Sustainable tourism development and the world heritage status of the Wadden Sea: The case of Terschelling

Abstract

National governments and regions make great efforts to obtain international recognition for their natural heritage, for instance through UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list. Since June 2009, the Dutch Wadden Sea has been on the World Heritage List. Our study investigates to what extent the World Heritage status of the Wadden Sea matters to tourists visiting the Wadden island of Terschelling, in the off season. Results showed that for most respondents (93.5%) the World Heritage Status was not a reason to visit Terschelling, while almost a quarter (23.7%) did not know about the World Heritage Status. However, the Wadden Sea was regarded as one of the most attractive elements of the area, together with the North Sea beach, dunes and forests of the Wadden island of Terschelling. For 58% of the respondents, the Wadden Sea was the reason to visit. To conclude, the Wadden Sea is highly appreciated, but for domestic tourists, the designation as World Heritage Site is not a reason for visiting. First-time or international tourists, who are more likely to be attracted by the World Heritage status, were not found during the off season. More efforts could be made to promote the Wadden Sea area as an attractive natural area among these groups of tourists, in order to gain more support for nature protection and preservation of this unique natural heritage region.

Keywords: tourist motivations, valuation, natural landscapes, coastal tourism, long-term nature protection