Volcanic Geoheritage and Geotourism Perspectives in Hungary: a Case of an UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape, Hungary

Abstract

In protected areas (e.g. geoparks, UNESCO sites), 13 the identification of the different aspects of geoheritage site 14 values is part of a holistic concept of protection, education 15 and sustainable development. In the past years, significant 16 progress has been achieved in the volcano tourism in 17 Hungary as shown by the acceptance of two geoparks as mem-18 bers of Global Geoparks Network. They are the Bakony-19 Balaton Geopark and the Novohrad-Nograd Geopark, which 20 involves also the old village of Hollókő UNESCO cultural 21 heritage site. These geoparks as well as the recently (2013) 22 opened Kemenes Volcano Park used primarily the volcanolog-23 ical natural values in their application, and these play still an 24 important role to attract the visitors. The Tokaj Wine Region 25 (TWR) Historic Cultural Landscape (inscribed on the World 26 Heritage List in 2002 as a cultural site) is also characterized 27 by high geodiversity due to complex volcanic settings (andes-28 ite-dacite composite cones, silicic pyroclastites, lava domes, 29 hydrothermal activity) and specialized viticultural land use of the cultural landscape. While the area of the Bakony-Balaton Geopark is situated in a well-known region and has a long tradition in tourism with a lot of innovation, the Tokaj wine region needs a significant effort to introduce their volcanic geoheritage values into the tourism market. The systematic inventory and assessment of the geoheritage elements are essential steps in different scales of geoconservation and establishment of the priorities in site management. This inventory work emphasizes the relationship between the sites at different scales and highlights the interaction between eroded volcanic relief and human activity. The inventory classifies the objects in two main geosite categories: (a) volcanic edifices resulting from denudation and inversion of the relief and (b) geodiversity sites connected to land use traditions of the cultural landscape. The assessment evaluates the scientific, cultural/historical, aesthetic and socioeconomic values and helps to define priorities in site management. The recently suggested 900 km long, cross-Hungary volcano route starts at the TWR and involves additional 50 planned stations all along the country. They represent various volcanological phenomena from silicic ignimbrite sheets through andesitic stratocones to basaltic volcanic fields. These meet significant historic, cultural, gastronomic tourism attractions to support the promotion of volcanic geoheritage.

Building Coalitions for a Diversified and Sustainable Tourism: Two Case Studies from Hungary

“…One of the most important directions of Hungarian tourism is gastro-tourism, and wine tourism is an important part of this. Wine tourism in Hungary is an especially important possibility for development, because: (1) there are large variations in wine producing terroirs [36]; (2) there are a large number of vine varieties [37]; and (3) there is a very rich traditional architecture [38] which often reflects the colourful variety of the Carpathian basin's ethnic heterogeneity and the traditions of co-habitation of different cultures, from Jewish [39] to Romanian [40] and German. This serves as a backdrop for the activity, although they are employed mainly in the promotion of mass tourism.…”

Combining InfraRed Thermography and UAV Digital Photogrammetry for the Protection and Conservation of Rupestrian Cultural Heritage Sites in Georgia: A Methodological Application

“…Amongst the latter, volcanic rocks such as tuffs, thanks to their softness and excellent carvability, represent one of the most widely adopted building materials and excavated lithology for rupestrian settlements in the history of man [4,5]. The peculiar lithological and geotechnical characteristics of this material (highly heterogeneous fabric with abundant ash matrix, easily transformable into alteration minerals, such as clays and zeolites), causes weathering and deterioration issues due to moisture and humidity, which in rock masses exposed to rainfall-runoff and infiltration, can create slope instability and the structural collapse of rock-hewn structures (e.g., caves, chapels), representing serious constraints to the future conservation of the sites and the safety of the visitors [6][7][8][9][10]. For these reasons, it is fundamental to gather on a slope-scale all the possible information regarding the rock mineralogy and geotechnical properties, the rock mass morpho-structural setting and the location of the areas of water runoff and concentration.…”

Volcanic Geoheritage

“…Similarly, other studies demonstrates the potential of other volcanic geoheritage sites to be utilized for geoeducation and geoconservation, as well as for their geotouristic potential (Alessio 2017;Sheth et al 2017;Szakacs 2017;Szepesi et al 2017). Other papers presented consider the potential of using modern technologies (Rapprich et al 2017) or innovative approaches to disseminate an understanding of volcanic geology processes (Szepesi et al 2017). …”

“…As a result, geoparks with active volcanoes and in areas dominated by recent volcanism are growing in popularity (Joyce 2009(Joyce , 2010aKazancı 2012;Migon and Pijet-Migon 2016a). Several new studies have even express the overlooked opportunities that volcanic geological sites can provide for facilitating geotourism in regions not directly associated with active volcanism (Migon and Pijet-Migon 2016b Szepesi et al 2017)). Several volcanic regions located in inactive volcanic areas are the type localities of special type of volcanism such as those in the Eifel in western Germany.…”

“…Also included are reports from regions with a high volcanic geodiversity that is underutilized both from geotoursitic and geohazard education perspectives, but could be developed into major regional or even global hubs for such knowledge (Németh and Moufti 2017;Žáček et al 2017;Zangmo et al 2017). Similarly, other studies demonstrates the potential of other volcanic geoheritage sites to be utilized for geoeducation and geoconservation, as well as for their geotouristic potential (Alessio 2017;Sheth et al 2017;Szakacs 2017;Szepesi et al 2017). Other papers presented consider the potential of using modern technologies (Rapprich et al 2017) or innovative approaches to disseminate an understanding of volcanic geology processes (Szepesi et al 2017).…”