Socio-economic Monitoring Eifel National Park in 2022 - Visitor Monitoring and Economic Effects
Abstract
In 2014-2015, a first socio-economic monitoring (SÖM) was carried out in the Eifel National Park in order to gain insights into the importance of the Eifel National Park as a recreational and educational area for the population. The aim of the planned project is to repeat this monitoring in order to be able to document possible changes and further developments of the Eifel National Park as an educational and nature experience site for the population. One of the essential parameters in the context of a SÖM is the knowledge about the actual number of visitors in connection with as detailed knowledge as possible about when and where these visitors are to be found in the course of the year. Furthermore, questions about the acceptance of the national park by the local/regional population have to be answered in recurring intervals. Likewise, the potential of possible sources of income, which were and are created by the establishment of such large protected areas, must be analyzed. The questions who comes when and why to the region, how long he stays as a guest and what he is willing to spend, have to be answered again and again from the point of view of tourism science, if one wants and has to develop further as a destination for his guests. Especially since there are only a few monitoring studies on European national parks so far, which allow a comparison with previous surveys, such repeat studies have a high scientific relevance. Finally, knowledge about the significance of the COVID 19 pandemic for the visit of the national park, but also of the national park partners, is a new and interesting field of research. Thus, in summary, the following key research questions arise for the proposed project: - What does the recreational use of the Eifel National Park look like, for example in terms of visitor structure and behavior as well as the spatial-temporal distribution of visitors*? - Are there differences to the data collected in 2014/15 regarding recreational use? - Has the degree of acceptance of the national park among visitors changed? - How has the COVID-19 crisis affected visitor structures, visitor behavior, and visitor numbers?
visitor management visitor monitoring national park management nature conservation eco tourism
Publikationen
Project staff
Arne Arnberger
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arne Arnberger
arne.arnberger@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85311
BOKU Project Leader
03.03.2022 - 31.05.2024
Renate Eder
Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Renate Eder
renate.eder@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85326
Project Staff
03.03.2022 - 31.05.2024
Eva Maria Konrad
Eva Maria Konrad B.Sc.
eva.konrad@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85341
Project Staff
19.06.2023 - 31.05.2024