Tourism In Canadian Provincial Parks Essay Research

Tourism In Canadian Provincial Parks Essay, Research Paper

The Issue of Tourism in Canada’s Provincial ParkI. INTRODUCTION

“The capacity to use leisure rightly is the basis of a man’s whole life.” This observation by Aristotle clearly proves the significance that it holds in our time. Previously, when the struggle for food and shelter took most of a man’s time, the ability to use leisure rightly had less significance. Over time there has been a vast change in thinking with regards to the usefulness of leisure, especially pertaining to issues concerned with land use and outdoor recreation resources. Hence, this essay will present a case study on Algonquin Provincial Park, which will draw on aspects of the workings of leisure and/or tourism and how various theories such as Distance Decay, the Ellis Curve’, the theories of Valene Smith and Doxey, give an insightful meaning to the planning and management of sustainable ecosystems.

II. PERSPECTIVE ON PROVINCIAL PARKS

In Canada, the emergence of parks, especially national and provincial parks, plays an integral role in our consideration of outdoor recreation resources. Public awareness with regards to this importance has enabled the public to “recognize more clearly a collective responsibility for the management of our environment and preservation of its values.” Also, with the technology that has become increasingly available to use, our abilities to alter the landscape have left very little lands to preserve in their natural beauty. Therefore, the conservation or preservation of resource-based parks should be implemented before all opportunities disappear permanently. As well, providing leisure opportunities enables us to fulfill our objectives of the best possible standard of living for every individual. In relation to this point there is a growing acceptance the “nature sanctuaries of solitude and repose where people can find re-creation of body and spirit are essential to provide a change from the pace and demands of modern civilization.” Thus, the provision of suitable land for outdoor living should deserve consideration in competing land uses.

It is already agreed upon the notion that we must provision land for outdoor recreation as a necessary public service; but the question now remains how to maintain the demand for such services when faced with a dwindling supply (available land) and an increasing demand (rising population, rising income/quality of life = increasing discretionary income = availability of more leisure time).

This leads us to the objectives of the necessity and objectives of our (Ontario) provincial park system. The basic reasons for establishing provincial parks have remained essentially fluid over time. “Protection, recreation, heritage appreciation, and tourism are the objectives of the current provincial park system.” These were the same reasons evoked in the late 1800’s for setting aside the first provincial parks in Ontario.

As a general description, in Ontario, the parks tend to be fragmented and multilayered. This means that at the provincial level of parks and outdoor recreation there are “at least 15 provincial departments, agencies, or commissions are actively engaged in parks and open space programs.” The parks are essentially used by many groups and individuals to satisfy a great number of recreational needs. Therefore, a given park may be multi layered(administered at several governmental levels) and multi purpose in nature.

Recently, with respect to the objectives of provincial parks, the policy has taken an economic outlook towards its managements. For instance, according to the official mandate of Ontario Parks is “to protect, plan, develop, and manage Ontario’s system of provincial parks while improving their self reliance.” Thus, the objective of creating and managing these parks is to “improve services to increase revenues, and, inturn, to sustain other parks.” This shows a marked difference in the nature of recreation perceived by park developers. By this we mean that the nature of the park itself has changed from one that was once for conservation and recreation to that of financial stability. For example, from excerpts from the Ontario Parks Objectives, the business objectives include the objective of “operating more like a business and improving customer service and market our products and services…” as goals. Their business plan includes, among others, objectives to create “a special purpose account for retaining and managing park revenues (fees, licences, permits, rentals) to be developed. It will improve customer service, maximize revenues and make park operations more efficient and accountable.” As this shows, the very basic existence of Ontario Parks has changed from one that provided outdoor recreation opportunities to every man, woman and child, to that of a corporate enterprise, trying to maximize profit in a monopolized marketplace. This is how recreation has changed over the time frame of the development of the parks to the present day policies and initiatives undertaken by the province which manages these parks.

III. CASE STUDY OF ALGONQUIN PARK

Algonquin Park is Ontario’s first Provincial Park and is located in the region of Near North’ in Ontario. The essence of Algonquin is its vast Interior of maple hills, rocky ridges, spruce bogs, and thousands of lakes, ponds and streams. More than 250