Tourism management in rural areas

Rural area: Rural areas are areas outside the built up environment (urban areas). These areas are often called the countryside and usually consist of areas of farmland and natural environments e.g. forests, deserts or mountains. Within rural areas you do find some small settlements including villages, hamlets and isolated buildings.

Honeypot location: A tourist location that attracts extremely large numbers of visitors. The village of Castleton in the Peak Dsitrict is often described as a honeypot location.

Nature tourism: Tourism to natural areas. Ecotourism is part of nature tourism

National Park: An area of land that has been protected by governments either because of its outstanding natural beauty, unique flora or fauna or all of the aforementioned. National Parks in the UK are fairly unique in that people live within their boundaries. This is because the UK is a fairly densely populated country and many settlements existed within the boundaries of National Parks before they were designated National Parks.

Right to Roam: This is the right for people to use certain public and private land for leisure purposes. The right to roam was introduced from 2000 onwards.

Tourism in rural areas tends to be slightly different from tourism in urban areas. Accommodation is usually on a smaller scale; small independent hotels, B&Bs or even caravan and camping sites. The types of activities also tend to be different, there is less heritage tourism and more nature tourism (possibly ecotourism). Tourists may visit small villages, churches and castles but they will often also go walking, cycling, climbing, horse riding, etc. The Peak District National Park is one of England's main rural tourist destinations. Its popularity has bought benefits and problems.

The Peak District National Park - Castleton

The Peak District is an upland (hilly) national park found in central and northern England. It is mainly found in the county of Derbyshire, but sections are also found in Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester. The Peak District was designated a national park in 1951, making it the first national park in the UK. National Parks in the UK are fairly unique because within their boundaries you find large settlements and even industry - they are effectively working national parks and happen because of the UK's long history of settlement within the areas and the country's high population density.

Because the Peak District is a working national park it is extremely accessible by road, rail and air. It is estimated that the Peak District National Park receives up to 22 million visitors a year, making it the second most visited national park in the world after Mount Fuji National Park in Japan. The tourism industry is extremely important to local residents, accounting for an estimated 24% of all jobs.

Castleton is a small village, with a population of approximately 650 found in the Hope Valley in the middle of the Peak District. Castleton is connected by a limited bus route, so most people arrive in Castleton by car. Because of its nearby attractions, Castleton has turned into a Honeypot location.

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Attractions in and around Castleton

Peveril Castle: First constructed in 1080, centuries of fighting and lack of repair has only left the central keep standing. The castle sits on top of the valley overlooking Castleton and is now managed by English Heritage.

Cave systems: The rock around Castleton is mainly limestone (sedimentary rocks). These rocks are permeable allowing water to travel through them, eroding the rock and creating impressive cave systems. There are also some manmde caverns in the ares (mined in the search of gems). There are four caverns open to the public; Peak Cavern, Speedwell Cavern, Treak Cliff Cavern and Blue John Mine.

Mam Tor: A mountain overlooking Castleton. You can drive most the way to the top or walk. Whichever way you get there the views down the valley looking over Castleton are stunning. A tor is actually a granite extrusive landform (an area of hard rock that has been eroded less quickly than the surrounding rock).

Traditional Village: Castleton is a traditional rural community. Houses are constructed from local materials giving it a very quaint feel. There are a number of significant buildings in the village including St. Edmunds Church.

Garland Day: A local festival held on May 29th. A Garland King and Queen are announced and paraded through the village. The King and Queen wear garlands. Garland Day is on the anniversary of the Battle of Worcester, but it is believed the festival is older and probably some fertility festival. Whatever, the origins the unique festival attracts large numbers of tourists.

