Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.: ECOTOUR06-2S-2025-2026
College: Forestry, Environment and Resources Management
Campus: Bayombong
DEGREE PROGRAM BSECO COURSE NO. ECOTOUR 22
SPECIALIZATION COURSE TITLE Ecotourism Management 2
YEAR LEVEL 3 TIME FRAME 3 hrs WK NO. 7 IM NO. 7
I. UNIT TITLE/CHAPTER TITLE
Chapter 7. Visitor Management
II. LESSON TITLE
III. LESSON OVERVIEW
Visitor management is a key component in managing an ecotourism site. Visitor management
involves managing the type of visitors that can be admitted into an ecotourism site, volume of
visitors, density and spread of visitors within the site, frequency of visits, seasonality, and the
behavior of tourists. These factors have implications on the kind of facilities to be put on the site,
communication and interpretation strategies, signage, staffing, the degree of tourism impact, the
quality of the tourism experience, and economic viability. Visitor number and their actions in an
ecotourism site also affect other visitor’s perceived satisfaction levels. This chapter focuses on
the various aspects and tools for visitor management.
IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
Define “ visitor management”
Explain the principles of visitor management
Explain the different frameworks for formulating visitor management techniques
Enumerate the “ hard” and “ soft” tolls for visitor management
Know how to behave responsibly and ethically in ecotourism sites.
V. LESSON CONTENT
Definition of Visitor Management and Its Principles
Visitor management is defined as “an administrative action oriented toward maintaining the
quality of park resources and visitor experience”. Visitor management can be described as the
techniques and procedures adopted by the management staff of an ecotourism site to minimize
negative impacts of visitation, protect visitors from natural and man-made dangers, and maximize
visitor leisure satisfaction and education in the site.
There are nine principles that should guide visitor management efforts. These are: (1) the
appropriateness of management tools with the objectives, (2) the desirability of diversity in resource ad
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social conditions in protected areas, (3) the need to direct and influence human-induced change, (4) the
inevitability of impacts on resource and social conditions as a result of human use, (5) the temporary
and spatially discontinuous nature of impacts, (6) the multiplicity of variables that influence the use-
impact relationship, (7) the realization that many management problems are not due to the number of
users, (8) limiting use as being just one of many management options, and (9) the need to separate
technical decisions from value judgments in decision-making.
Visitor Management Frameworks
There are a number of frameworks that can be used in formulating visitor management plans.
They are the following:
Carrying Capacity (CC) is probably the most popular framework for establishing limits to level
of visitation in ecotourism sites. Basically, carrying capacity assumes that an area can accommodate a
certain maximum number of people without degrading the place. The simplest method for calculating
carrying capacity is through Boullon’s mathematical model, where the carrying capacity is determined
by dividing the area used by tourists by the average individual standard ( average space needed per
person) of 2 square meters (CC = area used by tourists in square meters / 2 square meter). For
example a park measuring 30,000 square meters will have a carrying capacity of 15,000. After that, the
carrying capacity is multiplied by the rotation coefficient (RC) or the number of hours the site is open
per day divided by the average number of hours per visit (RC= number of hours open daily /average
number of hours per visit). For example, if the site is open for 8 hours each day, and the average time
spent by a tourist on the site is 4 hours, then RC is 2 . Potential carrying capacity (PCC) is the product
of CC and RC. Thus, using the previous example, the PCC is 30,000 (15,000 x 2).
Carrying capacity is a very simple concept to understand. However, the actual CC of a place is
not a fixed number; it is determined by a host of environmental, social and economic factors. Some of
these factors are the fragility of the ecosystem (the presence of endangered species will limit activities
and volume of visitors allowed in a wilderness area), cultural sensitivity and tolerance for outsiders by
local residents (some cultural communities are not ready to allow visitors for fear of their culture being
dominated), and labor policies (if projects require employing local people, then use of automation
devices which could be factored in (Inskeep, 1991) because the individual standard will vary depending
on that. For example, if used for camping, an area will have less CC compared to if it was used as a
theme park. Campers will want to feel that they are secluded from the rest of visitors in a park so they
will require more space around their tents. Picnickers can share a tighter space.
Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) process requires making decisions on what kind of
conditions in an ecotourism site are acceptable and coming up with actions to achieve those conditions.
