The who, how and what of rainforest tourism in Australia's World Heritage Wet Tropics

TL;DRAbstract

\n\t\t\t\t\tGlobally, rainforests are coming under increasing pressure from farming, urban settlement and extractive industries. In the near future rainforests will also come under further pressure from climate change. Recognizing the danger confronted by these unique ecosystems a number of nations have responded by declaring parts of their forests as protected areas. In many of these protected areas tourism has emerged as a new business sector. In Australia, the northern Wet Tropics rainforest were declared as a world heritage area in 1988 and now supports an extensive tourism industry attracting an estimated 4.65 million visits by local residents and tourists during 2001- 2002. This paper reports on the first results of a four year study of rainforest tourism. Key aims of this research include establishing visitor profiles, identifYing the importance of the rainforest as an attraction and visitor interest in walking activities. The methodology is based on monthly surveys over a 12 mo

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