Michael Lück

Marine wildlife and tourism management: insights from the natural and social sciences.

Marine environments have long been places of exploration, subsistence, transport and trade, but it is only recently that marine tourism has extended beyond coastal resorts and beaches. Demand for marine wildlife experiences has grown considerably in recent decades but a corresponding increase in the conservation of these environments as well as adequate legislative and management responses aimed at sustainability has not yet followed. This book demonstrates that through scientific approaches to understanding and managing tourist interactions with marine wildlife, sustainable marine tourism can be achieved.Drawing from disciplines such as marine and conservation biology and behavioural ecology, the effects of human disturbance on marine wildlife as well as management approaches to moderate these impacts are explored. Social science perspectives are also used to understand consumer demand and the ethical and legislative problems that this demand creates.

Large-scale ecotourism - a contradiction in itself?

In a large number of attempts to define ecotourism researchers often suggest that one vital aspect of ecotourism is the scale of the operations. Ecotourism, so the argument goes, should be small-scale tourism. This view is often illustrated with a number of negative impacts of mass tourism on the environment and on the host communites. However, this paper introduces the reader to two major players in mass tourism, Europes largest package tour operator TUI and Germanys secondlargest charter carrier LTU. Both are certainly not ecotour operations; however, both implemented a variety of policies and actions, which attempt to keep the environmental and social impacts in the destinations as low as possible. The examples show that positive action can be taken without compromising company operations and customer comfort.

Global ecotourism policies and case studies.

We owe great debt of gratitude to friends and colleagues who have contributed chapters to this special issue of Current Issues in Tourism. A compilation like this covers so many issues and the expertise and experience of the contributing authors help identify crucial issues of ecotourism, both positive and negative. Theory and practice join in this book with the aim to gain a better understanding about the complex chances and constraints of the growing ecotourism market. The editors also want to thank Brett Derecourt, C. Michael Hall, Alec Holt, Brent Lovelock, Gaby Pfeiffer and Sue Russell for reviewing the chapters. This part takes place ‘behind the scenes’, but is so important to achieve a quality piece of work. Hector Ceballos-Lascuráin is one of the ‘gurus’ of ecotourism. Often cited as the first person that used this term consciously, his definition appears in the majority of works related to ecotourism. We are grateful to him for having written the Preface, which completes this project appropriately. Finally, we would like to thank Chris Cooper, C. Michael Hall, and Ruth Harwood as well as the team at Multilingual Matters, Clevedon. Michael Lück Torsten Kirstges

The Social Side of Tourism: The Interface between Tourism, Society, and the Environment

Contents: Tomas Pernecky: Tourism, prejudice and societal conflict - David Di Tota/Michael Luck: The artificial surf reef impacts at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand: A study of stakeholder perceptions - John Hull: The French Shore Historical Society: Creating new tourism experiences for visitors - Brooke Porter: Starstruck fisherfolk: Perceptions of social importance of tourism development among artisanal fisherfolk in the Philippines - Martinette Kruger/Peet van der Merwe/Melville Saayman: Residents perceptions regarding an urban national park in South Africa - Jan Velvin/Kristian Bjornstad: Multifunctionality, tourism and protected areas - Jonathon Spring: Caught in the crossfire: Using participant observation to research guided tours - Xiaoshu Sun/Michael Luck: The Internet presence of whale and dolphin watch operators in New Zealand in terms of their ecotourism attributes: A content analysis - Pascal Languillon: Green motivation and luxury travel - Anne Kochling/Bernd Eisenstein/Alexander Koch: On theme marketing of tourism organisations: Destination Brand - analysis of the theme competence of German holiday destinations - Eva Holmberg/Kaija Lindroth: The challenges of destination branding - a case study of Helsinki - Jarmo Ritalahti/ Kaija Lindroth: Economic impacts of tourism in Eastern Uusimaa, Finland.