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A Progress Evaluation of National Geographic’s Geotourism Program

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Date
2012-04-25
Authors
Nystrom, Joel
Brouwer, Susannah
Torres, Hannah
Stern, Tamar
Advisor
Vidra, Rebecca L.
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Abstract
National Geographic’s Geotourism Program is a sustainable tourism initiative designed to ease the negative impacts of mass tourism through a branding opportunity and grassroots structure that empowers local stakeholders to showcase regional and cultural identity. While previous studies on National Geographic’s Geotourism Program have investigated the potential and achieved successes from certain perspectives, the Geotourism charter mandates that program evaluation should consider all stakeholder interests (Boley 2009, Leonard 2011). This study contributes to a comprehensive evaluation by analyzing progress from a previously unexplored perspective: that of the participating sites in two regions: Sierra Nevada and Crown of the Continent (COTC) region. Quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments gather information from participating sites that then is evaluated by indicators in three categories: social, environmental and economic. Social impact proves to be the strongest success of the project as participants are encouraged to learn about the assets of their region, and share regional information with visitors. The study also reveals that participants who buy into the Geotourism Project by educating visitors and incorporating it into their business planning documents recognize the greatest degree of project impact. Analysis of the results yields recommendations for how stakeholder education and involvement, impact measurement, and project positioning can be more effectively integrated into each destination’s strategic plan.
Type
Master's project
Department
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Subject
Geotourism
Sustainable tourism
Progress Evaluation
Survey
Interview
Evaluation
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5234
Citation
Nystrom, Joel; Brouwer, Susannah; Torres, Hannah; & Stern, Tamar (2012). A Progress Evaluation of National Geographic’s Geotourism Program. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5234.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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