Understanding the factors that influence visitor perceptions regarding wildlife tourism with Amazon River dolphins

Autores

Palavras-chave:

Anavilhanas, Ecotourism, Cetaceans, Inia geoffrensis, National Park

Resumo

Understanding the factors that influence the visitor’s perceptions regarding wildlife tourism is essential to management of its potential negative impacts. This article presents the profile, and visitor perception, regarding tourism with Amazon River dolphins in the Anavilhanas National Park, Brazil. Using a semi-structured script, interviews were carried out with 175 visitors of the “Flutuante dos Botos”, enterprise where the interactions with cetaceans occur. The interviewees hailed from 12 countries from North and South America and Europe. Most interviewees reported an age within a range from 18-27 years, a higher education degree and a high monthly household income. The main feeling aroused by the interactions with dolphins was that of happiness/excitement yet many visitors have expressed dissatisfaction with the enterprise staff. Although the model of how the activity is carried out, based on food supply, harms the cetaceans’ natural behaviour based on hunting, most interviewees believe that tourism helps to preserve the species by promoting people's awareness and making people acquire important knowledge. Our results provide important information for managers of the enterprise and the Protected Area, so they can better understand tourism and develop adequate management strategies for interactions between the tourist and the Amazon River dolphin.

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Biografia do Autor

Marcelo Derzi Vidal, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação da Sociobiodiversidade Associada a Povos e Comunidades Tradicionais, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade

Biólogo, Doutor em Biodiversidade e Conservação. Analista Ambiental do ICMBio.

Priscila Maria da Costa Santos, Núcleo de Gestão Integrada Novo Airão, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade

Geógrafa, Mestre em Geografia. Analista Ambiental do ICMBio.

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Publicado

2021-09-16

Como Citar

Vidal, M. D., Santos, P. M. da C., Chaves, M. do P. S. R., Moreira, J. C., & Burns, R. C. (2021). Understanding the factors that influence visitor perceptions regarding wildlife tourism with Amazon River dolphins. Revista Hospitalidade, 18(02), 173–196. Recuperado de https://www.revhosp.org/hospitalidade/article/view/950