Natural areas around the world are being planned, designed and promoted as ecotourism destinations. International organizations such as the United Nations have advocated for sustainable development through sound environmental practices that include the implementation of tourism initiatives within protected natural areas. Though not universally endorsed as truly sustainable, ecotourism is being incorporated nonetheless into the development plans of many countries around the world.
The management plan for the Central Balkan National Park (CBNP) in Bulgaria has called for ecotourism development within the park and surrounding communities. Protecting the biological integrity of natural areas within the park and successfully managing those same areas for ecotourism development requires congruency between the image that visitors have of the park as an ecotourism destination and the strategized image that the park planners have envisioned. Creating and managing an appropriate destination image is important for effective positioning of the park as an ecotourism site.
This study examines the ecotourism destination image held by visitors to the CBNP and provides a baseline measurement and assessment of the CBNP's destination image. Purpose of the study was to describe the visitors to the park and to explore whether destination image is mediated by visitors' demographic profile and experience within the park. Specifically, the study explored the independent variables that might influence a visitor's evaluation of the park attributes defining destination image as an ecotourism site.
The survey instrument was a questionnaire available in either the Bulgarian or English languages. Participants were convenienced sampled and participation was voluntary (n=195).
Study results showed weak association between destination image and the independent variables investigated. Only visit frequency and salience of ecotourism attributes were found to be statistically significant. This suggests that a subject's image of the park as an ecotourism venue is influenced by the number of times the park had been previously visited. Further, salience results suggest that park visitors who most value the ectourism attributes in the study were likely to rate the park higher as an ecotourism destination.