GIS: GIS in Tourism and Recreation

<p>The course is about how GIS can be used as a tool to analyse and visualise how tourism can affect sensitive natural areas. The course covers regional statistics on tourism, mapping of valuable nature areas, ecological impact, and hiking trails, as well as analysis and planning for sustainable tourism.</p><p>In this course you will explore theoretical and practical concepts of sustainable tourism planning and how tourism can be planned using a GIS. Furthermore a simplified Tourism Decision Support System (TDSS) will be explored and how such a system can be linked to a GIS. This course includes practical and theoretical exercises regarding categorisation of sensitivity for land exposed to tourism and how measurements regarding tourism impact can be measured in field and be analysed and visualised in a GIS.</p> <h3>Course content</h3> <p>The course consists of the following practical and theoretical components:</p> <ul> <li>Sustainable tourism; concepts, definitions and relations Handling and visualisation of regional tourist statistics</li> <li>Ecological influence of tourism</li> <li>Mapping and analysis of ecological sensitivity in natural areas</li> <li>Mapping and analysis of hiking trails</li> <li>Mapping of particularly valuable natural environments</li> <li>Creation of a decision support system in GIS for planning and handling of tourism in sensitive natural areas</li> <li>Assessment of decision support systems and creation of a foundation for planning of sustainable tourism</li> </ul> <h3>Teaching methods</h3> <p>This course contains practical exercises using GIS as well as theoretical exercises and based on course literature and/or scientific articles.</p> <p> </p>