Estimating the Regional Economic Impact of Tourism to National Parks: Two Case Studies from Germany

Abstract

National parks are seen as major nature-based tourism attractions. This coincides with an international trend in environmental politics to increasingly highlight the regional economic effects of national parks. The often-lacking acceptance of reserves by the locals, who see them as hindering economic development, is the reason. Also in Germany, national parks have recently been integrated into tourism planning strategy. The economic benefits for local communities thus need to be assessed. Studies in this field, however, face major difficulties: Firstly, Germany's free access policy for its protected areas results in a lack of visitor data. Secondly, data on tourism expenditures are very rare and only provide general information that cannot be considered representative of national parks. This study presents the financial benefits derived from nature-based tourism in and around two German national parks on the basis of the value-added technique. The results clearly indicate that tourism can generate considerable benefits for the regional development in the structurally weak rural periphery. This information should increase the acceptance of national parks by both local communities and politicians. Consequently, German national parks need to further incorporate the concept of socio-economic monitoring.