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The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain

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  • Getaneh Addis Tessema

    (Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
    Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar P.O. Box 79, Ethiopia)

  • Jean Poesen

    (Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
    Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Kraśnicka 2cd, 20-718 Lublin, Poland)

  • Gert Verstraeten

    (Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Anton Van Rompaey

    (Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Jan van der Borg

    (Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

Scenic beauty is one of the most-commonly used indicators in the inventory and assessment of geosites for geoconservation, geoheritage management and geotourism development. It is an important driver of tourists to visit natural areas and it also provides support for the protection of natural heritage. Previous studies on scenic beauty mainly focused on landscape preference and physical characteristics of geosites that affect scenic beauty appreciation. The relationships between the scenic beauty of geosites, their scientific value and the geoscience knowledge of tourists has not been empirically investigated in detail. Hence, this study investigates this relationship using 34 geosites from southeastern Spain. For this purpose, 29 respondents with a geoscience background and who all visited the 34 geosites, 43 respondents with a geoscience background but who did not visit the geosites, and 104 respondents with no geoscience background and who did not visit the geosites, participated in a survey. The first group rated the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites based on a direct field visit during which the scientific background of these geosites was given. On the other hand, the latter two groups rated scenic beauty using representative photos of the geosites. A five-point Likert scale was used to rate the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites. We found a significant relationship between the scenic beauty of geosites and their scientific value, and this relationship becomes more significant if the geoscientific knowledge of the respondents increases. One-way ANOVA results indicated that a geoscience background contributed to higher perceived scenic beauty, especially for those geosites that in general were considered as more scenic by all the respondent groups. It was also found that geosites with viewpoints received in general higher scenic beauty and scientific value ratings.

Suggested Citation

  • Getaneh Addis Tessema & Jean Poesen & Gert Verstraeten & Anton Van Rompaey & Jan van der Borg, 2021. "The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:5:p:460-:d:542873
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anna V. Mikhailenko & Dmitry A. Ruban, 2019. "Environment of Viewpoint Geosites: Evidence from the Western Caucasus," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Yi-Min Chang Chien & Steve Carver & Alexis Comber, 2021. "An Exploratory Analysis of Expert and Nonexpert-Based Land-Scape Aesthetics Evaluations: A Case Study from Wales," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Kirillova, Ksenia & Fu, Xiaoxiao & Lehto, Xinran & Cai, Liping, 2014. "What makes a destination beautiful? Dimensions of tourist aesthetic judgment," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 282-293.
    4. Jaime Martínez-Valderrama & Emilio Guirado & Fernando T. Maestre, 2020. "Unraveling Misunderstandings about Desertification: The Paradoxical Case of the Tabernas-Sorbas Basin in Southeast Spain," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    5. Carolina Perpiña Castillo & Eloína Coll Aliaga & Carlo Lavalle & José Carlos Martínez Llario, 2020. "An Assessment and Spatial Modelling of Agricultural Land Abandonment in Spain (2015–2030)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ruban, Dmitry A. & Mikhailenko, Anna V. & Yashalova, Natalia N., 2022. "Valuable geoheritage resources: Potential versus exploitation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Zehui Zhu & Jiaming Liu & He Zhu & Wudong Zhao, 2024. "Evaluating Scientific Tourism of Geoheritage: An Empirical Study of Fangshan Global Geopark in Beijing," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Theano S. Terkenli, 2021. "Research Advances in Tourism-Landscape Interrelations: An Editorial," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-8, September.
    4. Anna V. Mikhailenko & Svetlana O. Zorina & Natalia N. Yashalova & Dmitry A. Ruban, 2023. "Promoting Geosites on Web-Pages: An Assessment of the Quality and Quantity of Information in Real Cases," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Efthimios Bakogiannis & Chryssy Potsiou & Konstantinos Apostolopoulos & Charalampos Kyriakidis, 2021. "Crowdsourced Geospatial Infrastructure for Coastal Management and Planning for Emerging Post COVID-19 Tourism Demand," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-16, June.

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