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Anton Gosar Layers of Tourism in Protected Ecosystems of Slovenia

Table 6 Interviewing Visitors to the Triglav National Park: Activity During TNP Visit
Activity Performed* Residents of TNP % Other Slove- % Foreign % All %
Municipalities nian Citizens Visitors
Mountaineering / Hiking 59 47 160 48 85 47 304 48
Mountain Biking / Biking 50 39 133 41 71 40 254 40
Other Recreation (motorised vehicles, ski 18 14 35 11 23 13 76 12
touring, base jumping, etc.)
N = 634 127 100 328 100 179 100 634 100
Source Renata Mavri (2020)

itors whose mode of recreation is related to different terests in the TNP - A base for the management of the
types of bikes (40%) and recreation vehicles - four- park (Mlekuž & Zupan, 2011) or in the Aspects of car-
wheel recreation vehicles, motorbikes, and motorised rying capacities and recreation management: the case
slides (12%) - has exploded (Table 6). of Triglav Nations Park, Slovenia (Mrak et al., 2018).
Layers produced by tens of thousands of hikers
yearly can be traced on or near designated paths (also Conclusion
by trash); generally, they do not conflict with the resi- Protected areas are established to protect the inherit-
dential population or park authority. Mountain bikers ed natural and cultural biodiversity. At the same time,
(increasingly using electric power) are also seldom these areas provide essential goods and services for
becoming a burden to the local population and park the residential population and could be admired by
management. The concern is particularly directed to other humans visiting. Tourism has become essential
the increasing number of leisure activities motorised to the areas in and around national parks, landscape
recreation vehicles perform. Most visitors, foreign parks and natural monuments. Management of tour-
and domestic, are opting against events which would ist visits to protected sites is often inadequate. Stand-
take place in the park (78% and 76%), whereas, to a ards of protection, set on the international level, have
certain extent, surprisingly, a substantial number of been implemented selectively – even worse, due to na-
the local population would support such acts (39%). tional promotion directives, protection of outstand-
In general, all agree that the number of visitors in ing heritage becomes a minor priority. The national
the area where they hike, bike, or otherwise recreate park (TNP) protection, with its strict regime at its
must be limited: the local population opts for a max- core, has no adequate regimes set on lower intensity
imum of 500 visitors per day (31%), Slovenian and protection levels in Slovenia. The number of visitors
international visitors would rather see that number to protected sites of nature (open spaces) is constant-
between 50 and 200 (72% and 66%). All agree that the ly growing, even in years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
non-regulated system of visits is nowadays absolute. Visits also increased by the presented and elaborated
On the relationship between residents and visitors to booklet of the Slovenian Tourist Bureau, in the pro-
the Triglav National Park, the authors of this study motional brochure “Slovenija na prostem. Moj način
concluded: “Tourism development in protected sites gibanja v naravi” (Open Air Slovenia. My Movements
of nature has reached the level of saturation and needs in Nature). Negative impacts humans impose on na-
to be re-evaluated” (Mavri, 2020, p. 268). Suggestions ture in protected sites - like motorised traffic, mass
on how to limit or otherwise restrain visitors from vis- events, noisy and other selected sports activities, etc.
iting popular sites in this nation’s largest protected site - distract from preserving the area’s intangible natu-
of nature (and culture) are included in several previ- ral values. The tourist industry and tourists as visitors
ous studies financed and published by the TNP - such to protected sites – national, regional and landscape
as The Analyses of the Cohabitation and Clash of in- parks - acknowledge that the international restric-

Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference | 111