Perception of the Impacts of Tourism by the Administrations of Protected Areas and Sustainable Tourism (Un)Development in Slovakia

Ľubomír Štrba, Jana Kolačkovská, Branislav Kršák, Csaba Sidor and Marián Lukáč
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Ľubomír Štrba: Institute of Earth Resources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Jana Kolačkovská: Institute of Earth Resources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Branislav Kršák: Institute of Earth Resources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Csaba Sidor: Institute of Earth Resources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Marián Lukáč: Institute of Earth Resources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Sustainable tourism development within protected areas has been a subject of interest for professionals. The effective development of nature-based tourism can be beneficial to both the environment and people. This work presents the results of research on the positive and negative impacts of tourism in protected areas of Slovakia as perceived by the administrations of individual protected areas of the country. Subsequently, the paper highlights the major issues affecting sustainable tourism development in protected areas in Slovakia, based on a review of recent legislation and strategic documents. The results of the study indicate that the status of a large-scale protected area does not play a role in the perception of the impact of tourism. The most significant impacts of tourism in protected areas, according to their administrations’ perceptions, include an increase in waste production, informing local people about the value of the natural and cultural heritage, the education of visitors, the conflict of interest in using natural resources when doing business in a protected area, and the destruction of natural habitats. However, when linking the impacts of tourism to sustainable tourism development in these areas, current Slovak legislation does not allow for the sufficient development of nature-based tourism in protected areas in Slovakia. In this regard, appropriate measures are required to positively change the recent situation in this field.

Keywords: tourism impact perception; sustainable tourism; development; protected area; Slovakia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6696-:d:827950

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