According to Stankey et al. (1995), there are nine steps involved in the LAC process (10 identify area
issues and concerns, (2) define and describe opportunity classes, (3) select indicators of resource and
social conditions, (4) inventory existing resource and social conditions, (5) specify standards for
resource and social conditions for each opportunity class, (6) identify alternative opportunity class
allocating reflecting area issues and concerns and existing resource and social conditions, (7) identify
management actions for each alternative, (8) evaluate and select a preferred alternative, and (9)
implement actions and monitor conditions. This approach is best applied to wilderness areas but could
also be used in historic and tourism areas.
Visitor Impact Management (VIM) Framework involves identifying the negative visitor impacts
on an ecotourism site and devising programs to minimize the impacts before expensive restoration and
rehabilitation become necessary. According to Farell and Marion (2002), the advantages of VIM include
simplicity, flexibility, cost effectiveness, timeliness, and inclusion of input from stakeholders and local
residents. Disadvantages include diminished objectivity cultural sensitivity issues. The VIM process is
very similar to LAC. The steps in the VIM framework are: (1) review and identification of issues, (2)
selection of indicators, (3) resource inventory, (4) specification of standards for indicators, (5)
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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
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implementation through an iterative process of monitoring, (6) comparison of impacts with standards,
and (7) identification of alternative management options if standards are not met.
Visitor Experience and Resource Protection is “a palnning and management framework that
focuses on visitor use impacts on the visitor experience and the park resources. These impacts are
primarily attributable to visitor behavior, use levels, types of use, timing of use, and location of use” (US
National Parks Service, 1997). The process involves nine steps: (1) assembling an interdisciplinary
project team; (2) developing a public involvement strategy; (3) developing statements of (park) purpose,
significance, and primary interpretive themes and identification of planning constraints; (4) analyzing
resources and existing visitor use, (5) describing the potential range of visitor experiences and resource
conditions, (6) allocating the potential zones to specific locations (prescriptive management zoning); (7)
selecting indicators and specifying standards for each zone and developing a monitoring plan; (8)
monitoring resource and social indicators; and (9) taking management action (US National Park
Service, 1997).
Visitor Activity Management Process (VAMP) aims to determine the kinds of activities that
are suitable in a park and the strategies in making the public understand, appreciate and enjoy the
park’s natural and cultural heritage. Developed in Canada, VAMP is an integral part of the country’s
Park Management Planning Process. VAMP is problem-and-issue rather than data-driven. VAMP’s
primary purpose is for management to arrive at good decisions by providing data that include
experiential and informal knowledge by the organization and resident populations, and customary users
of a region. It combines social science and ecological data and places strong emphasis on the human
element in park and protected area designation, planning, and management. The VAMP model
consists of six steps: (1) objective(s), (2) terms of reference, (3) database analysis, (4) concept/options,
(5) recommendations, and (6) approval and implementation. Vamp is also used to profile park visitors
and their motivations in order to determine appropriate segments for a park and its surrounding region.
VAMP is concerned with the socioeconomic advantages and disadvantages of the mix of opportunities,
activities, services, and facilities in the park and the region.
Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) (Clark & Stanley, 1979) is a framework for
identifying the various opportunities for recreation. It is particularly useful for (1) allocating and planning
recreational resources, (2) inventorying recreational resources, (3) estimating the consequences of
management decisions on recreational opportunities, and (4) matching experiences visitors desire with
available opportunities.
In allocating and planning recreational resources, the relative availability of different
opportunities (recreational supply), their reproducibility, reversibility, and spatial distribution must be
considered. When a recreational opportunity is abundant, it may be a good idea to offer various types
of recreation. Reproducibility and reversibility refer to the extent to which an opportunity can be
technologically reproduced and the ability of management to reverse the outcome of decisions. Modern
(developed) recreational products are generally easier to reproduce through capital infusion and
technology than the primitive variety. A change from modern to primitive is more easily reversed than a
change from primitive to modern. Therefore management must be cautious in transforming an area
from a primitive condition to a developed one.
ROS involves the following steps: (1) inventory of recreational opportunities, (2) determining the
kind of experiences that are desired by visitors, and (3) matching the recreational opportunities with the
desired experiences. The inventory of opportunities should take not of specific situational attributes,
such as access, facilities, and services among other. The inventory should produce information about
the relative availability of different settings in an area.
