Geoheritage and Tourism – Opportunities for Growth

Abstract

Purpose – Contemporary tourism in many developed destinations relies on natural resources, many of which can be directly valorised as tourist attractions. Within natural resources, geoheritage (geological heritage) consists sites or areas of geological features with significant scientific, educational, cultural or aesthetic value. Despite its multiple values, the attractive geosites and their valorisation in tourism are still insufficiently covered. Methodology – This paper, aims to present the state of the art in a form of a research overview of geoheritage valorisation in tourism by analysing the WoSCC database. The results of overviewing 171 scientific papers on keywords geoheritage and tourism are presented and interpreted in the form of qualitative and quantitative analysis, maps, tabular and graphical representations. To identify the main research links and streams between geoheritage and tourism the bibliometric analysis is carried out using VOSviewer software. Findings – The papers are classified and it is revealed an insufficient representation of research in the field of tourist valorisation of geoheritage. It is also notable the spatial inhomogeneity towards interest in geoheritage research. Contribution – The paper brings a research agenda for covering gaps in the further scientific research of the field. The research also points out some possible streams and framework for future geoheritage research that offers new opportunities for the growth of tourism as a responsible and sustainable industry.

Geoheritage Promotion Towards Sustainable Tourism: "Kučaj-Beljanica Mountains" National Park in the Homolje Area (Eastern Serbia)

“…should be involved in that process (Kubalíková et al 2022). Also, Grofelnik (2021) proposed a framework for the growth of geoheritage and geotourism, the implementation of which would significantly contribute to sustainable tourism at geosites. It is based on eight aspects of implementation, scientific, technological, spatial, economic, political, social, content and conceptual.…”

“…It is based on eight aspects of implementation, scientific, technological, spatial, economic, political, social, content and conceptual. Each of them contributes to the preservation of the environment, with minimal pressure on (Grofelnik 2021).…”

“…To increase support for geosite protection and decrease potential threatened capacity, it is important to raise awareness among social and local communities (Prosser et al 2018). Grofelnik (2021) states that although the protection of the site and its valorization are in conflict, current trends require an increase in awareness of the need to protect the environment and geoheritage.…”

“…Geotourism encourages tourism to geosites and preserves geodiversity and understanding of geoscience through assessment and education (Newsome andDowling 2010, Kubalíková 2013). Grofelnik (2021) also pointed out the omissions of geoheritage research and the possibilities for tourism's growth and development of geotourism. Tourist use of geoheritage should be generally made through the respect of the measures of the sustainable development of some area, whether the geosite is protected or not.…”

Geoheritage of the Precious Opal Bearing Zone in Libanka Mining District (Slovakia) and Its Geotourism and Geoeducation Potential

“…It is important to provide more study materials and sources to support the information to educate visitors. Furthermore, from the perspective of geotourism development, it is crucial to collect and select geologically significant sites, characterize them, and determine their condition and values, e.g., via quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation [35][36][37][38]. Adopting the Brilha method [21], assessment results show that this area has relatively high educational and touristic potential (Tables 1 and 2).…”