Moscardo, Gianna (2021) Promises and pitfalls in the future of sustainable wildlife interpretation. In: Bertella, Giovanna, (ed.) Wildlife Tourism Futures: encounters with wild, captive and artificial animals. The Future of Tourism, 4 . Channel View Publications, Bristol, UK, pp. 85-97.

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Abstract

A common theme in early definitions of natural and cultural heritage interpretation was the idea of lighting a spark to awaken people’s curiosity about a place or topic. The idea was that interpreters provided just enough information and some guidance to get visitors started on the creation of a rewarding and personally enriching experience. The available evidence suggests that this type of interpretation or approach to visitor education is critical to rewarding wildlife based tourism experiences. Over time this idea of interpretation as just a little push has been lost in the need to manage increasingly large numbers of visitors to most places of cultural and natural significance. The rise of mobile information technology, the widespread adoption of social media and the move to the Internet of things, offer, however a way to return to the ideals of those early interpreters. These trends combined with the changing global tourist profile also present challenges to the ways in which interpreters present wildlife and use interpretation to manage visitor-wildlife interactions. This chapter will briefly review the history of interpretation before describing these two major trends and their implications for the way in which interpreters approach wildlife based tourism. In particular, the chapter will focus on the potential benefits and problems associated with these trends. The chapter will highlight each of these sections using vignettes and will conclude by contrasting several future scenarios for wildlife based tourism interpretation.

Item ID:	67500
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-84541-816-8
Keywords:	futures thinking; tourism futures; wildlife tourism; interpretation; futures scenarios
Related URLs:	https://channelviewpublications.wordpres...
Copyright Information:	Copyright © 2021 Giovanna Bertella and the authors of individual chapters
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2021 00:26
FoR Codes:	35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3508 Tourism > 350806 Tourist behaviour and visitor experience @ 100%
SEO Codes:	11 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 1101 Environmentally sustainable commercial services and tourism > 110199 Environmentally sustainable commercial services and tourism not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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