**3. Summary and conclusions**

area by itself may not attract more visitors. Only if concerted actions and strategies are put in

For instance, Getzner [11] provided evidence that the long-term effect of a national park on the number of tourist might lie in the range of 3–5% of annual growth in addition to already

This chapter presents some evidence that Natura 2000 sites, indeed, lead to an increase in the number of tourists in a region. **Figure 5** presents an index of tourism development over time between 1990 and 2015 for the summer season. Generally speaking, the first decade until about 2000 saw a constant decline in the number of tourists in the summer season; a prominent exception is city tourism, again with Vienna as one prominent destination with a 60% increase in tourism numbers over the last 20 years. Inspecting the graph in more detail reveals that municipalities of all degrees of urbanization, and both with larger or smaller Natura 2000

In other words, nature conservation based on Natura 2000 does not lead to a decrease or stagnation in tourism during the summer season, but rather increases tourism above the Austrian

The causal linkages at this level of aggregation are, however, hard to detect. On the one hand, as said earlier, Natura 2000 sites are certainly established in areas of natural beauty, or where

On the other hand, most municipalities without Natura 2000 areas are either rural areas with-

place, the destination can be marketed accordingly to raise the number of visitors.

areas, exhibit higher growth rates than municipalities without Natura 2000 sites.

other conservation areas are overlapping, such as national parks.

out tourist attractions or are industrial areas and centers.

**Figure 5.** Overnight stays in Austrian municipalities (1990–2016).

average.

22 National Parks - Management and Conservation

existing trends, even with the case of prominent and large national parks.

This chapter has briefly highlighted and summarized the potential differences between Austrian municipalities where Natura 2000 areas have been established. The causal linkages between the mere existence of a Natura 2000 area and the regional or local effects are not as strong as it might seem in the first place. Regional and local development is certainly determined by a huge variety of factors such as territorial capital, location and accessibility, available infrastructure, and proximity to markets (factors of production; goods and services). In addition, regions with protected areas are often peripheral regions without much potential for endogenous regional development. Furthermore, many categories of protected areas (such as national parks, biosphere reserves, and nature and landscape conservation areas) overlap with the establishment of Natura 2000 areas. In fact, the Austrian national parks are all managed also according to the Natura 2000 frameworks.

To put it mildly, our study has revealed that Natura 2000 areas do not pose a threat to regional and local development; mostly, demographic, social, economic, and spatial developments are driven by the factors described earlier. This is certainly indicated for the fields of population growth, employment and unemployment, and the number of jobs. One exception can be seen in the tourism development. Data indicate that the establishment and operation of Natura 2000 areas might indeed attract more visitors (in addition to the vast majority who would visit the area even without a protected area on the basis of natural beauty and pristine ecosystems). However, the regional economic impact of protected areas in general may not lead to sufficient private funding or a substantial contribution to the financing of protected areas (cf. [12]).

Regarding management options, the results of this study are mixed. As Natura 2000 does neither harm nor substantially improve regional development, the leeway of management options is very limited. Park management may certainly create visitor experiences based on ecological systems such as nature trails, exhibitions, excursions, and other events. Such options are more feasible in national parks with their aim to educate and inform visitors, while the Natura 2000 framework is first and foremost oriented toward the conservation of species and habitats, and to prevent the further degradation of ecosystems. These objectives may certainly provide the basis for regional development, for example, in terms of increasing visitor numbers, the conservation work has to be complemented by local and regional development strategies. Such strategies may include destination marketing, development of local products based on natural resources, building up networks of local and regional stakeholders, and joint efforts and cooperation between the municipalities and the provincial authorities. Otherwise, it is safe to assume that there is no clear-cut direction of the regional effects of the establishment of protected areas, certainly no "automatism" which may lead to a positive development by merely establishing an area without any further measures or policies directed toward regional development.
