Tourism operators' perspectives of environmental supply of guided tours in national parks

Environmental supply is a concept that links tourism demand to the sustainability of park offerings of natural features, physical attributes, management initiatives and/or governance policies that influence environmental conservation and protection of ecological and cultural environments. This study presents results of commercial tour operator's perspectives of environmental supply in two highly used Canadian Rocky Mountain national parks. Understanding of environmental supply, from a commercial stakeholder perspective, contributes positively to park management actions regarding commercial visitor activities and behaviours in protected national areas. Tour operators must supply quality visitor experiences while operating within a different policy environment than required by other tourism operators providing guided tours outside of park boundaries. This paper includes the results of a four-stage mixed methodology including one-on-one field interviews and surveys targeting commercial tour guiding businesses operating within Banff and Jasper national parks from 2011 through 2015. Each interview included formal questions, ranging from a description of the types of activities included during tours to actual or perceived limitations placed on operations due to managers' considerations about environmental supply. Results presented are from the final 2015 study, reflecting 17 randomly sampled formal interviews and 41 completed on-line surveys with representatives of tour companies operating within Banff or Jasper national parks; this equates to a useable return rate of 43.6%. Both qualitative and quantitative results are discussed and grouped for presentation.Management implicationsResearch informs decision making by providing the following:1.Understanding of how tourism operators perceive their roles and abilities and how these relate to creating a quality visitor experience, a sustainable business and assurance for the conservation of natural resources within a protected park environment;2.Understanding of the concept of environmental supply and identifying which characteristics of environmental supply are important for guided tour operators who are attempting to meet park environmental management standards while also meeting commercial tourism demands;3.Identification of possible 'weak links' or informational gaps in a government agency's process-driven approach to managing tours and guided recreational activities in national parks; and4.Demonstration of the value of social science research in illuminating the link between practice and policy as it relates to tourism and environment for protected areas.