Journal of Geography and Planning

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Peer Review Process

Indexing and Abstracting

Statistics of Journals

FAQ

News

Related Links

The typology of geotourists with the aim of optimizing tourism management in geosites

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor of Geomorphology, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz

Abstract

Introduction
Along with geotourism,the scientific community is still in search of answers suitable for the purpose, why travel to the geotouristic areas, interests and motivations, needs and desires and demographic characteristics of geotourists. On the other hand, there are different interpretations and the plurality of opinions in this regard, some confusion in the literature is provided.
Materials and Methods
This article attempts to analyze and the expression of a range of dimensions and characteristics of a geotourist and collecting and providing comments and suggestions in the literature, Certain information from geotourists for researchers and practitioners in the field provided. The research method is descriptive content analysis. During this study, the position and status of theoretical foundations of geotourists have been described in terms of the nature and scope of geotourism.
Discussion and Results
Everyone, as the executive or audience of geotourism, is obligated to observe all its principles and dimensions. Minimizing the consequences, negating environmental and cultural awareness, creating positive experiences for visitors and hosts, attracting direct financial support for safeguards measures, creating financial rewards and empowering local peoples, enhancing the political, environmental, and social environment of host societies, supporting Citizenship rights are the most important of these principles. On the other hand, one of the goals of geotourism is to teach geosciences. Given the challenge, designing tools and providing solutions that can combine these two, namely, leisure and training, is necessary.
Attention to the typology of geotourists leads to a better understanding of the dimensions of geotourism and contributes to the development and marketing of geotourism. It also provides some insight into the choice of tourism destination and the creation of a competitive atmosphere for these purposes. The experience of successful geotourism depends on the needs of the tourist and, in this case, it is more probable to re-visit geosite.
Having a set of phenomena and tourist attractions with geological, geomorphologic, biological, heritage and cultural features is one of the most important features of each geotourist site. Therefore, offering a diverse set of attractions that is known in the literature of geotourism as "ABC[1]", and covers non-polluting phenomena (geological and geomorphological), living (animals and plants), and cultural (artificial attraction), from geotours side is necessary for geotourists.
The development of geotourism should not affect the conservation of geotourist sites. Therefore, developers and land managers must, in any way, establish a balance between the conservation and development of geotourism. In the meantime, creation of geotourist training ground is one of the important tasks of geoscientists working in the field of geotourism. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to use simple and adaptive instruments for the geotourists to explain and teach geology and geomorphology for geotourists.
This paper attempts to present an image of geotourists and their characteristics by reviewing resources and collecting globally written documents. The increasing trend of interest in visiting geotourist sites, increasing geological and geomorphologic information, visiting diverse cultures, enjoying outdoor activities, and settling in simple residences, in spite of the persuasion of tourists to geotourism, led the geotourists to take individual trips to instead of participating in the tour group. Perhaps because of this, the lack of such tours in Iran and even the world, or if they exist, will not meet the needs and aspirations of geotourists.
Conclusions
The results showed that the real geotourist is one who in order to geotourism purposes and proportionate to the nature and scope of it, protect and support the five key aspects of the geographical features of the area, the environment, culture, aesthetics, science and education and well-being of local people. This paper tries to provide researchers and practitioners with a geotourism perspective with comprehensive analysis of the dimensions and characteristics of a geotourist and the collection and presentation of ideas and suggestions in the subject literature.



[1]-‘ABC’ attractions including Abiotic (non-living features such as geological attractions), biotic features (including fauna and flora) and Cultural (including built attractions).

