02 / 2012 / Volume 1

This contribution is devoted to the environmental aspects of tourism, when the environment is perceived in its wider meaning, i.e. as a complete environment for life: in natural, rural or urban space, with connotations to feedback of local societies and communities. The author points out on environmental quality as an important factor which is influencing not only potential and carrying capacity of an area for the tourism development but also the decision making process of tourism participant in his/her choice of destination and his/her stimulation for temporal leaving his/her home environment. She analyses both positive and negative environmental tourism impacts as well as related causes and factors. Further she presents three basic concepts of tourism environmental studies, i.e. destination lifecycle, carrying capacity and social exchange. The author also describes the environmentally innovative tourism forms as a demonstration of good praxis of sustainable tourism. In conclusion she assesses the actual state of research and education of environmental tourism studies.

The carrying capacity is often pragmatically, theoretically as well as purely intuitively considered as a concept in the context of tourism sustainability. The carrying capacity application has the greatest potential in protected areas, in frequently visited cultural and natural attractions, and in relation to sustaining of the lifestyle of the local community and tourism destination potential in general. Despite its importance, partial applications, determination of basic theoretical  principles, and specifying connection to the other theoretical concepts in tourism (particularly destination life cycle, LAC concept, visitors management), there still is a rightful opinion of some authors suggesting that there is no consistent theory of tourism carrying capacity. This theory would be the base for sophisticated practical carrying capacity applications. This paper is therefore focused on introduction of the theoretical concept of carrying capacity, which can be discussed and possibly further elaborated.

The paper briefly presents a question of defining rural areas, including most common approaches. It also offers a summary of chosen problems and historical linkages and research context of rural tourism. The introductory part is followed by balancing characteristic features and namely troubles of rural areas of the Czech Republic, which are largely a consequence of previous economic and political climate. Major part of the paper summarizes chosen aspects of rural development and prevailing approaches to rural development, emphasizing a potential of tourism, preconditions, barriers, pros and cons of its development. It is obvious, that the topic of rural development interconnects many dimensions – economic, geographic, demographic, environmental, social, cultural, historical, urbanistic, architectonic and psychological, as well.

The paper deals with identification of various motives of tourists to visit the location and tourism attractions that are related with the presence of the death. The survey was done by means of the methods of structured interviews that were recorded by questionnaires into the prepared questionnaire. Respondents were addressed in the model area of southwestern Bohemia that includes South-Bohemian and West-Bohemian Region. Motives leading to the visit of particular attractions of the dark tourism were separately researched. Respondents were asked to decide, if the given motive is or is not suitable in order to participate on particular activities of the dark tourism. It was discovered that one tourist attraction or dark-tourism-related location is visited by a high number of motivationally differentiated visitors. This finding is in compliance with the generally known character of tourism attractions related to the cultural heritage. It was also confirmed that the type of visitor is the strongest factor of the difference among particular motives’ suitability to the visit of various dark tourism attractions.