Combined with studies of recreation demand and preference, shortage or excess of
opportunities could be determined and appropriate decisions to fill or reduce them could be made.
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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.: ECOTOUR06-2S-2025-2026
Complementation among suppliers is deemed necessary because a lone supplier will not be capable of
meeting all types of recreations demanded by visitors. In any decision, management should anticipate
the outcomes (changes and impacts) on other opportunities and evaluate the desirability of the
outcome. As a hypothetical example, the expansion of the airport capacity in Basco will affect Batanes,
which is a protected landscape and seascape. It should be carefully analyzed before committing to the
project. A bigger airport will open the province to mass tourism that could destroy the “innocence” of the
residents. The final step is to enable matching visitors’ motivations with the appropriate recreational
opportunity setting.
The spectrum of recreation opportunity settings proposed by Clark and Stanley (1979) ranges
from primitive, semi-primitive, semi-modern, and modern. This classification is based on six factors: (1)
access, (2) non-recreational resource uses, (3) on-site management or modification, (4) social
interaction, (5) acceptability of impacts, and (6) acceptable regimentation. Access elements include the
types of access (e.g. roads, trails, and cross-country travel), and the means of conveyance allowed
(e.g. cars, all-terrain vehicles, horses, and feet). On-site management elements include extent of
modifications, apparentness of modifications, complexity of modifications, and facilities. Social
interaction ranges from zero human contact to excessive human interaction. Acceptability of impacts
considers both the magnitude and importance of such impacts. Acceptability of regimentation refers to
the techniques used to control visitors’ activities ranging from zero to excessive rules and regulations.
Tourism Optimization Management Model is basically a framework for managing a tourism
destination using sustainable tourism indicators. The model identifies strategic, imperatives such as
policies and emerging issues. It considers community values, product characteristics, growth patterns,
market trends and opportunities, positioning and branding, and alternative scenarios for tourism in a
region. It also identifies optimum conditions, indicators, acceptable ranges, monitoring techniques,
benchmarks, annual performance, and predicted performance. In case of poor performance, the cause-
and-effect relationships are analyzed to determine the results that require a tourism response.
Management options are then considered to address such poor performance.
Visitor management tools
Visitor management tools can be grouped into two general categories: hard and soft. Hard
approaches emphasize physical, regulatory, and economic management. These include the
construction of facilities or infrastructure to control the movement of visitors in a park, enforcement of
laws by fines and imprisonment, and pricing mechanisms. Soft approaches focus on education and
interpretation. Mason criticizes these approaches as assuming that visitors will not behave properly in a
site “until proven innocent” and overlooks the importance of visitor experience in visitor management
(Mason, 2005).
Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard, and Buckley (2014) identified three direct visitor management
practices. (1) limitations on visitor use, (2) rules and regulations, and (3) zoning. Limiting visitor use can
be done by using reservation systems, lotteries, queuing, pricing, and merit. A reservation system
requires potential visitors to reserve a space or obtain permit ahead of their visit. A lottery allocates
opportunities or permits on a random basis. A queuing system (first come, first served) involves waiting
for available spaces or permits. A pricing system requires visitors to pay a fee for a permit. This practice
excludes people who cannot or are unwilling to pay. Pricing mechanisms may have differential pricing
for locals and outside visitors, seasonal pricing, and premium pricing.
Rules and regulations according to Leung et al. (2014) include: group size limits, assigning
campsites and/or travel itineraries, area closures, length of stay limitations, and prohibitions on
activities that create substantive impacts on resource and quality of experience. Some examples of
detrimental activities committed by tourists in an ecotourism site are picking of flowers, building fires,
leaving fires unextinguished, smoking and throwing away cigarette butts into the woods, not wearing
proper outdoor gear and diving in waters of unknown depth.
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Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
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Zoning is assigning certain activities ton selected areas, restricting activities from areas, and
separating conflicting uses of an area. Zoning can also be time-determined. It can be used to create
different types of tourism opportunities. The basic concept and framework that is widely used in
protected area management.
Establishing ecotourism zones involves ten steps according to Calanog et al. (2014):
[Link] within a protected area (PA), refer to the General Management Plan (GMP) for determining where
tourism activities are allowed. If outside a PA, refer to the municipality’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan
(CLUP), tourism master plan, business district, and transport bays, among others.
2. Obtain a site base map, which will be used for planning and placing specific attractions, facilities, and
infrastructure.