Keywords

Main Subjects

References
-        بیاتی خطیبی، مریم. شهابی، هیمن. قادری زاده،‌‌هانا. 1389. ژئوتوریسم، رویکردی نو در بهره‌گیری از جاذبه‌های ژئومورفولوژیکی «مطالعه موردی:‌غار کرفتو در استان کردستان». فضای جغرافیایی، شمارة 29، صص 27-50.
-        فتوحی، صمد. تقی زاده، زهرا. رحیمی، دانا. 1391. ارزیابی توانمندی‌های ژئومورفوتوریسمی لندفرم‌ها براساس روش پرالونگ مورد مطالعه:‌منطقه نمونة گردشگری بیستون. فصلنامة تحقیقات کاربردی علوم جغرافیایی، شمارة 26، ص 23.
-        مختاری، داود. 1394. ژئوتوریسم. انتشارات دانشگاه تبریز. 444 صفحه.
-        مقصودی، مهران. شمسی پور، علی اکبر. نوربخش، سیّده فاطمه. 1390. پتانسیل‌سنجی مناطق بهینة توسعة‎ی ژئومورفوتوریسم(‎مطالعه موردی:‌منطقة مرنجاب در جنوب دریاچه‎ی نمک). فصلنامة پژوهش‌های جغرافیای طبیعی، شمارة 77، ص 1.
-        مقصودی، مهران. عمادالدّین، سمیه. 1383.  ارزیابی ویژگی‌های ژئوتوریستی لندفرمهای نواحی بیابانی با تأکید بر دشت لوت. فصلنامة مطالعات مدیریّت گردشگری، شمارة 6، ص 95.
-        مقیمی، ابراهیم. رحیمی هرآبادی، سعید. هدائی آرانی، مجتبی. علیزاده، محمد. اروجی، حسن. 1391. ژئومورفوتوریسم و قابلیّت‌سنجی ژئومورفوسایت‌های جادّه‌ای با بهره‌گیری از روش پری‌یرا؛ مطالعة موردی؛ آزاد راه قم-کاشان. فصلنامة تحقیقات کاربردی علوم جغرافیایی، شمارة 27، صص 163-184.
-        یمانی، مجتبی.، نگهبان، سعید.، رحیمی هرآبادی، سعید.، علیزاده، محمد.، 1391. ژئومورفوتوریسم و مقایسه روش‌‌های ارزیابی ژئومورفوسایت‌‌ها در توسعه گردشگری (مطالعه موردی:‌استان هرمزگان). برنامه ریزی و توسعه گردشگری، دوره  1 , شماره  1 ; صفحه 83 تا صفحه 104.
-        Alegre, J., & Juaneda, C., 2006. Destination Loyalty:‌Consumers’ Economic Behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 33, 684-706.
-        Allan, M., 2011a. Toward a better understanding of motivations for a geotourism experience:‌a self-determination theory perspective.. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/438.
-        Allan, M., 2011b. International Workshop on Geotourism and Geoparks, Perth, Western Australia.
-        Allan, M., Dowling, R, Sanders, D., 2011. Eploring the motivations for tourist undertaking a geotourism experience in the Middle East. Paper presented at the The Third Global Geotourism Conference Muscat, Oman.
-        Ashley, C., & Roe, D., 2002. Making tourism work for the poor:‌Strategies and challenges in southern Africa. Development Southern Africa, 19(1), 61-82.
-        Berrebi, Y., 2006 - Les sentiers didactiques. Analyse de la perception du public face à quatre réalisations didactiques. Mémoire de licence, Université de Lausanne, 197 pp.
-        Brozinski, A., 2009. Geotourism Now,Terms,Development Strategies and Practical Examples. 6.
-        Burne, R., & Chapple, R., 2008. Under the boardwalk – Tourism’s encounters with stromatolites. Addressing the issues of stromatolite protection and visitor management. In Dowling, R. K., & Newsome D. (Eds.), Inaugural Global Geotourism Conference Australia 2008 ‘Discover the Earth Beneath our Feet’ Conference Proceedings (pp. 107–112). Perth:‌Promaco Conventions.
-        Butler, R.W., 1990. Alternative tourism:‌Pious hope or Trojan Horse? Journal of Travel Research, 28(3), 40-45.
-        Butler, R.W., 1999. Sustainable tourism:‌A state-of-the-art review. Tourism Geographies, 1(1), 7-25.
-        Calaforra J., Fernandez-Cortes A., Sanches-Martos F., Gisbert J., & Pulido-Bosch A., 2002. Environmental control for determining human impact and permanent visitor capacity in a potentialshow cave before tourist use. Environmental Conservation, 30(2), 160-167. DOI:‌10.1017/S0376892903000146.
-        Carton, A., Cavallin, A., Francavilla, F., Mantovani, F., Panizza, M., Pellegrini, G. G., Tellini, C., 1994. Ricerche ambientali per l’individuazione e la valutazione dei beni geomorfologici – metodi ed esempi. Il Quaternario 7(1):‌365-372.
-        Ceballos-Lascuráin, H., 1996. Tourism, ecotourism, and protected areas. IUCN Protected Areas Programme. Gland:‌Swizterland. 230 pp.
-        Cooke, S., 2002. Remarks for the geotourism study New York City. (Appendix 2. "Geotourism study executive summary" at the Joint NGT/TIA press conference, NY. USA. 13 March 2002.).
-        Dowling, R., & Newsome, D., 2006. Geotourism. Oxford:‌Elsevier Ltd.
-        Dowling, R., 2009. Geotourism’s contribution to local and regional development. In C. Neto de Carvalho, Rodrigues, J (Ed.), Geotourism and local development (pp. 15–37). Câmara Municipal:‌Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal.
