Visiting the Wilderness of Banff National Park: Achieving Touristic Well-Being by “Disconnecting” from Everyday Life and “Connecting” to Nature

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State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_2582E54A7A34
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Visiting the Wilderness of Banff National Park: Achieving Touristic Well-Being by “Disconnecting” from Everyday Life and “Connecting” to Nature
Journal
Journal of Alpine Research | Revue de géographie alpine
Author(s)
Müller-Roux Morgane
ISSN
0035-1121
1760-7426
Publication state
Published
Issued date
30/05/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Language
english
Abstract
This paper strives to demonstrate the strong link between current discourses on nature and the tourist imaginaries of nature practices. Indeed, there is a dominant common discourse on nature which affirms that being in nature and its practice would be beneficial for the body and the mind. Currently, national parks seem to offer the ideal space for people to “get away from it all”, because nature—and the wilderness more particularly—is becoming more and more important within tourist imaginaries as it symbolize a break with the stress of everyday life. This study, carried out in Banff National Park, in Canada, tries in particular to illustrate these new ways of dealing with nature. These tourist practices are not without effects on the environment: as we will see through field observations that these protected territories are quickly taken over and are now overwhelmed by their success. The mountain regions and certain natural areas then suddenly undergo strong anthropogenic pressures, leaving certain managers “stunned” by this influx of visitors in search of connections with nature.
Keywords
wilderness, Banff National Park, imaginaries, tourism practices
Open Access
Yes
Create date
06/06/2023 11:58
Last modification date
22/06/2023 6:52
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