of Rubberneck Waggons and Tourists'

The Development of Tourism in South Africa's National Parks and Protected Areas

part 5|41 pages

Beyond Nature

chapter 19|23 pages

National Parks as Cultural Landscapes

Indigenous Peoples, Conservation and Tourism

chapter 20|16 pages

National Mall and Memorial Parks

Past, Present and Future

part 6|12 pages

Conclusion