-        Dowling, R., 2013. Global geotourism—an emerging form of sustainable tourism. Czech J Tour 2(2):59–79.
-        El Wartiti, M., Malaki, A., Zahraoui, M., El Ghannouchi, A., & Di Gregorio, F., 2008. Geosites inventory of the northwestern Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco. Environ Geol, 55, 415–422.
-        García, F.A., Vázquez, A.B., Macías, R.C., 2015. Resident’s attitudes towards theimpacts of tourism. Tourism Management Perspectives, vol. 13., pp. 33–40.
-        Gholamhosssein, A., Abolqasem, S., 2012. Rural residents’ perceptions towardtourism development:‌a study from Iran. Int. J. Tourism Res. 16, 126–136.
-        Gigovi´c,L.,Pamuˇcar, D., Luki´c, D., Markovi´, S., 2016. GIS-Fuzzy DEMATEL MCDA model for the evaluation of the sites for ecotourism development:‌A case study of “Dunavski kljuˇc” region,Serbia., Land Use Policy 58, 348–365.
-        Grandgirard, V., 1997. Géomorphologie, protection de la nature et gestion du paysage. These de doctorat en géographie, université de Fribourg, 210 p.
-        Grant, C., 2010. Towards a typology of visitors to geosites. Paper presented at the Second Global Geotourism Conference, Making Unique Landforms Understandable. Mulu, Sarawak, Malaysia, 17-20 April.
-        Hardy, A., Beeton, R.J.S, & Pearson, L., 2002. Sustainable Tourism:‌An overview of the concept and its position in relation to conceptualisations of Tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 10(6), 475-496.
-        Higgins-Desbiolles, F., 2006. More than an "industry":‌The forgotten power of tourism as a social force. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1192-1208.
-        Honey, M., 2008. Ecotourism and sustainable development:‌who owns paradise? New York:‌Island Press.
-        Hong, S., Lee, S., Lee, S., & Hang, J., 2009. Selecting revisited destinations. Annals of Tourism Research, 36, 268-294.  
-        Hooke, J. M., 1994. Strategies for conserving and sustaining dynamic geomorphological sites. In:‌O’halloran, D. et al.(eds.):‌Geological and Landscape Conservation. Geological Society, London:‌191-195.
-        Hose, T. A., 1995. Selling the Story of Britain’s Stone. Environmental Interpretation, 10(2), 16-17.
-        Hose, T. A., 2005. Geotourism:‌appreciating the deep time of landscapes. In Novelli, M. (Ed.), Niche Tourism:‌Contemporary Issues, Trends and Cases. Oxford, UK:‌Elsevier Butterworth –Heinemann.
-        Hose, T. A., 2007. Geotourism in Almeria Province, southeast Spain. Tourism Interdisciplinary Journal, 55(3), 259-276.
-        Hose, T. A., 1994. - Telling the story of stone - assessing the client base. In:‌D. O’Halloran, C. Green, M. Harley & J. Knill (Eds.), «Geological and Landscape Conservation». Proceedings of the Malvern International Conference 1993, Geological Society, London, 451-457.
-        Hose, T., 2008. Towards a history of geotourism:‌definitions, antecedents and the future. In C. Burek, Prosser, C (Ed.), The history of geoconservation. Bath:‌Geological Society.
-        Jones, S., 2005. Community-based ecotourism:‌the significance of social capital. Ann. Tourism Res. 32 (2), 303–324.
-        Joyce, E., 2006. Geomorphological Sites and the new Geotourism in Australia. Geological society of Australia.  
-        Khan, M. M., 1997. Tourism development and dependency theory:‌Mass tourism vs. Ecotourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(4), 988-991.
-        Kim, S. S., Kim, M., Park, J., & Guo, Y., 2008. Cave tourism:‌Tourists’ characteristics, motivations to visit, and the segmentation of their behaviour. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 13(3), 299-318.
-        King, L. M., 2010. Geotourism in the Hawaiian Islands. In Newsome, D., & Dowling, R. K. (Eds.), Geotourism:‌The Tourism of Geology and Landscape (pp. 114-125). Oxford, UK:‌Goodfellow Publishers.
-        Kozak, M., & Decrop, A. (Eds.). (2009). Handbook of Tourist Behavior:‌Theory & Practice. New York:‌Taylor & Francis.
-        Larwood, J., & Prosser, C., 1998. Geotourism,conservation and society. Geologica Balcanica, 28(2-4), 97-100.  
-        Lee, T.H., 2013. Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainabletourism development.  Tourism Manag. 34, 37–46.