Physical Activities (walking, cycling, rock climbing, caving (potholing) and horse riding): The main reason most people visit Castleton and the Peak District is the natural environment. Most forms of physical activity are enjoyed around Castleton including potholing (basically crawling through underground cave networks), walking, rock climbing and mountain biking.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY TOURISM GROWTH

POSSIBLE TOURISM MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Footpath erosion: With large numbers of tourists walking in the countryside, paths become too busy or people choose to ignore them. This can cause erosion and damage to slopes and moorlands as thousands of pairs of shoes march up and down.
Second homes: Many wealthy urban dwellers buy second homes in the countryside. The Peak District is surrounded by large settlements e.g. Manchester, Sheffield and Derby so this phenomenon has happened here as well. This can cause house inflation, rural depopulation and service decline.
Rural depopulation: Because second homes are only used for part of the year, the permanent local population starts to decline. This can lead to service decline.
Increased dependency ratio: This is not necessarily caused by tourism (although seasonal employment can contribute), but many economically active people leave rural areas, because of the shortage of jobs. This often leaves behind an ageing population, increasing the dependency ratio.
Service decline: Because many part-time residents access their services e.g. post offices, doctors surgeries in the urban area that they work, the number of services offered in rural areas declines.
Congestion: The roads in the Peak District are often narrow. within villages they are even narrower. During busy periods the influx of cars can cause traffic issues and problems over car parking.
Inflation: Anytime when demand increases, prices are likely to rise. Inflation will be particularly noticeable with the price of houses, forcing many local first time buyers out of the market.
Littering: When you get large amounts of visitors, you are always going to get people that drop litter. This is unsightly but can also harm animals.
Damage to crops and disturbance of animals: People that don't use footpaths properly can damage crops, humans and especially dogs can also disturb animals especially during the lambing season. Humans can also leave gates open, allowing animals to escape.
Pollution (visual, noise, water and air): The increased amount of tourists can increase noise, be unsightly (cars parked on verges), create waste and pollute water (rivers).
Conflict over roaming rights: Now that tourists have the right to roam, there can often be conflicts between landowners and tourists, over where people can walk and what they can do.
Seasonal employment: Tourism tends to be at its highest during late spring, summer and early autumn. Because of the decline during the winter, many locals will lose there jobs during the quieter periods.

Redistribution of tourists: There are a number of locations in the Peak District that are honeypot locations e.g. Castleton and Bakewell. One suggested solutions has been to promote other villages and destinations to try and redistribute the number of tourists.
National Park entry fee: Because the Peak District is an open working national park, charging an entry fee might be harder because of the through traffic, but certainly individual villages might be able to charge a fee to non-residents.
Banning of cars: Again this might be hard because of the working nature of the Peak District, but more park and ride schemes could be introduced or public transport promoted more.
Improved signage and education: Some tourists drop litter, leave gates open. etc. With improved information signs and also better education of the problems it causes, some problems can be reduced (follow the countryside code).
Second home tax: One suggestion has been to increase tax on second homes to try and discourage people from buying second homes in the countryside.

Double council tax call on Devon second homes - BBC article
Calls to Cancel second homes tax discount in Cornwall - BBC article

Subsidised services: To try and reduce rural-urban migration and rural depopulation it has been suggested to subsidise services. This has happened as many services have been centralised in post offices.
Right to roam: This has clarified the public's right to roam on certain private land. However, the public needs to be educated to ensure conflicts do not happen.
Control dogs: Dogs now have to be kept on leads while walking through farms and dog owners are obliged to collect their dogs' poo.
Fines and patrols: Fines have been introduced for dropping litter, illegal parking and leaving gates open. To catch offenders the number of patrols need to be increased.

As well as tourism creating problems like inflation, congestion and pollution and can also create conflicts between different groups of people. Below are some examples of groups that are likely to come into conflict:

Farmers and Tourists: Farmers and tourists may come into conflict because litter dropped by tourists may harm livestock (animals), the noise created by tourists and vehicles may disturb animals, especially during lambing periods. Tourists may also leave footpaths and damage crops or leave gates open and allow animals to escape. Tourists may be annoyed by farmers because on restrictions of their right to roam and aggressive animals. Farm traffic may also cause traffic jams and delay tourists.

Local Residents and Tourists: Although tourists can create jobs and generate money for locals, tourists can cause problems that will lead to conflict. The increased amount of traffic can cause delays for locals as well as increasing the amount of air and noise pollution. The increased demand from tourists can also create local inflation. Tourists can also cause overcrowding of honeypot locations which can make parking for locals hard and make the environment less relaxing. Tourists buying second homes can also cause local services like schools and post offices to close because tourists only occupy the houses for short periods.

Conflicts can also exist amongst different types of tourists. For example: