Source of information: www.peakdistrict.org
From the diagram we can identify that 61% visit the Peak District due to its spectacular scenery/landscape. Within the Peak District, there are many landscapes which make it special and different. However, different landscape of the Peak District would be found at Wind Blow tops to Tranquil dales, form hard Rock Edge to traditional flower rich Hay Meadows form great Show Caves to gentle river Valley. Furthermore, tourist would discover different attentions such as Wildlife and cultural Heritage of the Peak District.
This proves to us those tourists who still have an interest upon countryside and also, we can identify that a large number of British people enjoy discovering and enjoying National Parks within their country. Within the Peak District National Park, there are seven areas, which tourist enjoy visiting them, they are:
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Bakewell with interesting building and busy market
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Chatsworth, home of the Duke of Devonshire
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Hartington village
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Goyt valley and its reservoirs
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Hope Valley and the village of Castleton
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Upper Derwent and the Ladybower and Derwent Reservoirs
Additionally, the Peak District provides tourists with adventure activities beside the scenery of the countryside. The types of activities that are provided for the tourists are:
Walking, riding, caving/climbing, cycling, air sport, water sports, sketching, painting, bird watching or learning about the countryside. (Refer to appendix 1 for more detail)
As mentioned before, the Peak District is one of the most popular National Park in Britain, therefore, transportation is essential for easy access for tourism. Therefore, it links to the spacious London public transport network. The type of network that it link to are:
The Hope Valley Line & Events, Derbyshire County Council Public Transport Page, Rail Track, Midland Main Line, Central Trains, North East Regional Railways and Peak Rail.
Further more, the diagram on the previous indicates that there are 28% of the visitors enjoy the Peak District because of its peace and quietness from the busyness of the cities. In other words, tourist/people might spend their holiday or weekends at the Peak District due to that reason, therefore accommodation is essential for requirement of their needs.
Therefore, the Peak District offers wide range of accommodation in order to meeting their customer needs such as taste, style and budget. Their range varies from Grand hotels to Farmhouse B&B.
The Peak District is like any tourist attraction that has its advantages and disadvantages.
There are three main points that Peak District benefit from its tourist, they are:
- Employment
It is generally known that the tourism industry is rapidly growing among the other industries. Within the Peak district there are 950 employees (500 full-time, 350 part-time and 100 seasonal), additionally other employee that works in shops and other service that related to tourism.
- Income
Tourism generates income for many segments within the Peak District. It generates income to keep many of the great houses in good condition such as, Chatworth home of the Duke of Devonshire. Additionally, tourism generate income to the farmers with caravan an camping sites in their field, to local villages offering B&B in their homes and also to the hotels and those renting out self-catering cottages.
Lastly, it increases the income of the local shops that might not remain open if they had to depend only upon their local trade.
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Preservation and Conservation
Tourism can affect the historic building and sites. Since many formers mills have been visited by many tourists who have an interest within this attraction. Additionally, Magpie Mine have been preserved as well as Redundant farm building made the use of it location as making holiday accommodation, camping barns etc.
Alternatively, beside any advantages there are always disadvantages.
- Limiting Car Parking
As mentioned before, the number of visitor to the Peak District is up to 30 million people a year. Most of the visitor uses their private car for independence; this led to an increased traffic by over 40 per cent and on the A628, which crosses between Sheffield and Manchester, and it went up a whopping 93 per cent. However the Peak District tried to encourage tourist not to use their cars in order to reduce congestion and improve environment. There has been a survey undertaken for this issue, and the result identifies that majority of the tourist/people were unhappy about the process of the transport are been managed. On of the survey indicates that there must be a way of how to convince tourist/people to use public transport.
"But changing attitudes is not enough. Over the last few years money and resources have begun to be invested to improve public transport in and around the National Park. More trains and buses are running but that won't make any difference unless we are willing to use them. And that means changing actions as well as attitudes.”
The Peak District National Park Authority decided to carry out some changes for this issue in order to solve the problem. One of the changes if to Let some to the land out to the farmers and some is set for recreational use to the public, which all managed by the Authority’s Estates Service.
Another solution is to increase the car parking fee, which seems successful according to the increased of £100,000 a year, is re-invested in conservation projects and improving visitor facilities within the National Park.