-        Li, T., Chen, Y., 2017. The destructive power of money and vanity in deviant tourist behavior. Tourism Management, 61, 152–160.
-        Locke, E., & Latham, G., 1990. A theory of goal setting & task performance. NJ:‌Englewood Cliffs.
-        Mao, I., Robinson, A. M., & Dowling, R. K. (2009). Potential geotourists:‌An Australian case study. Journal of Tourism, 5(1), 71–80.
-        Maslow, A., 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
-        McCabe, S., 2005.  ‘Who is a tourist?’:‌A critical review. Tourist Studies, 5(1), 85-106.
-        McClelland, D., 1988. Human Motivation. New York:‌Cambridge University Press.
-        McKercher, B., & du Cros, H., 2002. Cultural Tourism:‌The Partnership Between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management. Binghamton, NY:‌Hawthorn Hospitality Press.
-        Moscardo, G., & Pearce, P., 1999. Understanding ethnic tourists. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 416-434.
-        Murphy, A., 2004. Strategic management for tourism communities:‌bridging the gaps. Clevedon ; Buffalo ; Toronto:‌Channel View Publications.
-        Newsome, D. and Lacroix, C., 2011 Changing recreational emphasis and the loss of ‘natural experiences’ in protected areas:‌an issue that deserves consideration, dialogue, and investigation.  Journal of Travel and Leisure Studies 17 (special issue):315–333.
-        Newsome, D., & Dowling, R. (Eds.)., 2010. Geotourism:‌The tourism of Geolgoy and landscape. Oxford:‌Goodfellow.
-        Newsome, D., Dowling, R., Leung, Y-F., 2012. The nature and management of geotourism:‌A case study of two established iconic geotourism destinations. Tourism Management Perspectives, 2-3 (April). pp. 19-27.
-        Oh, H., 1999. Service Quality,Customer Satisfaction,and Customer Value:A Holistic Perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management 18, 67-82.  Oppermann, M., 1998. Destination Threshold Potential and the Law of Repeat Visitation. Journal of Travel Research, 37, 131-137.  
-        Oppermann, M., 1999. Service Quality,Customer Satisfaction,and Customer Value:A Holistic Perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management 18, 67-82.  
-        Page, S., & Connell, J., 2006. Tourism:‌a modern synthesis. London:‌Cengage Learning EMEA.
-        Panizza M., 2001. Geomorphosites:‌concepts, methods and example of geomorphological survey. Chinese Science Bulletin, 46, Suppl. Bd, 4-6.
-        Panizza, M. and Piacente, S., 2003. Geomorphological Assets Evaluation. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 87, 13–18.
-        Pearce, D., & Butler, R., 1994. Tourism Research:Critiques and Challenges. London:‌Routledge.
-        Pereira, P., Pereira, D., 2010. Methodological guidelines for geomorphosite assessment Indications méthodologiques pour l’évaluation des géomorphosites. Géomorphologie:‌relief, processus, environnement, n° 2, p. 215-222.
-        Perez, E.A., & Sampol, C.J., 2000. Tourist expenditure for mass tourism markets. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(3), 624-637.
-        Pralong, J. P., 2006. Research approaches concerning the guiding image of «Protection through Use» in geoparks and geotouristic destinations. Regionalwissenschaftliche Forschung, 31, 51-55.
-        Pralong, J.-P., 2005. A method for assessing the tourist potential and use of geomorphological sites. Géomorphologie. Relief, processus, environnement 3:‌189-196.
-        Read, S. E., 1980. A prime force in the expansion of tourism in the next decade:‌special interest travel. In D. E. Hawkins, E. L. Shafer & J. M. Rovelstad (Eds.), Tourism marketing and management issues (pp. 193-202 ). Washington, DC:‌George Washington University:‌CAB.
-        Reid, L., & Reid, S., 1993. Communication and channel systems in tourism marketing:‌Building repeat visitor relationships. In M. Uysal, Fesenmaier, D (Ed.), Communication and channel systems in tourism marketing (pp. 3-20). New York:‌Routledge.
-        Reynard, E. & Berrebi, Y., 2008. Percorsi geodidattici e aspettative del pubblico. In:‌«Geologia e turismo - beni geologici e geodiversità. Atti del 3° congresso nazionale, Bologna 1-2-3 marzo 2007». Regione Emilia-Romagna - Associazione Italiana Geologia e Turismo, 15-21.
