Page 116 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Anton Gosar Layers of Tourism in Protected Ecosystems of Slovenia

tion standards, elaborated in this paper, supplement crowded places and that the intrusion of personal or
sustainable tourism development. Proper managing national interests would not overshadow the efforts
sustainable tourism in protected areas means elimi- of institutions of protection. Studies made in the last
nating previous and contemporary negative impacts decade support the following conclusions:
by humans, like a) the construction of second homes, • visits to the extremely popular sites of nature
b) the construction of (new) municipal roads, c) in- should become regulated/registered (user fees
troducing sophisticated agricultural methods, d) in- should be implemented and other meanings of
troducing non-native species of plants and animals; limitations introduced), monitored, and, if ex-
e) organising sport and other mass public events; f). treme devastation is registered, closed for a certain
other illegal activities related to sport and recreation. period.
It is somehow contradictory that named activities are
in part initiated by nature-loving tourists (individu- • to avoid individual, economic and institutionally
als investing in the construction of second homes), by motived intrusions into space of natural wealth,
nation-state institutions (sport, agriculture and forest we initiate the proposal, often elaborated at re-
management agencies, military), by private enter- sponsible institutions and professional meetings
prises (owners of restaurants, hotels, bed & breakfast dealing with sustainable tourism in protected
services) or just by occasional nature-loving enthusi- areas, that the Slovenian Triglav National Park
asts. (Cigale, 2010; Salmič & Koderman, 2013; Mavri, would become UNESCO Heritage Site (like the Do-
2020). Following international directives, sustainable lomites in neighbouring Italy). This step would,
tourism should incline towards accepting main man- along with managerial directives, enable UNESCO
agement goals which should be implemented in are- to send careful warning signals to operators if the
as where protection (of nature/culture) and tourism site’s management does not coincide with interna-
supplement each other: 1) preserving natural values, tional standards and the original wealth of nature/
species, habitats and the cultural landscape as a whole, culture. Past UNESCO warnings and directives re-
2) enabling visitation and enjoyment in parts of pro- garding the overuse of the world’s heritage sites,
tected sites open to visitors, 3) contributing to the in- like in Venice, at Plitvice Lakes and in Dubrovnik,
terests of other sectors of public policy and tourism have been welcomed by the public and the resi-
economy, 4) supporting development of local com- dential population.
munities in a way which is not in opposition to the
primary management objectives related to the sites of References
protection. 5) managing protected areas by embrac- Avery, D. (2021, 4 October). Number of peo-
ing the maintenance of the ecosystem and support- ple killed while taking selfies triples af-
ing natural processes, by which local communities ter lockdowns lift. Daily Mail. https://
would become the subject of the tourism products. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10057683
In Slovenia, changes need to be done on several lev- /Number-people-killed-taking-selfies-triples-
lockdowns -lift.html
els: in promotion (in areas of protection this article is Berginc, M., Kremesec-Jevšenak, J., & Vidic, J. (2006).
addressing), in the education of visitors to protected Sistem varstva narave v Sloveniji. Ministrstvo za okolje
sites of nature and local population (=hosts), and in in prostor.
several management processes (drastic changes to ex- Cigale, D. (2010). Geografsko raziskovanje turizma in
isting liberal standards being in place nowadays). The rekreacije v Sloveniji. Dela, (33), 97–110.
residential population living in or close to the Triglav Drozg, V. (2020). Vpogled v socialno geografijo. Univerzitet-
National Park expressed several times that the named na založba Univerze v Mariboru.
protected site of nature is “touristically” overused and Dudley, N. (Ed.) (2008). Guidelines for applying protected
overcrowded throughout the year. It is in the general area management categories. International Union for
Conservation of Nature.
public’s interest that protected sites would not become

112 | Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference