View source for PDF: Best Practices Natural Heritage Collaborations: Parks and Outdoor Tourism Operators

'''Citation'''
<br>Write, P. (2001). Best practices in natural heritage collaborations: Parks and outdoor tourism operators. Canadian Tourism Commission.
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===[https://iucn2.cnr.ncsu.edu/images/f/f1/T10103_Wight.pdf Download PDF]===
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'''Summary'''
Parks and protected areas (PAs) are usually scenically attractive, form significant lures, have significant biodiversity and other values, and are important destinations in Canada for outdoor tourism operators. However, there are considerable challenges for Parks managers to fulfill many objectives, and to satisfy a range of users. These challenges have deepened with the recent decision that maintaining ecological integrity (EI) is the prime mandate for National Parks (NP).

Guided by the advice of their industry-led, Outdoor Tourism Product Development Subcommittee, the Canadian Tourism Committee commissioned Pam Wight & Associates to examine the best practices of both Parks Agencies and outdoor tourism operators. The study was wide ranging, and examined specific practices of both Parks Agencies and operators in all provincial, territorial and federal parks across Canada. The main goal was to demonstrate that while there are many challenging and varied issues in parks and protected areas, there is also a considerably body of good practice and constructive collaborative relationships. These good practices are intended to act as examples for discussion, as incentives for moving forward to which all parties may aspire, and as building blocks for key players to improve mutual relationships and collaborations, based on practical examples.

In Canada, the outdoor tourism industry is characterized by tourism businesses that offer ecotourism and/or adventure travel products and services. Ecotourism is defined as travel that creates a high level of understanding and interpretation of cultural and natural history, while safeguarding the integrity of ecosystems. It produces economic benefits to local communities that encourage resource preservation and sustainable tourism development practices. Adventure travel, by definition, is an outdoor leisure activity
that generally takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness setting usually involving some form of unconventional means of transportation, and tending to be associated with low or high levels of physical activity. The activity may entail some element of risk.

The Canadian Tourism Commission has identified 27 different outdoor tourism products offered in Canada. These are identified in Appendix A. 

The following pages summarize only key Best Practices and Suggestions for improvement associated with each challenge. Details on challenges, as well as on Agency and Operator perspectives, are presented in the full report. The findings are numbered and organized by key topics and sub-topics, which correspond to chapters in the main report. The following marks indicate: ✜ - a challenge; ✔ - a good practice; ➪ - a suggestion for the future; ✖ - no practices/suggestions available.

A summary of the findings overall reveals that:
• Planning and Policy Making are key areas of challenges
• Managing for Ecological Integrity, and the Future, are key areas of uncertainty for all parties
• Management and Administration of protected areas, and Marketing, and Monitoring, require work on consistency of approach
• Relationships and Trust, Communications, and Collaboration, are areas requiring considerable attention, but are also areas offering the greatest opportunity (from both Agency and Operator perspectives) in resolving a very large range of issues
• Operator Stewardship and Current Collaborations are areas of strength, which should be expanded and built on

Clearly, collaboration in all these areas is key to building successful relationships and constructive solutions, and to achieving multiple objectives for Canada’s special places.

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'''Keywords'''
<br> ecotourism, adventure tourism, national parks and  reserves, recreational use, Canada, policy, planning, ecological integrity, protected area management, monitoring, collaboration, communication, marketing