1 Visitors' Memories of Wildlife Tourism
Visitors’ memories of wildlife tourism: Implications for the design of powerful interpretive experiences Tourism Management (2011), 32, 4, 770-779. Roy Ballantynea, Jan Packera and Lucy A. Sutherlanda1 The University of Queensland, School of Tourism University of Queensland, 4072 Australia Abstract One of the aims of wildlife tourism is to educate visitors about the threats facing wildlife in general, and the actions needed to protect the environment and maintain biodiversity. To identify effective strategies to achieve this aim, this paper examines participants’ memories of their wildlife tourism experiences and explores processes through which such experiences can lead to long-term changes in conservation behaviour. Findings are based on 240 visitors’ extended open-ended responses to a follow-up web survey administered approximately four months after a visit to one of four marine- based wildlife tourism venues in South-East Queensland. Qualitative analysis revealed four levels of visitor response to the experience, implying a process involving what visitors actually saw and heard (Sensory Impressions), what they felt (Emotional Affinity), thought (Reflective Response), and finally what they did about it (Behavioural Response). Recommendations are provided for ways tourism managers and wildlife interpreters can maintain and strengthen these dimensions of memorable experiences in order to enhance visitor satisfaction and encourage visitors’ long-term adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. 1. Introduction The sustainable development of the tourism industry has been the topic of much debate in the last two decades (Cater and Goodall, 1992; Duffy, 2002; Holden, 2000; Honey, 1999; Sharpley, 2000; Smith and Eadington, 1992) and this period has seen significant improvements and greater investment in a more sustainable industry through, for example, efforts in tourism standards (Koeman, Worboys, De Lacy, Scott and Lipman, 2002) and guides to good practice (World Tourism Organization, 2000).
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