Sustainable Tourism in Cities—Nature Reserves as a ‘New’ City Space for Nature-Based Tourism

Abstract

Visible trends in city tourism related to the development of sustainable tourism clearly imply an increase in the significance of green areas and the development of nature-based tourism. Natural areas in cities that ideally fit the assumptions of sustainable tourism are nature reserves—areas where protection of the valuable environment is a priority. This paper aims to highlight that nature reserves are green spots in cities that can be excellent sites for sustainable tourism. The choice of big cities was dictated by the fact that they have the highest requirement for recreational green spaces due to a high concentration of tourist traffic in historic city centres and a clearer need for sustainable forms of tourism. Sixteen nature reserves in five big Polish cities with a population of more than 100,000: Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań, Toruń, and Warsaw were selected for the study. Field surveys were carried out in nature reserves to see whether basic tourism facilities providing information about nature, supporting education, and conservation of the natural environment existed in the publicly available areas of such reserves. The attractiveness of nature reserves to tourists and their suitability for developing sustainable tourism was evaluated through score-based valuation of the reserves. The valorisation index was used for a synthetic rating and classification of the reserves in terms of attractiveness. The results of surveys imply a possibility of using selected nature reserves in cities for developing sustainable forms of active tourism—in particular hiking and cycling, educational tourism and daily recreational activities of city residents. The sites in question can be regarded as attractive ecotourism products, and as such hold the potential to become a popular destination among tourists and eco-tourists in particular.

Unlocking Local and Regional Development through Nature-Based Tourism: Exploring the Potential of Agroforestry and Regenerative Livestock Farming in Mexico

“…In recent years, tourism has become a fundamental factor in countries' socioeconomic development (Gonia and Jezierska-Thöle 2022;Matiku et al 2021), with various forms of tourism, e.g., NbT, which became more critical in the post-COVID stage. However, since NbT is still incipient in developing or emerging countries, such as Mexico, it is necessary to use research methodologies to simulate this type of market ex-ante and measure tourists' perceptions of the potential implementation of activities in economic terms (Räikkönen et al 2023).…”

“…Furthermore, NbT is considered an activity that promotes green recovery (Balmford et al 2009;Räikkönen et al 2023). In this type of tourism, the characteristics of the environment influence people's decisions on where, when, and how to use the different ecosystem services (ESs) provided by nature (Gonia and Jezierska-Thöle 2022;Stemmer et al 2022).…”

Desde Los Deportes Extremos Riesgosos Hasta La Actividad Ecoturística Formativa

“…Por esta razón el estudio se llevó a cabo en las ciudades que tienen mayor requisito de espacios verdes recreativos debido a una alta concentración de tráfico turístico en los centros históricos, en este análisis se realizaron encuestas de las reservas naturales para conocer si existían instalaciones turísticas básicas que proporcionen la información necesaria sobre naturaleza y así lograr un confortable progreso turístico. (Gonia & Jezierska-Thöle, 2022)…”

Assessment of Historic Cities within the Context of Sustainable Development and Revitalization: The Case of the Walled City North Nicosia

“…Economic sustainability can be explained as providing a continuous flow of money financially, and thus improving the physical, social, and cultural environment. The tourism factor has an important place in terms of ensuring economic sustainability in historical environments [33,34]. Buildings with historical and cultural value are important factors that attract local and foreign tourists to the region.…”