Whose Sense of Place? Catering for Residents and Tourists from an Open-Access Protected Area in South Africa

Tessa Rouillard, Keagan Deponselle and Joana Carlos Bezerra ()
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Tessa Rouillard: Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, 50 Somerset Street, Grahamstown 6139, South Africa
Keagan Deponselle: Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, 50 Somerset Street, Grahamstown 6139, South Africa
Joana Carlos Bezerra: Community Engagement Division, Rhodes University, Prince Alfred Street, Grahamstown 6139, South Africa

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: In addition to providing benefits to people, protected areas are valued in ways that go beyond the tangible. A sense of place, and the collection of values, feelings, and meanings associated with a place, can illuminate people-place relationships. Understanding how people relate to a place is essential in acquiring support for protected areas. This research investigates tourists’ and residents’ sense of place in Knysna, an open-access section of the Garden Route National Park, South Africa. Data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The sense of place was characterised using five variables: physical, cultural, social, dependent, and ideological. Although ‘physical’ was the dominant variable for both tourists and residents, the ‘ideological’ for residents and the ‘cultural’ for tourists came second, highlighting the importance of safe places and recreational activities, respectively. The physical environment influences sense of place, and the importance of protected areas to stakeholders offers an opportunity for management to engage with the public.

Keywords: sense of place; protected areas; cultural ecosystem services; residents; tourists (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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