2. Erosion in the Peak District
As we mentioned before, many tourists/people visit the Peak District for its Landscape. Unfortunately the Peak District is been ruined by the tourists/people by different elements, the following elements is quotes from
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“Water in cracks and crevices in limestone’s, freezes and expands. This action had its greatest effect during the ice ages as the land froze and thawed again and again, over many hundreds of thousands of years. Fragments of rocks were gradually broken off and form scree at the foot of the cliffs”
- “The steep dales have been carved out by swift-running water- from melting glaciers during the ice as well as from rivers. Water continues to dissolve limestone, forming caves and washing away fragments of rock. Where layers of shale become waterlogged under layer of grifstone, landslips occur”
- “Vegetation plays an important part in protecting the land from excess soil erosion. Grass roots build up fine soil particles into large crumbs that are not easily eroded. Roods and leaves of plants decay in the soil and from a sticky substance (humus) that the same effects. Intensive cultivation keeps the soil bare in winter and tills the soil to fine particles, which are then easily eroded by winds and rain. Fortunately most of the Peak District’s farmland is used for grass production, though some is ploughed up and reseeded every few years”
- Moorland in the Dark Peak and on the footpaths that cross both the moors and the farm and dales of the White Peak, within them are the main erosion problem of the Peak National Park.
Also reservoirs have been effected by the Peat and soil is been washed into the reservoir from surrounding land, gradually reduce the water storage capacity and reduce drinking water clarity to below accepted EC level.
It has been notified that the human being has a major impact upon erosion either by direct (such as trampling feet’s) or indirect (such as over cultivation of the land) and finally vegetation is been removed by accidental fires and by heavy trampling which led to preventing regenerating and many areas laid bare which forces of erosion.
Therefore, National Park Authority should decrease the number of visitor in order to prevent this issue (erosion). This can be done through many ways, such as:
- Provide a countryside dress code
- Increase the activities prices and pre-advance booking them
- Increase the activities prices during peak season
- Prevent access to reservoirs
- Directional signs channelling visitor away from damaged or ecological sensitive areas
3. Jobs can be seasonal, poorly paid and required employees to worker hours
- Visitors are vulnerable to crime
- Loss of wildlife habitats
- Wildlife distribution
Additionally there are six partnership that look after the park in many different prospect, they are:
- Discovering Villages
- Local Countryside Access Forum
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Stanage Forum (Refer to appendix 2 to identifies the role of that partnership)
- Biodiversity Action plan
- Millennium Awards
- New Environment Economy
Linking the advantages and disadvantages to the tourism management, the National Park Authority should a sustainable development for tourism.
The Brundtland Report, Word Commission on Environment and Development 1987 (Class notes), define sustainable tourism as:
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
This mean, that the Peak District National Park Authority keep in mind the following action:
- Plan before developing
- Informing the local people of what is going on
- Community involvement of any project or scheme might be taken forwards
- Expand the development of the benefits of the local people
- Taking a long term view, such as making regulation to tourist for protecting the Peak District cultural
- Responsible consumption of natural resources
- Environmental protection (erosion etc)
- Set limits to grow ( don’t destroy the land for developing hotels, entertainment)
Achieving tourism sustainability is critical. Leask & Yeoman (1999), believes that balance sustainability and customer requirement are found within the operating management due to its core of the ‘marketing concept’ for meeting customer’s requirements.
Conclusion
The Peak District is one of the famous National Park within the UK. There are many reasons why people visit the Peak District, the most popular reason is the beauty of its landscape.
However, the Peak District is linked to many Public transport for providing tourist easy access.
The Peak District also provide Wildlife and cultural Heritage for those who are interesting into those two attractions, as well it provide many adventure activities for those who like sports.
According to the high number of visitor to the Peak District (30 million a year), tourism brings advantages and disadvantages to the Peak District. The advantages such as; Employment, generate income and Preservation and Conservation. The disadvantages such as; Limiting Car Parking, Erosion in the Peak District, Jobs can be seasonal, poorly paid and required employees to worker hours, Visitors are vulnerable to crime, Loss of wildlife habitats and Wildlife distribution.
Therefore it has to be careful managed in order for the tourism not to ruin the National Park, that mean great controlling will required in order to ensure that tourism is ‘sustainable’.
Bibliography
Harrison. R, Manual of Heritage Management 1994, Butterworth Heinemann, Great Britain
Holloway. J, The Business of Tourism 1998, fifth edition, Longman, Singapore
Leak. A, and Yeoman. I, Heritage Visitor Attraction an operations management perspective 1999, Cassell, Great Britian
Page. J, and Getz. D, The Business of Rural Tourism 1997, International Thomson Business Press, UK
Class notes
