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alised than conventional forms such as rail or bus.
It includes services of taxicabs, jitneys, buses and
vans which may operate on irregular routes and/or
schedules. Paratransit also includes prearranged
ride-sharing services of van pools and car pools.
These and other transportation modes are put into
creative uses in many tourism destinations.
park
JOHN OZMENT, USA
A park is a land or water area that has been
reserved for purposes which include recreation
and tourism. Amusement parks, theme parks,
state parks and national parks share this
characteristic. However, as protected areas,
state and national parks also seek the conservation
and even the preservation of natural and
cultural heritage, orientations that distinguish
them from their park kin. These seek to achieve
conflicting public goals: managing recreation and
tourism opportunities for tourist satisfaction and
managing the natural environment to maintain
or to restore ecological integrity.
Tourism had been a factor in establishing the
earliest national parks. Canada's Banff National
Park, for example, was established in 1885 by the
federal government as a vacation destination
for tourists on the transcontinental railway. Yosemite
National Park, however, was established in
1872 to protect the scenic beauty of the Yosemite
Valley from tourism and other economic development.
Tourism in parks was recognised early as
both boon and blight. Parks continue to be
destinations, as sources of nature and its interpretation,
as settings for adventure tourism
and escape, and as opportunities for business and
profit. Tourism to parks expanded through the
post-Second World War period, fuelled by growth
in camping at first and later, by differentiation
in camping itself and other activities such as
bicycling.
Park management has become complex.
Parks have assumed an educational function to
interpret natural and cultural heritage to tourists.
The presentation of natural and cultural themes
helps them to understand particular features in
parks and to appreciate their roles in protecting
species, habitats and diversity. Where parks have
been established in areas claimed as home territory
by aboriginal people, interpretation of cultural
themes has helped tourists to understand how
they lived prior to contact with European cultures.
Protection of biological diversity and ecological
integrity becomes an urgent goal as agriculture,
forestry, mining and tourism invade other
areas. Parks and protected areas such as the
Serengeti National Park and the adjacent Maasai
Mara Game Reserve afford a refuge for many
migratory African wildlife species. Australia's
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects the
world's largest reef complex. Managers recognise,
however, that both are significant tourism attractions.
This complexity demands a new generation
of planning and management frameworks. While
all stem from carrying capacity, some such as
the recreation opportunity spectrum integrate
use and protection. Others such as the
Limits of Acceptable Change build consensus
among stakeholders in park decision making.
Further reading
park 427
Banff-Bow Valley Study �1996), Banff-Bow Valley:At
The Crossroads, summary report of the Banff-Bow
Valley Task Force �Robert Page, Suzanne Bayley,
J. Douglas Cook, Jeffrey E. Green and J. R.
Brent Ritchie), prepared for the Honourable
Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage,
Ottawa, Ontario, 76 pages. �Illustrates the
conflicts between protection and tourism in
Canada's oldest National Park.)
Keiter, R.B. and Boyce, M.S. �1991) `Greater
Yellowstone's future: ecosystem management in
a wilderness environment', in R.B. Keiter and
M.S. Boyce �eds), The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem:
Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage, New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 379±415. �Discusses
the potential of ecosystem management in
managing people's use of the natural environment
in Yellowstone National Park.)
Killan, G. �1993) `Creating the ``gospel according
to parks'': 1967±1978', Protected Places:A History of
Ontario's Provincial Parks System, Toronto: Dundurn
Press, 239±87. �A historical examination of
a policy-based approach to managing protection