Tourist Landscape Preferences and Conflicts Over Natural Disturbance Events in National Parks. The Case of the Bavarian Forest National Park

Large protected areas, such as national parks, harbor landscape-related conflict potentials. Conflict research has been conducted in the Bavarian Forest National Park for 30 years. The focus of the conflicts were landscape changes caused by natural disturbance events, especially the large-scale death of trees in the wake of windthrow and bark beetle infestation. Different interpretations of landscape changes due to these events led to long-lasting conflicts. Commonly feared negative impacts on tourism have never materialized: Neither the vacation experience nor guest arrivals were impaired by the created deadwood areas; this is the conclusion of all studies considered. Currently, this conflict no longer plays a relevant role in the Bavarian Forest. Nevertheless, its analysis can be helpful, as similar conflicts about natural disturbances are occuring in other German national parks and beyond. Contrary to the fears, the attractiveness of the Bavarian Forest National Park area for visitors has even increased and the effects, as well as the management of a constantly increasing number of visitors, seem to have developed as a new point of conflict.