University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature • The third of these responsibilities is achieved through tourism, and it is necessary to provide the financial resources required by the organisation in order to sustain the first and second responsibility. Kruger National Park (one of the most important national parks in South Africa as exposed before) has a further – more concrete - number of obligations in order to maintain sustainability and environmental protection: • There is a maximum threshold of vehicles that can enter the park daily. • Firearms must be declared and sealed at the entrance gates. The seals will be broken at the gate on departure. • No pets are permitted in national parks. • There are no television sets or radios in the Kruger Park to ensure maximum enjoyment of the wilderness sounds. Tourists who bring their own may not disturb other visitors. • Feeding of animals is strictly prohibited for the visitors as well as animals safety and well being. • Latecomers at entrance gates will be refused entry, whilst offenders at rest camps could be fined. • Open vehicles, motorcycles and vehicles with an axle load exceeding 8,000 kilos are not permitted. Kruger National Park not only offers the opportunity to enjoy wildlife but also culture heritage. In its installations one can enjoy different cultural ages as Stone Age, Bushman Folk, Iron Age, etc. The main attractions at this national park are: • The big five: buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino. 62
Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature • The little five: buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, ant lion and rhino beetle. • Birding big six: ground hornbill, kori bustard, lappet- faced vulture, martial eagle, pel’s fishing owl and saddle- bill stork. • Five trees: baobab, fever tree, knob thorn, marula, mopane. • Five natural/cultural features: letaba elephant museum, jock of the bushveld route, masereni ruins, Stevenson Hamilton Memorial Library, thulamela. 3.2.3. Tourists and their expectations In Obua J. and D. M. Harding´s research (1996), an investigation was carried out to find out what tourists expect from a visit in the Uganda National Park. Tourists were asked why they chose this destination. Their answers were as follows in order of importance: “About three-quarters said they mainly visited the place to view the wildlife. Over one-half gave the forest and its diversity as the second major reason. Nearly 50 % gave the tropical setting as the third reason, and the similar proportion named the culture and the people as the fourth reason. The peace and quite were of less significance and were given as the fifth reason by more than half of the visitors”. In this same research they tried to figure out what kind of people these tourists where to be able to improve the management of the parks in the future. The better you understand tourists, the better you can manage a national park to offer services. The results were that tourists did not belong to one specific profile, tourists were found from every social class, education, etc. But it was exposed that a great quantity of them were mature people with a university degree and at considerable knowledge about the environment. 63
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University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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