Brian J. Hudson

Waterfalls Resources for Tourism

While very few waterfalls may be regarded as tourism destinations, many are attractions. This paper discusses waterfalls within the theoretical frameworks developed by economists and geographers in the field of recreation and tourism. Examples are drawn from various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with Jamaica examined as a case study. Here, as in many tourism areas, although visitors usually choose their destinations for reasons other than the appeal of waterfalls, these landscape features play important roles as attractions. Often associated with ecotourism, waterfalls help to diversify the tourism product and spread the benefits as well as some of the associated problems of tourism to less developed areas.

The Experience of Waterfalls

Landscape beauty has long been a concern of geographers and other scholars, but relatively little work has been done on the aesthetic analysis of specific landscape features such as mountain peaks and waterfalls. In Australia, as in many other parts of the world, waterfalls are popular scenic attractions, and this paper attempts to explain the widespread appeal of these landforms by examining them in the light of theories of landscape aesthetics, from the Picturesque and Sublime to arousal and prospect-refuge. While no single theory offers a complete explanation of our experience of waterfalls, this paper suggests that by using several theoretical approaches to the subject we are more likely to gain a full understanding of the way we respond to these landscape features.

Fall of beauty: The story of a Jamaican waterfall — a tragedy in three acts

Abstract The story of Dunns River Falls, a famous Jamaican beauty spot, illustrates Butlers tourist area cycle of evolution, and shows how excessive development of a scenic resource can threaten its sustainability. These cascades rose to prominence after the implementation of hydroelectric power schemes destroyed other waterfalls which had long been known to lovers of landscape beauty. Now marketed as one of the islands main tourist attractions, Dunns River receives nearly a million visitors annually, many of whom make the much advertised waterfall climb. The crowds and the commercial development, together with other environmental problems that affect the area, now threaten the sustainability of this scenic resource. With excessive exploitation of Dunns River, the falls are beginning to receive bad publicity, and other Jamaican waterfalls, less spoiled by commercialization, are attracting increasing numbers of visitors. There are plans for rejuvenation, but for success a radical approach may be neces...

Hunting or a sheltered life: prospects and refuges reviewed

Abstract Among the critics of Appletons prospect-refuge theory are those who question its behavioural foundation, particularly the emphasis on the role of hunting in the evolution of human landscape preferences. This paper attempts to demonstrate that prospect-refuge theory gains in credibility when its behavioural foundations are shown to depend less on atavistic responses related to hunting than on the survival value of refuge from inanimate as well as animate hazards. Putting greater emphasis on refuge as ‘shelter’ rather than ‘hide’ appears to strengthen the argument for prospect-refuge theory, and may help to explain the popularity of landscape garden and architectural features such as gazebos and pergolas, balconies and verandahs.

AUSTRALIAN WATERFALLS AS TOURISM ATTRACTIONS

For a largely arid country with generally low relief, Australia has a remarkably large number and variety of waterfalls. Found mainly near the coast, close to where most of the population lives and near the major tourist resort areas, these landscape features have long been popular scenic attractions. As sights to see and places to enjoy a variety of recreational activities, waterfalls continue to play an important role in Australia’s tourism, even in seaside resort areas where the main attractions are sunshine, sandy beaches and surf. The aesthetic appeal of waterfalls and their value as recreational resources are recognized by the inclusion of many in national parks. Even here, demands of visitors and pressures from developers raise serious problems. This paper examines the way in which waterfalls have been developed and promoted as tourist attractions, demonstrating their importance to Australian tourism. It considers threats to the sustainable use of waterfall resources posed by power schemes and, particularly, by the tourist industry itself. Queensland’s Gold Coast is selected as a case study, and comparisons are made with other areas in which waterfalls have played important roles as tourist attractions, especially the Yorkshire coast of northeast England. The discussion draws largely on an examination of tourist literature from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, including holiday brochures and guide books, as well as other published sources, together with field observation in various parts of the world

Best after rain: Waterfall discharge and the tourist experience

When visiting waterfalls, tourists are often disappointed to find the flow much less than they were led to expect by published descriptions and images. It is widely believed that falls are seen at their best when the discharge is great, particularly after heavy rain, a view commonly expressed in guidebooks. The appeal of waterfalls as tourist attractions may be explained by their being curiosities of nature, things not normally part of everyday experience, and which possess a range of aesthetic qualities. While, for those in search of the Sublime or merely the superlative, great size is often important, small waterfalls can give much pleasure to lovers of landscape beauty. Even little falls, however, are commonly believed to be at their best when the stream is swollen. Drawing on tourist and travel literature and personal journals from the eighteenth century to the present, and with reference to examples from northern England and other parts of the world, this paper discusses the importance of discharge in the tourist experience of waterfalls.

Unsafe drinking water quality in remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities: Chronic kidney disease and water quality

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important in the fields of public health and health geography because of its heavy burden on the health system and high cost of treatment in its advanced stages. The causes of CKD are associated with diabetes and hypertension, but in some parts of the world, the disease occurs in the absence of these factors. Researchers identify this condition as CKD of “unknown” causes (CKDu). CKDu is a multi‐factored health problem and one suspected causal factor is contaminated drinking water. The disease occurs globally but is found in particularly high concentrations among people of certain ethnic and disadvantaged social groups living in very different locations around the world. CKD has become endemic in Western Australia where hospital admissions for Aboriginal people requiring renal dialysis or treatment for diabetes are much higher than for the general population. The possible proportions of CKDu cases among the CKD patients are unknown. This study examines the drinking water quality among communities such as these. Water chemistry analysis in these areas indicates that the nitrate and uranium content greatly exceed officially recommended levels. Most of these communities rely on raw groundwater to supply their domestic needs, and it is very likely that the people are unwittingly ingesting high levels of nitrates and uranium, probably including uranyl nitrates. Very few such remote communities have access to treated drinking water, and cost‐effective water treatment systems are required to provide potable water at the local scale.

Arnold Bennett and the Pursuit of Knowledge

ABSTRACT Long neglected by literary scholars, the prolific works of English novelist and journalist Arnold Bennett have been studied by researchers in many other fields. This essay examines Bennett’s fiction and non-fiction to reveal his thoughts on the pursuit of knowledge and the purpose and value of education. It throws light on the character of one of England’s most controversial writers and on English culture at a time of rapid social change. Schooled in his native Staffordshire, Bennett abandoned plans to become a solicitor and became a writer, achieving great success on both sides of the Atlantic. His writings express strong views on education, including its purpose, which he saw as a preparation for complete living. He believed that formal education failed miserably, and he strongly advocated self-education. Bennett’s views on the pleasures of learning, the school curriculum, women’s education, universities and the relationship between scholarship and art are discussed.