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Consultant's Perspective
Al Shacklett
ORCA Consulting
Introduction
At the temples and sites in Angkor, Cambodia as well as at other cultural and natural resource
destinations throughout the world, high volumes of tourism are resulting in degradation of the natural
and cultural resources at these destinations. A number of news articles have been published recently
describing how tourists are “loving our parks to death” and “killing the goose that laid the golden eggs”
at various renown destinations. However, these situations are not entirely hopeless. In fact, by
implementing the appropriate management tools and techniques, it is often possible to develop”win-
win” situations through the implementation of sustainable models that preserve and protect the
resources, contribute to the local economy, and maintain steady or growing tourism volumes for
decades to come.
Studies were conducted at the Grand Canyon to establish visitation carrying capacities.
Designated viewing areas at the Grand Canyon are designed to protect resources and increase carrying capacity.
Also, the development of supplemental activity areas, such as visitor centers or additional resource
areas, can improve the distribution of the on-site crowds thus increasing the total site carrying
capacity.
Planned new Visitor Center for USS Arizona Memorial
New visitor center will result in increased visitor carrying capacity of the site.
Capacity can also be increased through the implementation of operational procedures, including the use
of crowd control staffing and equipment at the major congestion points.
Queue area for Monument tour keeps waiting crowds organized and sheltered.
Once the carrying capacity of a site is established, it should then be compared to the visitation volumes
in order to assess the frequency and duration of events during which the capacity is exceeded. These
factors can be used to quantify the magnitude of overcrowding and as a basis for tailoring a solution
that best meets the conditions for a specific site. If it is found that overcrowding is an infrequent
occurrence (typically, less than 20 days per year), then simple crowd control measures can often be
implemented, such as queuing systems to manage wait lines and meter visitors into capacity-
constrained areas.
Whenever excessive visitation is determined to be a chronic problem that cannot be entirely solved by
improving infrastructure and operational procedures, other measures are warranted to reduce peak
visitation levels. The most effective strategies are ones that encourage a portion of visitors to shift their
visits to off-peak periods. These off-peak periods can include off-peak hours on busy days (e.g.: early
morning, late afternoon, evening), off-peak days of the week (e.g.: Mondays through Thursdays are
often less busy than the Friday to Sunday weekend period), and non-peak seasons (often, the
“shoulder” seasons represent the best opportunities for shifting visitation from peak seasons). Potential
tools for shifting visitation include measures such as pricing incentives, advanced reservation systems,
timed ticketing systems, coordination with tour companies, and strategic scheduling of special events
and programs.
Conclusion
The resource degradation that is occurring at many natural and cultural sites throughout the world as a
result of excessive tourism volumes cannot be resolved as an isolated problem. Resource conditions,
site carrying capacity and visitor experience quality are all interrelated issues that should be assessed as
a holistic unit. Through detailed analysis of these issues, it is often possible to develop a strategic plan
that can not only reverse the problem of resource degradation, but can also help improve the visitation
carrying capacity of the site and the quality of the visitor experience.