3. Locate sensitive or environmentally fragile sites.
4. Identify the kind of experience or situation the visitors would wish to have at the site
5. Compare the proposed location of tourist attractions and infrastructure with the location of
environmentally sensitive sites and present zoning system
6. Determine the final location of visitor infrastructure and attractions through site visits verification and
consultations with local communities and other stakeholders.
7. Prepare a preliminary zoning system that incorporates recommendations for visitor use zones.
8. Compare the proposed zoning system with the pre-existing system to determine if changes are
necessary.
9. Develop the final zoning system where each zone is described following the prescribed zoning
format.
10. Set the rules and regulations that will be applied in the zones.
The zoning format should contain the following information: name of the zone, general objectives, zone
description, zone boundaries, management rules, regulations, and policies. The name of the zone
describes the type of activity permitted in the zone such intensive use, religious zone, or wilderness.
The general objectives set expectations and list the management objectives. Zone description
summarizes site attributes (biophysical, social, and administrative). Zone boundaries specify the
location and the geographical bearings of the site. Management rules, regulations, and policies list the
requirements for entering the site and the “ do’s and don’ts” in the site, such as permits, campfires,
group size. Etc.
Tools for Influencing Visitor Behavior
Influencing visitor behavior may be done through two types of law enforcement: soft and hard.
Soft enforcement involves park design, signage, interpretation, or mere presence of a security officer.
Part of soft enforcement involves informing the public of the relevant rules and explaining why such
rules exist, as well as the penalty for non-compliance. Hard enforcement involves the issuance of
citations, fines, and arrests. The choice of enforcement techniques used in a park should strike a
balance between visitor safety, compliance to rules, and visitor enjoyment. That choice is dependent on
the cultural context, gravity of environmental concerns, and crime situation.
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Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
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Despite park managements’ intention to provide visitor enjoyment and experience, visitor
manners with “ depreciative behaviors” are still prevalent. Depreciative behaviors are defined as deeds
that “ degrade park resources or experiences of other visitors”.
Measures to Provide Security and Safety
Security and safety are paramount considerations in planning trips to a destination. Places
where there is insurgency, high crime rate, and are prone to natural calamities will not be able to attract
many visitors. In an ecotourism site, safety can be enhanced by employing security personnel, orienting
visitors about the potential hazards in the place and emergency procedures; requiring visitors to
present valid IDs wearing proper attire and equipment for certain activities like caving and rappelling,
prohibiting the bringing of dangerous materials like guns, drugs, and alcohol inside the ecotourism
premises, and having warning signs. It is also important to have properly trained tour guides and staff
who can perform first aid to visitors when necessary. Security cameras may also be installed all over
the site.
Various ways of minimizing accidents and emergencies in the park also include releasing
advisories during rainy days, assigning people to handle crowd control during peak season, providing
emergency equipment on stand-by, and assigning trained people in cases of emergencies.
Minimizing Visitor Impacts
There are several strategies for minimizing the negative impacts of visitors’ activities on a site.
These strategies could be: (1) restricting the number of visitors entering the site. (2) putting a maximum
number of people per group of tourists together, (3) preassigning sites to specific groups of visitors to
distribute their impacts, (4) are closures during bird periods, (5) limiting the length of stay on the site, (6)
putting barriers to restrict access to danger zones, (7) prohibiting certain activities like hunting or
making fire, and (8) restricting vehicle access to the site and concentrating facilities in a specific part of
the site. In addition, it is important to note that enabling conditions must be present to encourage all
stakeholders to cooperate in minimizing the negative impacts of visitation.
Limiting the number of visitors to a vulnerable site like the Puerto Princessa Underground River
(PPUR) is being done through reservation or booking system, registration, charging high entrance fees,
and controlling transportation to the site. At the PPUR, vehicles cannot go directly to the cave,
passengers have to alight at Sabang airport to take the boats that will ferry them to the cave. Because
of limited carrying capacity of the ferryboats that bring tourists inside the cave, passengers need to wait
to take their turns, effectively controlling the number of tourists that are inside the cave at a given time.
Moreover, the landing site, visitor center, photo booth, toilets, and boat station are located adjacent to
each other at the PPUR. To minimize trampling on the vegetation, walking paths can be covered with
some hard materials like gravel, or tiles or ground tire rubber like in South Korea. Boardwalks, viewing
platforms, and hides may also be built in specific areas to preclude encounters between humans and
wild animals.
Other methods involve the enforcement of penalties like fines for violation of park rules such as
hunting ban or prohibition on feeding animals.
The impact exerted by tourists on an ecotourism site can also be controlled by soft measures,
such as information, education, and communication (IEC) strategies. These can be provided through
seminars in visitor information center at the site entrance and giving away brochures, maps, kiosks, and
signs, among others. Such measures not only educate tourists, but also influence them to behave in a
responsible manner. A very important feature of IEC is interpretation, which is the presentation of data
and facts in a manner that makes a connection with the tourists.
Visitors get to appreciate the site more when a trained tour guide is able to reveal “secrets”
about the site that one will not be able to encounter simply by reading written materials. To compensate
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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
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INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.: ECOTOUR06-2S-2025-2026
for the negative effect, visitors may also be asked or encouraged to plant mangrove seedlings or
donate to environmental conservation funds.
Tourists must also be reminded to behave ethically and respect local culture; they must not
engage in sex tourism of any form and must not corrupt the locals by giving excessive tips.
Some examples of ethical practices include not leaving bottles, packaging materials, and
leftover food at the site; not plucking flowers; not feeding wild animals; and not being noisy. Leaving
food behind or feeding wild animals can condition them to depend on human beings for food. This can
make them lose their survival skills of hunting or food gathering; or even make them attack people for
food.
Safety-oriented behavior include not drinking unpurified water, rehydrating regularly and
wearing hats to avoid direct exposure to the sun and prevent heat, stroke, avoiding hypothermia by
wearing appropriate clothes, staying with one’s group to avoid getting lost, using insect repellent and
wearing protective clothing in areas where poisonous plants exist, and washing clothes when you leave
the trail. Visitors must also prepare for their adventure by knowing the weather, reading about the site,
and studying its trail conditions.
Responsible and Ethical Behavior in Ecotourism Sites
Schools, government, resorts, tour operators, and other tourism stakeholders have a
responsibility to educate or remind tourists to behave/dress appropriately in places they will be visiting,
to seek out as much information before travelling to a destination, pay fair price for goods and services
in the destination, to travel light to minimize the need for big transport vehicles, to use rechargeable
batteries and reusable water bottles, and to use biodegradable soaps and shampoos. They should also
remind visitors that when taking photos, ask for permission first; do not use flash with animals who are
light sensitive (nocturnal animals); and do not give money to children as this encourages begging (The
Educational Travel Community. 2006).
Moreover, stakeholders themselves have a responsibility to conduct business in an ethical
manner (TETC, 2006). They should:
Obtain the consent of local communities before they establish their business;
Give back a fair share of their profits to the local community, in cash and social projects like
community projects in health, education, etc.
Contribute to the nature conservation of biodiversity;
Minimize consumption of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuel;
Respect traditional culture and social structures; and
Limit group size to minimize cultural/environmental impacts.
Factors Influencing Environmental Behavior
A person’s behavior reflects his or her knowledge, attitude, and values. Several studies cited by
Chiu, Lee, and Chen (2014) positively correlated environmentally responsible behavior to factors like
sense of responsibility, place attachment, travel motivation, tourism satisfaction, perceived value of the
place (money paid vs. benefits), and activity involvement.
In an ecotourism setting, a person can display his environmental and social concern by not
littering or keeping his trash and disposing of it properly in trash bins.
II. EVALUATION (Note: Not to be included in the student’s copy of the IM)
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III. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Answer the following questions accordingly in your own words.
[Link] is visitor management? Expound
2. Explain the different principles of visitor management.
3. Explain at least three frameworks for formulating visitor management techniques.
4. Enumerate the “hard” and “soft” tools for visitor management; compare their advantages and
disadvantages.
5. Based on your knowledge of how to behave responsibly and ethically in ecotourism sites, what five
things do tourists do that violate ethical and responsible travel?
Note: Please upload, submit, or turn in your work to our Google classroom/ Edmodo.
IV. ASSIGNMENT
Go to a park nearest you. Observe the behavior of the park-goers and identify unsustainable practices
if any. Prescribe specific measures to deter such practices.
V. REFERENCE/S
Angeles, Marie V. (2021). Global Culture and Tourism Geography. Sta. Cruz Manila
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