-        Reynard, E.,  Fontana, G.,  Kozlik, L., Scapozza, C., 2007. A method for assessing «scientific» and «additional values» of geomorphosites. Geographica Helvetica Jg. 62, Heft 3, p. 148-158.
-        Reynard, E., 2005. Geomorphological sites, public policies and property rights. Conceptualization and examples from Switzerland, Il Quaternario, Volume speciale, 18/1, 321-330.
-        Reynard, E., Panizza, M., 2005 . Geomorphosites:‌definition, assessment and mapping. An introduction. In:‌Géomorphologie. Relief, processus, environnement, 3:‌177-180.
-        Ritter, D. F., Kochel, R. C., Miller, J. R., 1995. Process geomorphology.  WCB Pub. 544 p.
-        Rivas, V., Rix, K., Frances, E., Cenderero, A., Brunsden, D., 1997. Geomorphological indicators for environmental impact assessment:‌consumable and non-consumable geomorphological resources. Geomorphology 18:‌169-182.
-        Rivas, V., Rix, K., Francés, E., Cendrero, A., Brunsden, D., 1995. Assessing impacts on landforms. ITC Journal, 4, 316–320.
-        Robinson, D., and Garratt, C., 1999 Introducing Ethics (2nd ed.). Cambridge:‌Icon Books. Simmons, I.
-        Robinson, M., & Novelli, M., 2005. Niche Tourism:Contemporary Issues,Trends and Cases. Oxford:‌Butterworth-Heinemann.
-        Robinson. A. M., 2012. Geotourism:‌who is geotourist?. Retrieved from:‌http://www.google.com/search?q=Robinson.+A.+m.%2C+2012.+who+is+geotourist&hl=en&gbv=2&oq=Robinson.+A.+m.%2C+2012.+who+is+geotourist&gs_l=heirloom-serp.12...79016.106641.0.108953.22.5.0.17.0.0.609.1561.3-3j0j1.4.0....0...1ac.1.24.heirloom-serp..21.1.609.d-z2CpaH_5Y.
-        Robinson. A., 2008. Geotourism:‌who is a geotourist? Paper presented at the 2008 Inaugural National Conference Green Travel , Climate Change and Ecotourism, Adelaide.  
-        Scheyvens, R., 1999. Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, 20(2), 245-249.
-        Singh. T., 2008. Fundamental Of Tourism And Travel. Delhi:‌Gyan Publishing House.
-        Stokes, A., Cook, S., & Drew, D., 2003. Geotourism:‌The New Trend in Travel.Travel Industry America and National Geogrpahic Traveler. Washington D.C.
-        Stronza, A., Gordillo, J., 2008. Community views of ecotourism. Ann. Tourism Res.35 (2), 448–468.
-        Tapiador, f., 2007. Rural analysis and management:‌an earth science approach to rural science. Toledo, Spain:‌Springe.
-        Torabi Farsani, N., Coelho, C. O. C., Costa, C. M. M., Carvalho, C. N.(eds.). 2012. Geoparks and geotourism, New approach to sustainability for the 21 ST century. Brown Walker press.
-        Tourtellot, J. B. 2005. Nature, landscapes and culture:‌geotourism. 11 lp.
-        Tourtellot,.J..B.,.2000,. Geotourism for your community,. National. Geographic.Drafts,. Washington.DC,. USA,.p..2.
-        Trauer, B., 2006. Conceptualizing special interest tourism—frameworks for analysis. Sciencedirect, 27, 183-200.
-        Travel Industry Association of America(TIA). 2002. The Geotourism Study:‌Phase I Executive  Summary (pp. 1-24). Washington, D.C.:‌Travel Industry Association of America.
-        Verpaelst, P., 2004. Outstanding geological sites. Highlights on the mines. Quebec Department of Natural Resources, Fauna and Parks. (http://www.mrnfp.gouv.qc.ca/english/mines/quebec-mining/qc-mining-gelogical.jsp)
-        Vroom, V., 1964. Work and motivation. Oxford:‌Wiley.
-        Warowna, J., Zgłobicki, W., Kołody_nska-Gawrysiak, R.,Gajek, G., Gawrysiak, L., Telecka, M., 2016. Geotourist values of loess geoheritage within the planned Geopark Małopolska Vistula River Gap, E Poland. Quaternary International, 399, 46-57.
-        WCED-World Commission on Environment and Development., 1987. Our Common Future. New York:‌Oxford University Press.
-        Wearing, S., 2001. Volunteer tourism:‌Experiences that make a difference. Oxon:‌CABI International.
-        Williams, S., 2004. Tourism:‌critical concepts in the social sciences. London:‌Taylor & Francis.
-        Yalgouz-Agaj, A., Ardebil, L., & Karimdoust, S., 2010. Identification of Some of the Geotourism Sites in Iran. World Applied Sciences Journal, 11(11), 1342-1347.
Journal of Geography and Planning
Volume 25, Issue 75
April 2021
Pages 223-244
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics