In connection with ecotourism, the issue of sustainability is an almost always emerging one. This is not accidental, since ecotourism is the tourism product that is suitable for the handling of the seemingly unmanageable oppositions in tourism: it features attractions and services in a way that resources are not ruined, still the economic benefits of tourism are realised. We often encounter the statement that ecotourism is sustainable tourism, but this is an incorrect belief. Ecotourism is a product which has to take the sustainability principles of tourism into consideration as much as possible. A sustainable tourism must in the long run be ecologically suitable, economically viable and ethically and socially fair for the local population.
The supply structure of ecotourism is special from many aspects, as it does not exclusively has to adapt to the demands, to the needs of the visitors but it should primarily focus on the protection of environmental values, and on the service elements designed for and realised besides the protection of these values.
2.1. Attractions
The attractions of ecotourism are built on the natural endowments. It is important to emphasise though that natural endowments and natural values in themselves are not necessarily attractions. For the protected flora and fauna of a given region to become real attractions, in most cases it takes interpretation techniques and tools which are suitable for the successful presentation of the given natural or cultural-historical values. The objective
of ecotourism services, besides giving tourists an unforgettable experience, is to make visitors more dedicated to the preservation of natural, cultural and social values.
When creating the ecotourism product we have to consider that the respective elements of the tourism supply should harmonise with the objectives of ecotourism. Accommodations should preferably be buildings fitting into the landscape, with minimum stress on the environment and applying environmental-friendly procedures;
also, catering should be based on foods made from local products. An indispensable part of ecotourism is the involvement of guides and experts providing knowledge dissemination and education in the design and implementation of programmes. In absence of guides, adequate information network, infrastructure and interpretation are needed to allow visitors to get a deep and enjoyable knowledge on the area. The success of the ecotourism product is secured if it is built on local resources and the services are offered in the first place by local inhabitants (e.g. accommodation, catering, maybe guiding). In addition, one of the biggest sources of please for ecotourists is the relationship built with the local people, getting to know the local culture, habits, and participation in the lives of the local people.
The areas worth offering for visitors in Hungary are usually protected, and in protected areas it is protection that has a priority. The management of protected areas in many cases, their supervision is always the task of the national park directorates. The respective national parks belong to the national park directorates, together with other sensitive areas that ―only‖ have Nature Protection Area or Landscape Protection Area status. Hungary is now divided into 10 regions from the aspect of the management of protected areas; each region has a national park whose supervisor is the directorate of the respective national park. The other protected areas in the region are also supervised by the national park directorates, but they are not parts of the national parks. The national park directorates are institutions, authorities, whereas national parks are protected areas; these two concepts must not be confused. E.g. the supervision of the Danube-Dráva National Park (http://www.ddnp.hu) is done by the Directorate of the Danube-Dráva National Park, also responsible for the supervision of the Zselic Landscape Protection Area in the region. The Zselic Area, however, is not a national park, it is only an area under the supervision of the national park directorate.
The national park directorates have, in addition to their nature protection activities, exhibition, educational and tourism tasks. Now there is a department at each national park directorate which is responsible for exhibitions and tourism. The national park directorates are obliged by law to demonstrate the protected areas: in accordance with the Act No. LIII. of 1996 on the protection of nature, Part 4 Par. 64 (2) (http://www.kvvm.gov.hu/index.php?pid=11&sid=11&hid=439), ―in protected areas the national park directorates must provide access to the protected natural values as part of knowledge dissemination, education, scientific research and tourism‖. This actually means that the act makes tourism a ―compulsory‖ task of the national park directorates; this is the reason why a significant part of the Hungarian ecotourism supply is offered by the national park directorates. For the national park directorates, tourism is also a source of revenue that is more and important for them. The budgetary organisations ―consuming‖ state support can gradually become income generators by their tourism services.
It is a problem on the demand side that the Hungarian planners of ecotourism are nature protection experts and not tourism professionals; their market skills are deficient. In nature protection there are many things that cannot be approached and made successful on the ground of education: beyond knowledge dissemination through education, emotions must also be targeted. As a tool of effective exhibition and environmental attitude shaping, in addition to credible information it is experience that also matters – or should also play important role.
The share of nature parks and other ecotourism NGOs is continuously increasing in the territory of Hungary.
These are usually voluntary organisations that cover areas smaller than those of the national park directorates. In addition to the protection of the values of nature they try to preserve the folk traditions of the respective areas (e.g. through the organisation of traditional programmes). The establishment of a nature park is also based on the natural values, and an ecological farming is allowed in these areas for the protection of the natural values. In Hungary nature parks are not so much nature protection areas, they are more of spatial development character.
The actors operating at different levels and having different roles (non-governmental organisations, ecotourism service providers and forest schools) also have different tasks and competencies. Their effective cooperations may promote the division of the tasks and hardships concomitant with the development of the supply structure, and also the quantitative and qualitative change of the supply. The national park directorates, nature park associations, non-governmental organisations and ecotourism service providers are the main basis, in addition to the service providers of other tourism infrastructure.
We must not forget, however, that the target areas of ecotourism are not exclusively protected areas, and the needs of market can be better focused on in non-protected areas.
2.2. The infrastructure of ecotourism in Hungary
The national park directorates, the non-governmental organisations and the municipalities operate ecotourism exhibition places. These places can have various forms:
- Visitor centre or reception centre: these are complex institutions established at the centres of the national parks or in other areas visited by tourists, whose basic services include an information desk, exhibition room for permanent and temporary environmental exhibitions, a conference room, a workshop and a ―green‖ shop. In addition, auxiliary services may include a library of publications on nature protection, catering facilities and accommodation. Such establishments are the e.g. the Harmatfű Educational and Visitor centre in Őriszentpéter (Őrség National Park), the Hortobágy Visitor centre (Hortobágy National Park), the Salföld Farm in the Balaton Upland (Balaton Upland National Park), the Körös-valley visitor centre in Szarvas (Körös-Maros National Park), the Bechtold István nature protection visitor centre in Kőszeg (Őrség National Park) (Photo 1), or the Csapody István visitor centre in Fertőújlak (Fertő-Hanság National Park).
Photo 1: Nature Protection Visitor centre in Kőszeg. Photo by Erzsébet Pénzes
• - Educational centre, with nature-related workshop programmes: due to its primary function, the environmental education programmes offered in these places are primarily used by organised school and forest school groups, often together with accommodation. Examples for these establishments include Fecskeház (‗Swallow House‘) Forest School in Hortobágy-Máta (Hortobágy National Park), Naprózsa (‗Sunrose‘) Forest School in Fülöpháza (Kiskunság National Park), Green Community House and Forest School in Mórahalom (Kiskunság National Park), Nyugati Kapu (‗Western Gate‘) Educational and Visitor centre in Felsőtárkány (Bükk National Park), Pangea Educational Centre in Pénzesgyőr.
• - Local sights or specialised exhibition places: places designed for the general introduction of natural or cultural heritage of a specific type, and the surrounding area. Typically, several forms of introduction are applied, including geological exhibition places, show farms, arboretums, local museum houses and local history exhibitions, e.g. the Hegyestű (‗Sharp Needle‘) geological exhibition place in Monoszló (Balaton Upland National Park), the Kotsy Watermill in Zalaszántó (Balaton Upland National Park), the Vésztő-Mágor Historical Exhibition Place (Körös-Maros National Park), the White Stork Museum in Kölked (Danube-Dráva National Park), the Eszterházy Bird Watching Post in Osli-Földsziget (Fertő-Hanság National Park), or the geological exhibition place of Gánt. The open-air exhibition places are not bound by opening hours, they can be visited at any time of the day or year (e.g. by a signpost introducing the protected geological excavation), like the Kálvária Hill in Tata or the quarry of Sámsonháza.
• - Study path: a special theme path that exhibits the natural and cultural heritage of an area, usually by signposts and/or publications located at stations, allowing visitors to gather information actively (Photos 2 and 3). Hungary has more than 400 study paths, e.g. the Tisza Lake water path at Poroszló, the Tiszavirág (‗Mayfly‘) flood plain walking path at Tiszafüred, the Szálkahalom (‗Heap of fish bones‘) study path (Hortobágy National Park), the Vár-hegy (Castle Hill) study path in Felsőtárkány (Bükk National Park), the Lóczy study path Tihany (Balaton Upland National Park), Báránypirosító (‗lamb dying‘) study path in Fülöpháza (Kiskunság National Park), or the Gyada study path at Vác.
Cave exhibition place in more or less explored caves open to visitors, e.g. the Baradla Cave in the Aggtelek Mountains or the Csodabogyós (‗Butcher's Broom‘) Cave in the Keszthely Mountains.
Photo 2: Sign of a study path in the Szigetköz. Photo by Péter Tóth-Almási
Photo 3: Interpretation sign at the study path of the forestry company of Szombathely. Photo by Erzsébet Pénzes
Hiking paths are usually also classified as parts of the ecotourism supply: although there is no exhibition along these trails, they are still one of the main pieces of infrastructure of active ecotourism. In addition, further exhibition tools of ecotourism and nature are watch posts offering wildlife watch, and other signed hiking trails.
The supply of ecotourism also includes programmes with professional guides, and, if accompanied by exhibition or the support of the local community, also active ecotourism services such as canoeing, cave visits or special days (Day of Birds and Trees on 10 May; Day of the Earth on 22 April etc.).
2.3. Suprastructure
Typical accommodations of ecotourism are the so-called eco-lodges, frequently discussed in the international literature but rather rare in Hungary. Such an accommodation is e.g. the Öko-park boarding house in Szarvaskő (http://www.oko-park.hu/) or the Kacár Farm in Szokolya (http://www.kacar.hu/). In the centres of the Hungarian national park directorates and connected to the visitor centres and forest schools we also find accommodations, offered mostly to researchers and school groups; their equipment and construction style satisfy such demands, they are often in the tourism accommodation category. Ecotourism may also involve the local accommodations used by rural tourism, as through these accommodations the ecotourism product can involve and support the local community (see Chapter 6.).